Plant Futures Fest
Oakstop
2325 Broadway Ave.
Oakland
Feb. 24, 2024
Nine a.m. on an unseasonably sunny Saturday morning, a small line of sleepy people waiting for coffees from a van parked by overflowing trash bins. One conversation, between former coworkers from the “Institute of the Future,” was perky and optimistic, bike gear still on. Behind them a coworking space, gallery, community event center, Oakstop, filled with attendees and vendors, eager for the start of the first annual Plant Futures Fest.
One of the coffee seekers — after greeting what appeared to be coworkers — did have a clue, or at least an idea what to expect: “Some combination of useful information, inspiration, and business ideas,” he said, to which I can now add industry networking and mentorship funnel for students.
Many hours, six pages of handwritten notes with more in my phone, several samples, conversations, hundreds of photos, and a small meal later, I was still not totally sure of the takeaway. The day was a bit of a doozy, big and overwhelming, long but amorphous.
There was a morning of speakers and panels, beginning with Plant Future cofounder Samantha Derrick leading us in a breathing and gratitude exercise, initiating conversations with neighbors we didn’t know. She introduced herself and the organization, sharing how much animal rights, and now climate rights and youth involvement and education have become her life mission.
She also introduced Will Rosensweig, a UC Berkeley professor and mentor to Derrick along with many, many others (some of whom were also present). There was also a strong showing of high school and college-aged students.
Around 9:30, the keynote speaker came on. Bryant Terry, Afro-vegan chef and writer extraordinaire, came out swinging — and singing. He held us (or at least me) rapt his whole presentation, despite several tech holdups. Terry is a phenomenal speaker, perhaps in part due to his lifelong scholarship. He is back in school now at Berkeley for fine art and just closed a gallery showing of some of his work, adding to his illustrious career of multiple books — and now an imprint at Random House — along with a chef-in-residence position at MoAD. He stressed the need for organized action beyond singular consumerism and the importance of both art and community in activism, as well as making sure the right people are involved in decision-making at all levels.
Terry was followed by a panel of four moderated by food-and-podpreneur Adam Yee of Sobo Foods, a frozen vegan dumpling line. He was joined by Seth Tibott, “cheerleader of the vegan world” and Tofurky founder, Zoe Novick, an MPH who works in animal rights and healthcare, and Ashley Kirk, founder of Planted Foods.
They each spoke about how they got to plant based foods and the need to expand for the health of the environment and ourselves. The system, as Terry had reminded us, is broken, and so “if people don’t understand your dreams, keep going, you’re on the right track,” Kirk said.
As their conversation ran down the smells and sounds of portable deep fryers bubbled to our right. Our stomachs grumbled along.
Tim Polkowski, international director of ProVeg, a “food awareness organisation working to transform the global food system” and sponsor of the event, introduced their mission to many of us. Founded in the EU, they currently work in 12 countries and counting, advocating and working toward policy change for plant-based food systems. They are, he said, “a vehicle for you,” in place to support your mission, whatever it be.
Next came members of various youth boards and Plant Futures cofounder Nina Guilbeault (at top), who spent her dissertation studying the rise of the vegan movement and whose book The Good Eater is out for release soon.
Time to eat! said everyone at once, and the vendors were unprepared. The fried goodies we’d been smelling from Chula Kitchen were quickly snapped up, leading to long lines crisscrossing the little empty space. Nature’s Fynd sampled plant and fungi cheese spreads and breakfast sausages, a GT Kombucha and adaptogenic bev booth opened eventually, Sobo sampled their dumplings to confused folks lined up in search of heartier fare, Pokeworks sampled cubes of false fish and sold plastic pint containers of rice and the truly fishy bites, a “salami” sampler offered flavor-packed bites, and unClassic Foods sold nachos topped with their mushroom “steak tips.” Two cookie vendors sat side by side, waiting until we’d satiated our larger hungers.
Surprised by the beige palate and emphasis on food products over whole foods, I stepped outside for a bit of fresh air before braving the line for Chula Kitchen’s hot honee fried chick’n (tofu). Quite hungry, I ordered that (it came on a bed of poblano mac n cheese — but a reminder it is not cheese either) along with their griddled corn cake. The corn cake came topped with Chula sauce, crema, corn poblano salsa, queso fresco, and aleppo pepper.
Once served I went back outside to a lovely seating area overhung with plants and filled with fellow attendees (and speakers) to eat, glad for the sun and breeze after hours indoors, and dug in. The chick’n was surprisingly light and soft beneath the fried crackle and very good. The drizzle of honey was nice, though I couldn’t detect much spice. It was, however, also the best part. The Chula sauce, “crunchies,” and chives were nice additions, but the mac was too soft, lacking both the textural and flavor backbone to hold up to its toppings. The corn cake too was underwhelming, though good. It wasn’t very warm, leading me to wonder if it was reheated or just cooked on a griddle originally, and a bit dry, with the sauces topping it failing to bring the needed moisture. The corn kernels on top, so often my favorite part, out of season, were lacking big flavor, but a nice addition nonetheless.
The afternoon continued with networking and informational sessions, and Bryant Terry stood dutifully at a table laden with his books signing and chatting with admirers. A table outside boasted a houseplant activity. A new crowd of people filtered in, meeting, greeting, tasting, and signing up for clubs and mailing lists. I bought a cookie for $5.50 from each vendor for the road, one of which I liked. And everyone cared about the planet, at least for a day.
