In 2015, Vallejo began hosting the Vallejo Healthy Food Fest. The festival was started to bring up the lack of healthy food options in the city and celebrate the community. There will be activities, music and other events at the feast as Vallejo hosts the Healthy Food Fest again today.
Dan Foley Park, located at 1461 N Camino Alto in Vallejo, will host the festival, which begins at 11 a.m. Vallejo residents with proof of residency have free attendance to the Fest, while non-Vallejo residents will have to pay a $5 fee for the event. Bands will play music throughout the fest, and Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan should be attending the event as well, according to Lauren Ornelas, an organizer with the Vallejo Healthy Food Fest. Children will have the chance to participate in activities like painting with produce.
During the fest, attendees will have the chance to try a cornucopia of multicultural vegan foods like beans and tortillas, a Filipino dish of chicken adobo rice, some greens and a vegan cake for people to eat.
“Our goal as an organization is to do our best to lessen the suffering that includes the suffering of humans and nonhuman animals,” Ornelas said.
The Vallejo Healthy Food Fest will also have a discussion on the supposed lack of access to healthy foods in Vallejo.The discussion will educate attendees more about this issue and open up a dialogue. According to Ornelas, a lot of the Vallejo community does not have access to fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. Instead, what is prevalent are liquor stores and convenience stores that do not have a lot of the healthier foods available.
“There aren’t a lot of grocery stores in Vallejo either,” Ornelas said.
The Food Empowerment Project, which puts on the the Vallejo Healthy Food Fest, has a campaign against Safeway, which they claim closed down a store near a senior center and put a moratorium on any grocery stores opening up in the area for 15 years.
Ornelas really does hope though that people come out and enjoy themselves at the Food Fest.
“I think that we would love people to come out to the festival; to try vegan food, to be apart of a community that’s working toward the goal of healthy food, to see some performers from their own community as well as reaching out and getting connected to other organizations within the area,” she said. “To be really proud and happy that they are a part of such a vibrant and diverse community.”

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