Festival Food Good with a Locally Grown Focus

It was hard to go hungry at the 2013 Double Decker Festival. Photo by Stewart Pirani. April 27, 2013.

Walking down Lamar Avenue the colors and textures of the Double Decker vendor’ artwork grab your attention, but the aroma leaves your mouth watering.

Just as in year’s past, food has taken center stage on the event’s 18^th anniversary.  Local favorites like Rooster’s Blues House and Proud Larry’s are a main staple around the courthouse, but there are some new faces like Petra Café leaving a mark on the mouths of Double Decker visitors.

“It’s great coming out here and having all of these options to choose from for places to eat,“ said Ole Miss student Eric Villarreal.

The true test of how the food tastes can be seen in the long lines at every food vendor stand. You can get anything from Asian to fresh baked goods to the gourmet cuisine of Bouré. Local residents and visitors alike could not wait to get their hands on some grub.

But this year, the food created a bit of a controversy before the festival began. Organizers instituted a new policy requiring vendors to use locally sourced ingredients in their food offerings.

For some vendors, like Honey Bee Bakery, this new rule was no big deal since the restaurant’s menu already features locally grown food, but for others this new rule made preparing for Double Decker more of a challenge.

In the end, however, the vendors filled the courthouse circle with plenty of delicious options, including chicken kabobs, corn dogs and homemade lemonade. — By Brittani Acuff, senior broadcast journalism major, and Deb Wenger, associate professor.
brittaniacuff@gmail.com
drwenger@olemiss.edu