First time I attended Expo I had just relocated from Northern to Southern California. Between the disorientation from the strange new land of The OC and the sights, tastes, smells and people from Expo, I really felt like I fell down the rabbit hole. I remember going to the after show party at the Marriott the first night, taking it all in, and someone whispered to me, "It's just like the Star Wars bar, isn't it?"
Below I have a few photos from past years...mullet wigs, capoeira, semi naked Brasilian carnaval dancers, reggae bands, boys sporting their favorite hats, ritualistic gourd passings, plenty of facial hair....little different vibe than, say, what's going on at 52nd and Park.

Beyond the surface level of the show, what's really happening is that this is a gathering of manufacturers and consumers that have tried to raise the bar in the type of products they create, and create higher standards in the way they conduct business. All the funkiness aside, you can't help being inspired, and that inspiration guides you in the everyday choices you make as a consumer.
Expo West is the epicenter of a community where organic farming, Fair Trade ethics, sustainable supply chains, conscious packaging choices and strange new food began. You'll often hear heated discussions around GMOs, plant-based protein sources, helping poor communities around the world where the ingredients are sourced and learn about new products that promote health and vitality that essentially try to change the world for the better. Steve Demos, one of the early pioneers in the industry who created Silk Soy milk (based on a vision he had in a cave in India in the 70's around creating a product that is 'good for me, good for you, good for anyone who touches it' - that also is profitable) dubs it, fondly, "The Fringe."
I recently finished a book that a friend wrote called "Starting Over", which is thought-provoking essay that analyzes world and business events from the past decade, and gives guidance on business opportunities for the future. One of my favorite parts is the last chapter, where he states, "And there are the really big problems, which could be big opportunities" then quoting a professor from the University of Houston: "If you say we've got this huge crumbling infrastructure in Africa -- maybe the world gets together and says 'We need to really do something about this.' We beat back fascism in the 1940s and created tremendously prosperous societies from the ruins of those countries. We beat back communism in the 1980s. So today the problems of poverty and lack of resources are huge, but that might mean that the world gets together and says, 'We can fix this.'"
That thought has been part of the DNA of The Fringe for the past 30 years.
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