ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Vegans, vegetarians and those curious as to what it all means — and tastes like — showed up for the second annual Allentown Veg Fest Saturday, at Cedar Beach Park in west Allentown.
Jemma Drahus and Logan Layne didn’t seem to notice anything unlikable in the Italian butter cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Drahus, 4, bit right into hers while Layne, 3, waited for his and then his eyes lit up, too.
“They’re definitely one of our most popular,” said The BAKE-A-RE baker, Marie Reiner of Danielsville.
“Gluten-free flour can be a little gritty”Marie Reiner, baker at vegan home business, The BAKE-A-Re in Danielsville.
It took her a year to get the taste and consistency just right.
“Gluten-free flour can be a little gritty,” she said.
She was joined by her husband, Dave Reiner, who handles the sales behind the booth table at events and is the main taste-tester back home in the test kitchen. It’s a tough job but …
Portia Dove and Marqee Brown found something they liked at the Second Chance Goods Ltd booth, where Lauren and Andrew Hill, of Macungie, were selling their individual no-waste wares.
“I don’t like to waste at all."Lauren Hill, RN and waste-not candle and wax merchandise producer.
Lauren Hill, a registered home care nurse, makes her own candles, soaps and wax melts. She makes a coconut, apricot and soy base for the candles, then adds coloring and scents. She pours the melted down concoctions into recycled glass yogurt, salsa and jelly jars that are donated by anyone who wants to give them to her.
"I don't like waste at all," she said.
Andrew Hill, a nurse practitioner, turns bits of scrap blood wood, African padauk and canary wood, and any other bits and pieces he gets from furniture-makers, into eye-catching charcuterie boards. Perfectly placed pieces form herringbone and striped designs. The hobby woodworker also sells his own sealant, made of just two natural ingredients.
“Mineral oil, which hydrates, and beeswax, which is a natural water and moisture repellent,” he said.
Brown ended up with some sandalwood and cotton lily wax melts. Dove was anxious to keep moving and find out what other food and merchandise was there. She just became a vegan in the last year.
“I wanted to see if and how it affected my health,” she said of the switch in dietary intake. “I definitely have more energy. And it’s not as expensive as people think to eat vegan.”
Dove said she shops for ingredients at Produce Junction, Wegmans and Walmart. She said she’s excited to discover what other restaurants offer vegan choices and is taking it one step at a time.
Thomas Hong said his shiitake mushroom jerky very much resembles the texture of meat.
“In Asia for centuries, Buddhist monks didn't eat meat and so they repurposed mushroom stems. Most people toss the stems and eat the caps,” he said. With minimal processing and spices for flavor, his company Vegky’s mushroom jerky very much resembles meat and is bursting with flavor.
Hong was also cooking vegan gyozas (dumplings) filled with cabbage, carrots, celery and mushrooms, popular among event attendees.
Carmen Jones had no trouble talking in-between bites of the loaded fries with vegetarian (yes to dairy) cheese, portobello mushrooms, green peppers and onions. It looked delicious. Jones and her lifelong best friend, Tai Cardwell, from Easton, each were at the festival to check out what the competition was dishing out and how it was being received.
The two are soon opening up their own healthy sports drink business, an idea which was born out of the plethora of sports their children all play.
Cardwell said her five kids “are in lots of sports.”
“We want to provide something natural, made from fresh pressed fruits,” said Jones, adding that the pair plans on selling their products at local sports festivals and tournaments.
The Thomas family traveled with their 100% plant-based Soul Country Vegan meals and three kids in tow from Lancaster County, where they make, freeze and ship what looks like — but is not — rich, calorie-heavy gut-busting mac ‘n cheese, burritos, egg rolls and penne with sauce.
“We started this business in 2020 during the pandemic,” said Markus Thomas, who runs the business with his wife, Kate and children Lailah, 15, Noah, 12, and Nate, 10.
“It was and still is all about giving people healthy food.
“I bring the soul,” he said with a smile, referring to the traditional southern fare they make, like sweet potatoes and (vegan) crab cakes — and other standard fare. “You’ll never know you weren’t eating real crab meat.”
Savory tooth satiated, sweetness made an appearance as well along the festival walk. Young kids flocked to Udder Bar’s beautiful blue vegan ice cream truck.
Little Isabelle tried not to mind when her friend Finley invaded her personal space, and her vegan vanilla ice cream sparkling with gummy bears and sprinkles. The children, both from Allentown, were there with their mothers.
The gluten-free ice cream is also sold at a store located at 19th and Allen streets, said Mike DeLong, who owns Udder Bar. The store has been in business for seven years. The food truck is in its second year. Ube (purple yam), cookies and cream, and vanilla are the top three flavors.
DeLong has himself been gluten-free for almost 11 years.
“It’s just better for me,” he said.
Grown women in particular were noticed flocking to Chocodiem, sold at the Easton Public Market and owned by Master Chocolatier Jean-Paul “JP” Hepp, originally from Belgium, who in three years of opening was honored at the Institute of Culinary Education and named among the Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional magazine, and one of eight "Best Chocolates for Gift Giving” by Forbes.
How is chocolate vegan?
“You know, it’s a fruit. If you don’t add stuff to it, it’s always vegan,” the Belgian said.
The only vegan bookstore in Pennsylvania was represented by owner, author and writing teacher Deborah Emin.
“Vegan is a way of seeing the world,” said the former New Yorker who worked in publishing.
Now living in East Stroudsburg with her wife, Emin stood behind a table of brightly colored books with animals on the covers and titles such as, “Hope the Hopeful Piglet,” a picture book teaching children kindness and compassion.
“We started this to help people understand the benefits of a plant-based diet,” said Emin.
“People think it’s a lot of work. I say, ‘sweetheart, you’re going to save your life.”
