Tables were lined up end-to-end with culinary offerings bearing familiar or strange-sounding names. One only has to walk a few feet in order to sample a variety of international gastronomical delights. Another eyebrow-raising fact is that all of these great tasting foods are vegetarian dishes.

This year’s International Vegetarian Food Fair, which the Champaign Illinois Seventh-day Adventist Church organizes annually, featured various gastronomic delights from over a dozen countries. Aside from promoting the benefits of a vegetarian diet, this event strives to debunk the current pervading notion that vegetarian dishes are usually bland and unappealing.

A substantial number of people attended the event and were given the opportunity to sample exotic as well as local dishes. Aside from being surprised on how delicious the food was, they were also impressed on how appetizing the dishes look. Each attendee also received a cook book so they can recreate the vegetarian dishes with locally available produce and ingredients. There was also a booth where attendees could determine their “health age” and gain more knowledge on how they can manage and improve their well-being. Some lucky individuals won door prizes in the random drawings that occurred during the event.

At the end of the event, everyone walked away with more information and resources about the vegetarian lifestyle and its rewards. In this age of various dietary practices, the attendees should be better informed on the health choices that they will make and the effects of those decisions on the rest of their lives.

International Vegetarian
Cook Book

Now Available!