André Bolipa is running around his stall. Back and forth, grabbing ingredients to make his meat free sausage sandwiches. The co-owner of Eppurvegano, he finds himself as one of many in the market today to showcase his work of creating plant based meats. “We are here to show an alternative way” says Bolipa, as he dives into conversation about the importance of plant based and sustainable foods.
Città dell’Altra Economia in Rome is filled with stalls of people sharing their eco-friendly creations, be it food or arts and crafts. A haven for chefs, hippies and creatives where they invite you to see their approach to sustainability which is quite poetically in the shadow of a now closed abattoir. The eco-friendly world can be quite intimidating and sometimes we hesitate from even trying to be green for the fear of making one wrong step. The Green Market Festival breaks down this barrier and works to make sustainability more accessible.
Bolipa, is one of many vendors here, but perhaps the most vocal about his passion for sustainability and health. His business focussed on ‘creating innovative and nutritious food’, mostly vegan meat substitutes. He makes everything from imitation chicken to a spicy vegan sausage. His products are impressively similar to real meat, especially in texture. His mission is to make a meat substitute that is better for us and better for the planet. “it is not hard to eat green if you are determined’ he says as customers approach him to tell him how delicious his vegan sausage is.
Silvia, one of the market goers, says how surprised she was at ‘how good all of this food is’, as she eats her fake sausage sandwich. This is something she never would have tried before in another setting. This is what this market is all about, exposing people to new ways of thinking about sustainability. While veganism is a common trend at the market but carnivores can rejoice at the sight of a porchetta stand. This market caters to all, not just the die hard vegans. People walk around the market, porchetta sandwich in hand while they learn about green eating and sustainable arts and crafts.
More than just food, the market boats countless stall with arts and crafts, jewellery and clothing. One stand ran by a woman who goes by Morgaine was particularly interesting. She creates decorations and upcycles clothing. However more than that, she has a particularly poignant motivation for doing this. Morgaine has created a whole mythological world based off Celtic mythology full of characters all given gaelic names. She points out to me a character called Bronach, the irish word for sadness, who “loves to embrace the dark days’. She created this whole world originally for her autistic daughter to help her navigate and express her emotions better. She now seeks to share her stories and creations with others to help more children understand the world and their emotions.
That really is the scope of this market. More than just upcycling or plant-based eco-friendly food, it is a place where you get to see the real person behind all of these creations. People come not only to sell their products but to share their passion for sustainability. No better place to walk around, organic beer in hand and check out the countless market stands and maybe learn a thing or two.
