Photo courtesy Metro Creative
The homegrown festival celebrating healthy food, gardening, and veggies is returning to Kiest Park this month.
The 10th Annual Dallas VegFest is an event sponsored by the nonprofit FEED Oak Cliff. This is a free, one-of-a-kind community festival promoting improved health and nutrition. The event is held in Oak Cliff, the largest food desert in Dallas, home to the unhealthiest zip codes in Texas.
The festival will be held at Kiest Park Recreation Center on Sunday, Sept. 22, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include family-friendly activities such as cooking demos, tastings, fitness classes, health information and kids activities.
Anga Sanders, the founder of FEED Oak Cliff, started VegFest when she realized some of her neighbors lacked access to fresh foods.
According to the VegFest website, a 2015 analysis shows that over a span of five years, cancers attributable to unhealthy eating among adults in the U.S. resulted in direct medical costs of $4.83 billion. These calculations are based on the estimated number of cancer cases associated with eating a diet primarily consisting of processed meats, red meats, and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The Dallas VegFest aims to change the narrative around that problem and equip members of the Oak Cliff community with the knowledge and tools to live a happier, healthier lifestyle.
