June 21, 2011

Boston's 'Let's Talk About Food Festival' Celebrates Food and Health

Robert Doyle READ TIME: 6 MIN.

BOSTON - This summer, the Museum of Science invites visitors to celebrate what we eat and why it matters with a first-of-its-kind, riverfront festival joining food, science, and community. On Saturday, June 25 the Museum presents the Let's Talk About Food Festival, taking place along the DCR Cambridge Parkway, behind the Royal Sonesta and adjacent to the Museum of Science.

The festival aims to educate, elevate, and empower the civic conversation about all aspects of our food system. Members of the community, along with farmers and chefs, scientists and policy makers, healthcare professionals, performers and artists, will gather along the Charles River for this one-day event.

Highlights include "the Endless Table," a 600-feet long table around which festival participants and guests will gather; a "Main Stage and Sub-Zero & Wolf Demo Kitchen," where many of Boston's best chefs will present cooking demonstrations; a gourmet "Food Truck Food Court" featuring some of the city's most popular food trucks; an "Edible Garden," and hands-on activities, cooking and gardening demonstrations, and food sampling stations. All Let's Talk About Food Festival activities are free to the public.

The festival caps the successful inaugural year of the Let's Talk About Food initiative, launched by the Museum of Science in Fall 2010. According to Paul Fontaine, Museum vice president of education, "Food enhances our experiences, forms the basis of cultural traditions, and brings us together.

The Museum is thrilled to gather our diverse communities in celebration of this common bond, and in an effort to learn from each other how we can improve the health of our bodies, minds, and environment through thoughtful decisions." He added, "We're grateful to Whole Foods Market for their generous sponsorship of the Let's Talk About Food Festival, which we hope will become a model for food-inspired happenings across the country."

"Whole Foods Market is proud to sponsor the Let's Talk About Food Festival. Educating consumers about the effects their food selections have on their health and the environment is a part of our mission as a company," said Kimberley Rose, Vice President of Purchasing, Merchandising and Distribution for Whole Foods Market's North Atlantic Region. "This festival is a fun way to engage the community and empower them to make the best food decisions for themselves and their families."

"The big idea behind Let's Talk About Food is that we all eat, and in many ways, we are all food experts. But each one of us cares about food in multiple ways," said Louisa Kasdon, founder of Let's Talk About Food. "Some of us love cooking and want to learn more, or are simply fascinated by the science of cooking. Others are most energized around the issues of obesity and health, or school lunches, or sustainability."

"Many of us want to do something about hunger or industrial food, or worry about the food safety of our food system. The Let's Talk About Food Festival is a kind of food-centered town meeting for our community, where experts and citizens will come together, and explore the entire range of food topics."

Chef participants include Jody Adams (Rialto), Joanne Chang (Flour and Myers+Chang), Dante de Magistris (Restaurant dante), Charles Draghi (Erbaluce), Mary Dumont (Harvest), Didi Emmons (Take Back the Kitchen), Tiffani Faison (finalist, Season 1 Top Chef), Todd Heberlein (Wilson Farm), Frank McClelland (L'Espalier and Sel de la Terre), and Richard Vellante (Legal Sea Foods).

Also joining the festival: Shannon Allen, (host, The Pre Game Meal), Tara Mardigan, (nutritionist for the Boston Red Sox), Sally Sampson, (Chop Chop Magazine), Ellen Ecker Ogden, (author, The Complete Kitchen Garden), Jeff Potter (author, Cooking for Geeks), Gus Rancatore (owner, Toscanini Ice Cream), Jim Wilson (owner/farmer, Wilson Farm), and Eva Sommaripa (owner, Eva's Green Garden).

The festival features:

  • The Main Stage and Sub-Zero & Wolf Demo Kitchen: Located in Front Park, the stage will feature presentations and cooking demonstrations by some of Boston's top celebrity chefs and health experts. Citizens of all ages can learn to cook, enjoy "kitchen challenges" and kitchen science demonstrations, pick up healthy eating tips, and take away new recipes.

  • The Endless Table: A 600-foot long table where the greater Boston community will come together to break bread, discuss all aspects of our food system, and learn about how what we eat affects our bodies, our planet, our economy and our future.

  • Food Truck Food Court: Positioned along the DCR Cambridge Parkway, a pop-up food court selected to showcase the latest trend in gourmet, locally sourced food-on-the-go.

  • Edible Garden: Ellen Ecker Ogden, author of new book, The Complete Kitchen Garden, will design an ornamental edible garden to show visitors how easy it can be to grow food. Guests can get an up-close view of this display garden, as well as 12 container gardens filled with spring greens, ruby chard, herbs, edible peas, and edible flowers. These gardens will inspire and delight the senses with beautiful food grown from healthy organic soil and seeds.

  • Activity Booths and Exhibitor Tents: A series of more than 50 booths will feature hands-on educational activities and sampling stations where visitors can try food and beverages plus learn about products that enhance a lifestyle of healthy eating. Guests will also have the opportunity to meet and learn from urban gardeners, food activists, food banks, food justice organizations, and culinary schools.

  • Ask A Nutrition Expert booth, Ask a Chef booth, and pop-up bookstore: Opportunities to meet and talk directly with chefs, nutritionists, local food writers, and cookbook authors.

    The Let's Talk About Food Festival is sponsored by Whole Foods Market. Endless Table sponsor: Finagle a Bagel. Main Stage sponsor: Clarke Distribution Corporation. Supporting Partners: Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare, the Massachusetts State Department of Conservation and Recreation, the City of Boston, the City of Cambridge, and Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston. Media sponsor: The Phoenix Media Communications Group. For more information, visit mos.org/food or call 617-723-2500, (TTY) 617/589-0417. Rain date: June 26, 2011.

    Launched by the Museum of Science in 2010, Let's Talk About Food is a celebration and exploration of what we eat and why it matters. Under this initiative, the Museum presents an ongoing series of public programs that spotlight how food influences our culture and shapes our health and environment.

    The Museum takes a hands-on approach to science, engineering, math, and technology, attracting about 1.5 million visitors a year via its programs and 700 interactive exhibits. Founded in 1830, the Museum was first to embrace all the sciences under one roof. Highlights include the Thomson Theater of Electricity, Charles Hayden Planetarium, Mugar Omni Theater, Gordon Current Science & Technology Center, 3-D Digital Cinema and Butterfly Garden. Reaching 25,000 teens a year worldwide via the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, the Museum also leads a multi-museum, $20 million National Science Foundation-funded nanotechnology education initiative.

    The Museum's "Science Is an Activity" exhibit plan has been awarded many NSF grants and influenced science centers worldwide. Its National Center for Technological Literacy� aims to enhance knowledge of engineering and technology for people of all ages and inspire the next generation of engineers, inventors, and scientists. Visit http://www.mos.org.

    DETAILS: Museum of Science presents the Let's Talk About Food Festival, an outdoor celebration of food, health, cooking, and science

    Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

    by Robert Doyle

    Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.

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