Bend ‘Meet the Maker’ event closes food circle

Whole Foods in Bend on Friday hosted its third annual Meet The Maker event, where they host local food vendors to meet the customers for their goods.

The event was held in the Whole Foods parking lot.

“We do this every year in order to highlight the local vendors we have in the store that work to make this community great,” said Jason Valdez, marketing and community relations team leader for Whole Foods in Bend.

Eight vendors took part to gain exposure and put a face behind the name of their product.

“We’re at Whole Foods today to show that we can grow lots of herbs and edible foods in very small acreage,” said Lin Perelliwright of Sagestruck Herbery.

Herbs, dog treats, kimbucha, jelly, pasta sauce and more vendor featured food was available. Many of the sellers are new to the local scene, and Meet the Maker was helpful to them, because it was free to participate.

Whole Foods donated $10 per vendor participant to the Central Oregon Locavore. They said they believe that the community appreciates seeing where their local product comes from.

“I think it really resonates with them,” Valdez said. “I think they understand that they can vote with their wallets, and by doing that and supporting the people that they meet, it just kind of closes the circle.”