The 18th annual VegFest offers lectures, workshops and organic foods by Stephanie Hendarta | Sep 29 2014 | 09/29/14 3:43pm

Back for a successful 18th year, the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival arrived with two simple goals: to spread the word about the benefits of plant-based diets and to teach the community ways to reconcile a modern lifestyle with the health of our planet. With its mouthwatering foods and interactive outdoor booths, this years festival exceeded expectations.

Lee Park, a quiet sanctuary one block from the Downtown Mall, was transformed into a bustling market for all things eco-friendly last Saturday. Families and students alike frequented the numerous booths at the park, including Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, Wildlife Virginia and the Vegetarian Resource Group.

Elsa Spencer, a Charlottesville resident who volunteered to run the Vegetarian Resource Group booth, said she has been a participating vendor at the Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival for almost 10 years.

Were a resource group, so the whole point is to provide information to people ... not so much to sell things," she said. "Were more about answering questions like, My teenager is a vegan and Im worried about [his] iron levels.' I enjoy meeting people who come through who are genuinely interested in learning about veganism, vegetarianism or [who want to] become one but they encounter a stumbling block.

Spencer and other VegFest participants handed out educational materials some related to vegetarian diets and others related to the environment and animal rights.

The purpose of [the festival] itself ... is to promote [a] plant-based lifestyle, Fesitval Assistant Coordinator Eric Murphy said. [But] the environmental and animal justice movements are definitely tightly linked to vegetarianism because being a vegetarian is not only healthier for the body if it is a fitting diet for the individual. It is also easier on the environment.

Guest speakers held talks on plant-based athletic diets and genetically modified foods, in addition to lighter subjects, such as cooking demonstrations.

First-year Engineering student Nirali Jantrania dropped by the Charlottesville Vegetarian Market to hear Lorrie Delehanty, a laboratory manager at the Medical School, discuss genetically modified food.

In her talk, Delehanty discussed the history of GMOs, their rising popularity in the past 25 years and their positive and negative attributes.

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The Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival feeds body and mind