Buffalo Rising Online

Jun 17th 2007, 9:04am By Adam Fix

It’s not a secret that our regional cuisine is generally concerned with flavor at the expense of health. For over 20 years, the Taste of Buffalo has been a representation of that, showcasing some of the area’s finest foods and causing some of the area’s worst heartburn.

This year, however, festival-goers can choose their own (food) adventure, thanks to a partnership between the Independent Health Foundation and the Taste of Buffalo. Starting this July 7 & 8, all 57 participating vendors must offer at least one healthy option.

The guidelines for the healthy offerings were assembled through close collaboration with the American Heart Association as well as local dietitians and nutritionists. Once the parameters were set in place, the recipes were analyzed with a computer program. This allowed the organizing body to determine the exact nutritional values of the food that will be served. The results can be viewed here (also available on the site are nutrition guides from many regional restaurants).

The decision to mandate a healthy option at this year’s festival was a result of an ongoing collaboration between Independent Health and the Taste of Buffalo, a relationship that has been in place for the past few years. “We were working on a list of restaurants for our (healthy options) website and wanted to collaborate with the Taste of Buffalo to help expand it when we realized this was something we should really encourage in the Taste of Buffalo itself,” Independent Health Foundation Executive Director Carrie Meyer told BR.

When Independent Health approached the festival organizers with the idea, everyone got excited. “We were interested in promoting the idea that you can eat well and be healthy,” said Ellen Carroll of the Taste of Buffalo, “and there are still as many options as before- this is just another.”

Everyone involved believes this to be the first festival of its kind to mandate such health guidelines. Meyer contacted similar “Taste of” festivals in Chicago and Syracuse for input, having heard they had tried to implement healthy options, but in both cases the idea never took off.

In this case, “the restaurants have been super,” according to Carroll. Some tweaked favorite recipes to fit the guidelines, and some created brand new dishes. Some interesting health options include EM Chrusciki Bakery’s Chewy Spice Cookie, Fat Bob’s Smokehouse’s Texas Chili, and The Steer’s Sesame Crusted Tuna Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette.

Hopefully this change will be a successful one, and spark similar changes in other festivals around the nation. Buffalo’s recent announcement to make this adjustment to the menus of its homegrown festival has even brought attention from abroad.

For a complete listing of food options, including healthy options (highlighted in green) and cost (in tickets), check out the Taste of Buffalo site.