Eco18 at EatNYC Event

On Monday October 24, Eco18 was lucky enough to attend the EatNYC event at the Columbia Grammar and Prep School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The event was hosted by Veggiecation as part of the nationwide Food Day celebration. EatNYC was the perfect mix of information, initiatives and culinary delights from New York-based restaurants celebrating local, healthful, and sustainable eating. All proceeds from the event went to the Ground Up Campaign.

The evening’s keynote speaker was the Food Network’s Sandra Lee, who happened to have a nephew that attended the school. Her response to cooking with only semi-homemade ingredients? Well, it depends what you buy at the grocery store! In her speech, Lee highlighted the importance of taking your kids to the grocery store and cooking with them. This educates them from an early age about eating healthy, making smart food choices and can be a really enjoyable experience for both parent and child.

Education was definitely the theme of the night, and there were plenty of organizations committed to improving environmental and nutrition education within children’s schools. It’s very encouraging to see that there are so many groups committed to educating our next generation, including:

• Veggiecation
• The Ground Up Campaign – Birds Nest Foundation
• Health Corps
• The Green Schools Alliance

• The Regal Vegan’s Faux Gras – yes, you read that right.. FAUX gras.
• Henry’s Kale, Endive, Grape and Hazelnut Salad – so simple, yet so tasty.
• GustOrganics’ Empanadas – they claim to be the greenest restaurant in NYC. Their food’s pretty good, too.
• Rainforest Alliance Chocolate – Great tasting chocolate (85% cacao) with an even better mission behind it.
• Saucy by Nature’s Quinoa Falafel – they claim to be saucemakers (sauciers?) by trade but their quinoa was pretty fantastic too.
• The Culinaria Group’s Sous-Vide Baby Carrots with Whipped Coconut Polenta and Caramom Brittle – mark our word – chef Greg Grossman is going to be a star.

We would like to thank Lisa at Veggiecation for having us. Were you at EatNYC? We would love to hear what your favorite dishes were below!