With Veg Fest, Sioux Falls area highlights growing plant-based food scene

By Jacqueline Palfy, for Pigeon605

The idea started over cocktails.

“We were downtown having drinks and saw a vegan food truck,” said Nancy Kirstein, owner of The Good Earth Farm near Lennox. “The line was so long, and they had one menu item. I looked at Jeff and thought: ‘These people are here, they’re taking all this money out of the community, and then they leave. Why don’t we do something like this that features local people?’”

And, of course, her husband said, “Sure, why not?”

South Dakota Veg Fest is planned for this weekend at the farm. The plan is to have two vegetarian food trucks, speakers and vendors. The event is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the farm, 28318 466th Ave.

“It turned into this whole thing,” Kirstein said. She posted the idea on a local vegan and vegetarian food page, and it just snowballed. “All of a sudden, we have a committee.”

The event is free, but to get a good head count, they’re asking people to get tickets here.

Kirstein, who has been a vegetarian for about 25 years, said the goal is to introduce people to different foods and learn about vegetarianism.

Plant-based foods are growing in popularity. The NPD Group noted that 19 percent of consumers want to get into more plant-based food, according to The Food Institute.

Industry experts note that the pandemic may have accelerated an already growing vegan and vegetarian market as supply chain issues caused shortages in the traditional meat markets and more people cooked meals at home.

But even before then, plant-based meat alternatives were growing. According to Nielsen data, from late December 2019 to early January 2020, sales of plant-based meat were up 30 percent from the same period a year earlier, The New York Times reported. Meat sales increased by 1 percent in that same period.

For example, Beyond Meat, whose stock is publicly traded, reported a 141 percent increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2020.

The industry remains volatile as new companies enter the market. But the amount of money Americans are spending on meat substitutes continues to increase. For example, Impossible Foods noted an 85 percent increase in fourth quarter retail revenue in 2021, boosted by expansion into new grocery stores.

Overall, meat alternatives are approaching $1.4 billion in annual sales, according to the research firm IRI.

The alternative-meat market is set to reach $6.3 billion in revenue by 2023. Global consultancy firm AT Kearney projects that by 2040, 60 percent of the “meat” products humans consume will either be plant-based replacements or lab-grown meats.

The trend continues locally – popular food truck ‘Brosia Bowl announced last week it would expand into the Jones421 Building in downtown Sioux Falls. More restaurants are offering vegan and vegetarian options, and more consumers are choosing those options, even if they don’t follow a plant-based diet.

“We used to just not go anywhere,” Kirstein said. “You get really tired of a plain salad or french fries. Now, you can go to a lot of places, and if they have a chef, they will accommodate you.”

Daniel Myers, a chef at Crawford’s Bar & Grill and Wagoo Burger located in Fernson Brewing, agrees.

“A lot of places are giving plenty of vegetarian options,” he said. “With Wagoo, we are trying to blend vegetarian and pescatarian even though we’re a burger joint.”

The restaurant offers a plant-based burger with vegan cheddar cheese. The bun does have egg in it, so vegan diners would need to order it without the bun.

“You have a lot of people who come, and their friends eat the burger, but the person next to them doesn’t. You need to appease all palates,” Myers said. At Crawford’s, the restaurant often feature a vegetarian option, but the chefs also take special requests and can make a vegetarian or vegan option if needed.

“We kind of like working on the special requests,” Myers said. They also have noted plant-based items on the menu, making it easier for diners to navigate.

Having someone who knows how to prepare vegetables can make all the difference, Kirstein said.

“When a restaurant has a chef and they are using good ingredients, you don’t need a lot of extra stuff,” she said. “You don’t need a bunch of salt or ranch dressing. It’s just good food.”

That’s exactly what Jordan Taylor, co-owner and chef at Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen, says. The restaurant’s menu fluctuates with the season, meaning it serves what’s freshest whenever possible.

“People come back to Bread & Circus because they know we will have asparagus in the spring and do something fun with that. They know we’re going to sell a lot of heirloom tomatoes,” Taylor said. “If you want to produce quality food, you have to start with a good product.”

He said the fluctuating menu of seasonal offerings keeps things fun for the chefs too. The restaurant serves at least one vegetarian sandwich and several salads and appetizers that are vegan or vegetarian, including falafel.

Taylor said it’s all in how you describe the food.

“Some people don’t even know what falafel is, but if they knew it was a crunchy, deep-fried goodness, maybe that would even intrigue people to try a vegetarian option,” he said.

The restaurant celebrated its fifth anniversary this month, and Taylor said they’ve always been able to support their plant-based foods.

“The younger people in the area downtown, a lot of them don’t eat meat for every meal, so we’ve never had a problem selling any of the vegetarian or vegan options,” Taylor said.

Before, it was often the local ethnic restaurants that had the heaviest vegetarian menus.

“I grew up in Sioux Falls with a vegetarian Japanese mother. That wasn’t around a lot in the 1980s. My dad was meat and potatoes,” Taylor said. “Her cooking style wasn’t prevalent in Sioux Falls back then, like stir-fry.”

Now, he estimates the ethnic restaurant scene has doubled if not tripled.

“We have five Indian restaurants, maybe more,” Taylor said. “We have like four Ethiopian restaurants. We’re a quarter of a million people in the metro – we should have stuff like that.”

And success builds on success.

“That’s what happens in cities. Something new happens, and it opens doors for other people, and it makes it easier for people to try things, and that’s how the ball gets rolling,” Taylor said.

The same holds true in takeout. Andrew Elgersma, prepared food manager for the Sioux Falls Food Co+op, serves three vegan and vegetarian bowls on the menu. The deli also has expanded its breakfast and dinner options.

“People are making personal lifestyle choices, and we try to adapt and change with their demands,” Elgersma said.

Back at the farm, Kirstein said her hope is that people will come with an open mind.

“We told food vendors to make portions small and have $5 items so people can sample a lot of different stuff,” she said. Food trucks Windy City Bites and Buenisimo, a food truck with Peruvian food, will be at the event. Daily Clean Food & Drink, a restaurant in south Sioux Falls, will have a booth. And several speakers will talk about why they chose a plant-based diet.

“I just want people to come out here and see the options. People may choose a vegetarian diet for a lot of different reasons. Some may be health, some may be environmental, and some might be animal welfare. Maybe they just don’t like meat, like me,” she continued. “I don’t want to exclude anybody because they aren’t super hardcore about something. It’s just a place to just come out and try and learn about why would I want to do this? Even if it’s just one day a week. How could that help my health or the environment?”

About South Dakota VegFest

• When: June 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Where: The Good Earth Farm, 28318 466th Ave., 4 miles south of Lennox.
• Cost: Free
• To learn more, click here.