We spiced it up on Earth Day in San Diego at the 19th annual Earth Fair with a smorgasbord of vegan chili! It was held in Balboa Park and turned out to be another beautiful day in San Diego. We sold over 500 bowls of organic vegan chili with some vegetarian toppings including cheese, sour cream and chives. For those looking for some extra kick, we also provided a spicy medley tossing in some cayenne pepper to boot. The chili was made with organic ingredients including fresh tomatoes, onions, quinoa, green, red and yellow peppers, zucchini, squash, celery and lots of great spices. We served the chili with biodegradable and compostable bowls, spoons and napkins keeping with the Earth Day theme and business as usual for us.

Most of the products were bought from local organic farmers at the farmers markets around San Diego. We always go to the local farmers first, then to northern California farmers and last resort is local organic grocery stores including Peoples Organic Coop in Ocean Beach, Trader Joes, Henry’s and Whole Foods. By the end of this year we will be sourcing 99% of our products from local sustainable organic farms…and those farms will be posted on our site. So Earth Day 2008 turned out to be a success, we sold lots of organic vegan chili, listened to good music, gave away a ton of business cards (printed on recycled paper with soy inks of course) and signed lots of people up for our organic email recipe list.

--Shoot us an email to recipes@ecocaters.com if you are interested in joining. You can also find our monthly recipes in our blog.

We teamed up with Elite Racing to provide hundreds of elite athletes, their families, VIP sponsors and other marathon personnel 100% organic cuisine following the 11th annual Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in San Diego, California. We were able to provide environmentally sustainable catering services by utilizing biodegradable and compostable plates, forks, knives and napkins as well as presenting an entirely organic and seasonally fresh menu. We also bought the majority of our products from local farms, who we partner with for both sustainable agricultural goals and espouse the benefits of organic edibles.

Our menu for the event consisted of a California cheese board coupled with fresh organic fruits and organic pickled and fermented vegetables. The main course included organic truffled potato puree, sautéed market vegetables, spinach stuffed wild Sole and free range organic chicken breast. The organic cuisine was served throughout a post race benefit concert headlined by Pat Benatar. Both Eco Caters and Elite Racing are excited about this new-found friendship, which will aid Green Earth causes and make the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon an even bigger and greener event in the future.