Veggie Fest to become a reality Adrian Frater - News Editor (Jul-15-2007) With more and more people seeking to become health conscious, a new exciting era in food festival will hit Jamaica next March with the inaugural staging of 'Veggie Fest' at the scenic Rhodes Hall Plantation, in Green Island, Hanover. The novel event, the first such event in the Caribbean, is geared towards transforming lifestyle through food, is being staged by Positive Tourism Network in association with the Caribbean Health Tourism & Spa Conference. "Our vision of healing our minds, body and spirit through thoughts, words, and food has led to the creation of a vegetarian-only event for health conscious people of the Caribbean," said Sharon Parris-Chambers, of Positive Tourism News. "The festival will focus on every conceivable type of vegetarian food available in the Caribbean." According to the organiser of the festival, Veggie Fest will be dealing strictly with earth-grown derived foods, which will be prepared and exhibited in a manner befitting five-star gourmet preparations, raw foods, healthy juices, natural pies, natural herbs and spices, as well as natural wines (yam and ginger wines). Some of the popular foods expected to be on show include Ackee gourmet, vegetarian pies, cassava and potato pudding, fruit and vegetable juices, vegetable-based ice cream, finger-licking vegetarian sandwiches and burgers, tasty and delicious vegetarian soups, vegetarian wraps, energy juices, exciting garden salads, vegetarian pizza, vegetable run-dung and vegetarian one-pot cooking. "I have long held this vision of creating a veggie festival where people can eat wholesome and satisfying foods," noted Theo Chambers, of Positive Tourism. "Where hoteliers and restaurateurs become more conscious of vegetarian needs, thus exposing them to a variety of healthy menu choices." The festival will be similar to other food festival in terms of musical attractions and other entertainment related activities. It will feature exhibiters from vegetarian restaurants, vegetarian food purveyors, juice makers, natural seasoning producers, and a farmers market. The festival, which will facilitate an open communication network with the sharing of ideas among participants, will be under the management of Tankia Williams, vice-president of Caribbean Veggie Fest.