Live at Union Court; The Mini Food Show

Looking down the row of tables, lining the side wall of Union Court, the smell of baking bread begins to fill the air. Where would I go first? The booth with knotted pretzels has my eye; I know that’s where the smell is coming from. It has to be. As I begin gravitating towards the smell, my roommate grabs my right arm. “No,” she says. “We have to go in order.” At this point I’m starving. She begins to pull me back to the first table. Here we go, sample one.

Living on a college campus, food options are limited to the same couple of meals each week. You can always look forward to buffalo chicken Monday’s, taco Tuesday’s, dumpling Wednesday’s, etc. The food quality remains sub-par and it is rare to experience high quality food or beverages on campus, especially free of charge.

On Wednesday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Union Court in the Memorial Union Building at the University of New Hampshire hosted the Mini Food Show. The event was put on by UNH Hospitality Services. There were six local vendors in attendance, and a variety of food and beverages for university students to sample.

I had the privilege of talking with these six vendors and trying all their delicious delectables and beverages. The selected vendors each had a unique twist on their company; for some it was helping a charity, for others it was how they sourced their products.

I followed the order of the tables starting with Popcorners chips. Their main selling point is that these chips are made with non-GMO corn. These triangular chips are currently sold at Union Court.

The man working the booth had three samples available to try. The first was kettle corn flavored, the sweet and salty flavors filled my mouth, I couldn’t wait to try what he had next. The next was sea salt, which, was like most sea salt chips: enjoyable. However, nothing stood out about them. The last and my personal favorite was the jalapeño cheddar with a slight kick of spice these chips were different than anything I had ever eaten before. The jalapeño gave the chips their flavor, but the cheddar calmed the kick of spice subtly.

Next, I spoke to Katie Morin the New England territory manager of Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co. and sampled nearly every juice she brought.

Natalie’s is now selling its holistic juices alongside its other juices and lemonades, which were extremely popular at the Mini Food Show. The holistic juices had names such as resilient, purify and relax, so it is easy to understand why college students would enjoy a sample, especially with finals nearing. Every student is looking for something to help with their rising stress levels, including me. If my saving grace is juice from Natalie’s so be it. Each juice I sampled was extremely fresh and natural. It was hard to stop sampling.

Morin described the packaging and background of the company. Each bottle tells you exactly how many ingredients are in it and includes no preservatives or additives. “They are all made with functional health ingredients,” Morin said. Natalie’s has been around for 30 years and is based in Fort Pierce, Florida where Marygrace Sexton started her brand which is named after her eldest daughter. 

My roommate and I were so in love with the flavors and the ingredients in every juice we tried that she joked, “Our refrigerator next year is going to be filled top to bottom with Natalie’s juices.” The orange mango happened to be both of our favorites. Morin pointed out that it only listed two ingredients, orange puree and mango puree, noting again, that there is no preservatives or additives. “That’s the Natalie’s way,” Morin said.

Finally, moving on to the booth I had been drawn to from the start, the pretzels. These warm knots of pretzel dough were handed to us on a cardboard tray with Maui-Onion mustard to dip them in. Both the pretzel and the dipping sauce were made by the Eastern Standard Provision Co., founded in Boston.

Each bite of buttery, salty and spicy due to the mustard made me want more and more; the small ball of warm dough was simply not enough. If the line of people waiting didn’t continue to grow, and the man working behind the booth didn’t seem so frantic to heat the pretzels and get them out to students, I eagerly would have asked for another. 

My next stop was a booth labeled 88 Acres: The Seed Co. Here I sampled a dark chocolate sunflower seed butter, a vanilla spiced sunflower seed butter and double chocolate mocha seed bar. I am always down to try something new, but my first instinct was that I wouldn’t enjoy any of these samples. I’m not a huge fan of crunchy, seedy bars to begin with. I was quickly proven wrong by the naturally sweet flavors provided by all the samples and the wholesome ingredients each one contained. With many friends who have nut allergies, these butters and bars are nut free, non-GMO certified, gluten free and vegan certified. These products are made in a bakery free of peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and sesame.

After, the Seed Co. I was on my way to Everybody Water’s booth. With a goal of helping women and girls around the world, a portion of their proceeds go to clean water projects globally. The intention behind this is to help these women and girls receive an education, work and for families to thrive. Megan Hayes, the co-founder of the company explained that right now, many girls and women are lacking the same educational advances as men because their days are spent looking for and obtaining water to run the house. By helping in clean water projects, more of these women and girls are getting opportunities they wouldn’t have without a source of water directly in their homes. Megan Hayes and Kimberly Reilly, the other co-founder, also spend time travelling to help these countries and people in need. Their most recent trip which is documented on their website was to La Virtud, Honduras. Their cardboard boxes of water have a fun, cute design that says, “Everybody Water, Water With a Heart.” Hayes handed me my own to drink. Although it was just water, it felt good knowing it was benefiting a good cause and that it was made with 100% recyclable. 

Sharing the other end of her booth, Hayes was with the New England Made company who provided samples of apple sauce. Karl Dias and his company work with colleges and schools to get naturally and locally sourced foods into cafeterias. Dias handed me a sample of their 100% apple, apple sauce. It was delicious! Like, many college students I have been trying to eat healthier. Recently I have been trying to incorporate more fruit into my diet. Dias explained that their applesauce is always made with McIntosh apples. The New England Made company is trying to help universities have more natural and healthy options available to students, Dias said.

For two hours the event drew the attention of hungry students passing by. Many quickly grabbing a sample on their way to or from class. Allowing them to sample something new and something different from their typical dining hall meal plan.