Page 45 - Islands Business October 2023 edition

Healthy Eating

VEGFEST PASIFIKA COMES TO SAMOA

By Vittoria Pasca movement advocating for the increased consumption of local
plant-based foods.To counter the common assumption that
VegFest Pasifika, a festival promoting local plant-based healthy food is not as tasty and exciting, VegFest seeks to
diets for health and environmental reasons, came to Samoa show a positive alternative to the vicious cycle of poor diets
for the first time in June. and poor health: nutritious plant-based diets can be not only
The festival has been running in Fiji since 2018, with more beneficial, but also very satisfying.
than 55 events held so far. These include tasting dinners The highlights of VegFest Samoa were the fine dining vegan
showcasing Pacific fruits, vegetables and crops; vegan markets dinner prepared by the team at Tiapapata Art Centre and the
and food tasting with free health screenings; nutritious degustation of decadent plant-based cakes prepared by Dora
cooking demos, movie nights, lifestyle medicine outreach; Rossi.
and fun educational kids’ activities. The 50-person dinner offered a creative, 10-course menu
The festival aims to encourage the switch to whole- focusing on local wild foods found in Samoa but not commonly
food, plant-based diets as a means to address the non- used in cooking. The most popular dishes included choko
communicable disease (NCD) crisis in the Pacific, while also noodles with vegan pesto, lentil moussaka, Lautogotogo
supporting local agriculture. It also raises awareness about salad, sautéed banana blossoms and breadfruit gnocchi with
the environmental implications of diets high in animal creamed greens.
protein—as plant The owners
foods generally of Tiapapata
have a much lower Art Centre are
environmental strong advocates
impact compared of healthy eating
to most animal with local plants
products. due to their “many
Cancer, heart health benefits
disease, and diabetes including lower
are the leading cause rates of obesity,
of deaths in the heart disease, high
Pacific, accounting blood pressure, high
for 60 to 75% of blood cholesterol,
mortalities. Dr type 2 diabetes and
Paula Vivili, Deputy Pastry chef, Dora Rossi showcases a delicious array of vegan cakes. certain types of
Director-General cancer.”
at the Pacific Pastry chef, Dora
Community, recently said NCDs were a “death sentence” for Rossi showcased a delicious array of vegan cakes using local
many people because treatments were often not available. In plant-based ingredients such as Samoan cacao and fruit. Rossi
Samoa, recent data states NCDs account for a staggering 81% made the switch to a nourishing plant-based diet almost four
of all deaths. years ago, to promote her and her family’s health, and she
VegFest co-founder, Ben Czapnik believes that “the hasn’t looked back: “I feel like my body is the healthiest it
festival’s focus on plant-based eating for healthier has ever been, thanks to my diet. I never feel like I need to
communities and a healthier planet has taken root in Fiji and count calories or worry about eating too much and I feel fit
is likely to resonate all throughout the region. Following the and trim without exercising excessively.”
success of VegFest in Fiji, we decided to take this message on Her mouth-watering spread included chocolate cake with
the road to see if we could help others in the region to benefit siamu popo, papaya cake with coconut crumb topping, carrot
from increased plant-based foods in their diet. and walnut cake, bliss balls and muesli bars. During the event,
“We chose Samoa because it already has a vibrant culinary she explained how she reduced the amount of refined sugars
scene, including many chefs and restaurants who currently in her cakes by replacing sugar with whole, unprocessed
offer vegan meals. It also has great vegetables and fruits to ingredients such as pawpaw, dates and sultanas.
work with, not to mention some local varieties we don’t find Rossi recently added some plant-based options to the menu
in Fiji. We reached out to potential local partners, including of her restaurant, Milani Caffè, and the response has been
Dora [Rossi, the owner of Milani Caffé in Apia] and Wendy and very positive: “I have witnessed numerous patrons genuinely
Steven from the Tiapapata Art Centre, and following their being grateful and happy for healthy, plant-based options at
enthusiastic response we were ready to go.” my cafè. Our ‘plant-based’ lunch bowl with spiced chickpeas,
The VegFest Pasifika initiative aims to create a network of
Pacific associations, MSMEs and individuals and start a regional Continued on page 53

Islands Business, October 2023 45