Applications are open!

For the 2025 St. Louis Earth Day Festival, we are working to have ALL Green Dining Alliance certified members and/or *new this year* those who have an ALL vegan menu.  We hope to have an All Vegan Zone within the Earth Day Cafe.

We are seeking food vendors (restaurants, caterers, food trucks) to serve diverse, tasty, and sustainably-sourced food and beverages at the 2025 St. Louis Earth Day Festival. This is NOT typical fair food.

We are looking for businesses that can answer “yes” to at least some of the following questions:

• Is your restaurant/business certified by the Green Dining Alliance?
• Do you have vegetarian and/or vegan items on the menu?
• Is your company/restaurant ownership based within the St. Louis area?
• Do you source locally produced/grown ingredients?
• Do you source certified organic ingredients?

earthday365 reserves the right to decline any menu item or applicant based on our strict sustainability requirements. Any additions/changes to the menu MUST be approved by our staff three weeks before the event. When multiple applications propose similar menu offerings, time of application submission may influence which application is approved.

General Food Vendor Regulations:

• All applicants must agree to use ONLY recyclable or compostable disposable products (cups, cutlery, plates, wraps, napkins, etc).
• GDA Certified members are given preference
• Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the Festival grounds.
• #6 plastic, Styrofoam, and black plastic are NOT acceptable.
• Food vendor deposits will not be returned, should these regulations be ignored.

REQUIRED:

• 1 vegan food option for those selling food

NOT ALLOWED:

• Bottled water
• High-fructose corn syrup (includes most sodas and syrups)
• Products containing palm oil
  
• Lemonade (Exclusive to Sierra Club)

AVOID:

• Highly processed or deep-fried food
• Red meat (*see below for exceptions)
• Artificial sweeteners, dyes, etc.

RECOMMENDED:

• Offer multiple vegetarian and/or vegan options
• Finger foods or foods that do not require cutlery (preferred)
• Offer made-from-scratch foods and drinks
• Use locally grown and organic ingredients
• If using meats or fish, use locally raised*
• If using red meats, use grass-fed/pastured (strongly encouraged)

*Local farms will receive preference over local distributors (e.g., “KUNA Food Service” is a local company, but it distributes meat from all over the US). Considering the intense environmental impacts of meat and seafood, and particularly of red meat and ocean-caught seafood, majority plant-based menus will receive preference over majority animal-based menus unless meats are locally-sourced from responsible farms/fisheries. (See our GDA Resources or Known & Grown STL)

First priority for consideration and acceptance will be for restaurants certified through the Green Dining Alliance (GDA) program. In addition, GDA restaurants receive a $200 discount on booth fees.

If you qualify for the GDA certification process and would like to improve your chances of being accepted as a food vendor at the 2025 Festival, visit the GDA website first to see if your business can commit to the requirements of the program; then contact Gillian Garland, GDA Program Manager, to schedule an audit by January 5, 2025.

*** Please Note:  Individual generators are NOT allowed, even for food trucks.  The propane-fueled generators we use produce nearly 75% less emissions compared to standard diesel generators. They are also much quieter and located further away from the booths.