Featured photo by Skyler Wendell, Sidelines
Story by Shauna Reynolds
On Thursday night at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, volunteers worked quickly to set a table. Tables, really – about 20, lined up end-to-end, dressed in green and white gingham cloth. The tables snaked through Planet Roo, the festival’s non-profit village. Meanwhile, hundreds of sweaty friends and strangers stood under the blazing sun waiting to be seated for a long meal.
They’re hungry for the Bonnaroo tradition of a fresh meal on The Farm: the World’s Longest Salad.
The World’s Longest Salad is a communal experience open to anyone who can snag a ticket before they sell out. Picture this: at a check-in desk, volunteers invite diners to take a fork, choose a drink, and join the table. A row of vibrant greens piled with thin slices of beet, crisp carrots and delicate edible flowers stretch from one end of the extra-long table to the other. Organizers accentuated the table with shared baskets of grilled bread, platters of lacto-fermented pickles, Benton’s aged ham and pimento cheese. There are no plates – diners simply dig in with their forks and enjoy.
The foodies may have come from all over the world, but farmers grew the food locally. The setup fostered conversation between nearly 200 participants breaking bread for a common cause – Oxfam America, an international non-profit with the goal of ending poverty and injustice.
“Our work is mostly rooted in finding ways to solve inequality,” Bob Ferguson, project manager for creative alliances and music outreach for Oxfam America, said. “Because it’s our belief that inequality is the root of most of the bad that happens in the world.”
Oxfam and Bonnaroo make natural partners, Ferguson said.
“Some of the first ambassadors for Oxfam were the Beatles and The Rolling Stones back in the ‘60s,” Ferguson said. “So, we’ve got a long history of already working with the music industry to raise the profile.”
The World’s Longest Salad is one of several Bonnaroots dinners: fundraising meals that bring festivalgoers together for what might be the healthiest meal of the long weekend. This tradition started in 2013 as a casual event in the campgrounds and has evolved into feasts that Bonnaroovians look forward to each year.
Nicki Redding, a holistic practitioner from Victoria, Texas, returned this year for her third salad.
“I’m plant-based,” Redding said. “So, when I saw that there was going to be the World’s Longest Salad, I knew that was something that I wanted to be a part of.”
Emily Torgrimson from Minneapolis, Minnesota, executive director for non-profit Eat for Equity, worked behind the scenes to bring the spread to the table. She led a team of
volunteers from all over the country in a solar powered kitchen. Bonnaroo Works Fund covers the cost of the food, and the proceeds of a $30 ticket benefit Oxfam and Eat for Equity, Torgrimson said.
“Sometimes fundraising dinners are black tie only,” Torgrimson said. “But here, anything goes. No shirt? We’ll serve you. No shoes? We’ll serve you. No pants? We will also serve you.”
One of these shirtless diners was Dontae McKelvie, a reseller from Greenville, South Carolina. He savored his meal despite apprehension of its unique presentation.
“Lowkey, I’m a germaphobe,” McKelvie said. “So, coming here and eating a salad with everybody like this is a new experience, but I’m here for the experience, right? So yeah, I love it.”
But one question remains: is it actually the world’s longest salad?
“Guinness hasn’t been out here yet,” Torgrimson said. “I would bet it’s Coffee County’s longest salad. It’s certainly the longest salad here at Bonnaroo.”
Shauna Reynolds is the Lifestyles Editor for MTSU Sidelines
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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