Street Food Festival guests enjoy the truck fare. Photo by Lindsey Nair.

On Wednesday evening, I crashed a private street festival in downtown Roanoke that was put on by the Roanoke law firm of Glenn Feldmann Darby Goodlatte.

I’m joking, of course. GFD&G attorney and fellow food lover David Tenzer invited me to their Street Food Festival 2012, which was held in order to show their appreciation to their clients. It was also meant to introduce people to some of the wonderful farmer/vendors who regularly sell their goods at the Grandin Village Community Market and the West End Community Market, so several vendors were set up with local produce, meat, baked goods and more. See the bottom of this entry for more details about those markets.

The event was also a celebration of GFD&G’s renewed support for the Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP), the nonprofit that runs both of the aforementioned farmers markets. The new sponsorship from the law firm will allow LEAP to double SNAP dollars (formerly known as food stamps) for people who otherwise have a hard time finding and/or affording fresh, local food. This is the second year of the firm’s sponsorship of LEAP. The nonprofit’s director, Brent Cochran, said the money will likely allow them to double SNAP dollars through this market season, but they need more help to keep the program going.

As a major bonus, Bruno’s Gastro Truck, Noke Truck and Homestead Creamery had trucks at the street festival and were dishing up really tasty grub. Also there were Foggy Ridge Hard Cider, Roanoke Railhouse Brewery and Valhalla Vineyards.

While I was at the street festival, I picked up another tip. A new farmers market of sorts is going to be happening on Tuesdays at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. It’s more of a farmers’ table, actually, because only one vendor will be set up there. The vendor is Good Food – Good People, a consortium of growers who raise everything from beets to beef, so the variety ought to be nice. And although they hope to draw shoppers from the hospital complex, anybody can buy there.

The Roanoke Memorial Hospital Farmers’ Table & CSA dropsite will be set up every Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. through October. The exact location is by the Riverwalk Parking Garage on Old Jefferson Street. For more information about this development, check out www.goodfoodgoodpeople.net or give them a call at 540-745-4347, ext. 2.

The Grandin market takes place on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon behind Surf & Turf on Grandin Avenue while the West End market is held on Tuesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. at the West End Community Center at Patterson Avenue and 13th Street SW.