Maker Faire Austin Eats.

Two weeks ago I went to Maker Faire, a 3 day extravaganza sponsored by Make Magazine and devoted to all that is eye-catching, smile inducing, and awe inspiring in the D-I-Y world. Think circus meets costume rock meets knitting summit meets robots. If you find this hard to imagine, that is because nothing is quite like Maker Faire. I was there and I find it hard to imagine.

Amidst all the Maker goodness was a whole section devoted to food. Not just any food mind you, Maker Food. Booths were filled with as much homemade, organic, ethical, earth friendly, delicious food that you could buy. It was enough to make a practical theologian weep. Okay, maybe not weep, but certainly eat…and perhaps preach (just a little). We met folks that harvested their own (delicious) herbal teas, raised goats and made goat cheese, raised buffalo and made bison jerky, and a lovely woman who makes excellent pralines. [Most of these can be found here.] My only purchase (I didn’t want to get carried away) was a large bottle of Round Rock Honey, but I tasted a bit of nearly everything. The folks at the booths were friendly and enthusiastic about their creations. And may it be written in stone that food tastes better and is more fun to eat when you meet the persons who made it.

The honey is rich and sweet, but the sweetest thing I walked away with was armfuls of information. I met some of the folks responsible for Austin’s newest and most useful magazine Edible Austin. It is full of information about all the local eating goodness in these parts and joins the chorus with other Edible Cities. Check it out.

The coolest group that I heard about was a group called Urban Roots that is beginning in Austin. They use organic farming as a way to reach out to at risk youth and, not only that, but all that these teens produce is given back to the community, providing low cost healthy, fresh, organic produce to the poor. One organization that promotes local, organic farming, urban beauty, serving kids, and community health…this is creative social action at its best and its yummiest!

And if that weren’t enough, I got to meet (and hang out) with the author of this hip little cookbook, which a friend gave me 4 years ago for a wedding present. It is great to meet authors of cook books you own. It is even greater when they turn out to be good friends of your sister (though unsurprising if your sister is girl con queso). It is even greater when your cookbook author turns out to be a kind, down to earth woman, who writes really feisty cookbooks. And it is the best when you get to meet her at Maker Faire, a quirky, indescribable, and feisty little event all on its own.