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Food for Thought Festival 2004 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THROUGH SEPTEMBER 18, 2004 Contact: Erin Oliver at eoliver@biodiverse.org or 608-335-4445 or Miriam Grunes, miriamg@reapfoodgroup.org Sixth
Annual Food For Thought Festival Meet
some urban chickens, try your hand at canning, and taste something new,
at the sixth annual Food for Thought Festival taking
place on September
17 and 18. “Delicious
local food is not just a summertime treat,” Grunes said. “We hope
that folks who attend the festival will see ways they can savor local
foods every day of the year, not just for special occasions, but for
simple meals as well.” Keynote
speaker Eliot Coleman, an innovative organic grower and co-owner of Four
Season Farm in Maine, will inspire listeners with the possibilities of
growing and eating fresh local food year-round.
Joining him will be Guest Restaurateur Tod Murphy, of The
Farmer’s Diner in Barre, Vermont. Murphy
runs a diner with a difference—most of the menu is grown within 70
miles of his front door. Saturday’s
events, from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. just off
the Capitol Square in Madison, will include speeches by Coleman and
Murphy. Cooking demonstrations will be performed by winners of the
Food for Thought recipe contest, by renowned food writer Barbara
Damrosch, by Patrick O’Halloran of Lombardino’s restaurant, and by
Lisa Krivist of Inn Serendipity. Other highlights include
booksigning by Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch, kids’ activities,
vendors and exhibitors, salsa and cheese making demonstrations, the
Jolly Giants stilt walkers, recipe contest awards, a raffle, and much
more. On
Friday evening, Coleman will give a lecture titled “Real Meals from
Local Fields: Beyond Organic” at 7:30 p.m. at Bascom Hall on the
UW-Madison campus. A panel discussion will follow, with panelists
Tod Murphy, noted organic grower and author Barbara Damrosch, and local
organic farmer Richard deWilde of Harmony Valley Farm. Larry
Meiller, host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Conversations with Larry
Meiller” will moderate the discussion. Featured
guests will continue the tradition of bringing recognized experts on
food and food systems to Madison. “Both
Eliot Coleman and Tod Murphy are innovators in bringing food to local
tables in their communities,” said Miriam Grunes, Executive Director
of festival sponsor R.E.A.P. Food Group, a local nonprofit organization
dedicated to promoting the development of an environmentally
sustainable, economically just, and healthful food system in and around
Madison.
“Eliot is a pioneer in growing fresh vegetables in ‘the other
eight months.’
Behind the scenes of a simple diner, Tod is recreating the food
system that every American community once had.
By featuring these two visonaries, we showcase the possibilities
of eating locally in every season.” The
core of the festival will be over 60 exhibitors with information,
demonstrations, food and much more.
Those attending the festival will have the chance to- try unusual
foods (including huitlacoche or corn smut – a traditional food in
Central America), wrangle chickens and make 24-carrot necklaces at the
children’s tent, and learn to prepare some fabulous, distinctively
Wisconsin dishes. One
of the most anticipated traditions at the festival is the announcement
of the “Daily Special” recipe contest winners.
Contest entries feature regional produce and products.
There will be a preparation demonstration of one of the entries
and the grand prizewinner will receive a $500 culinary vacation. All
festival events are free and open to the public. “What
started out as an occasion to bring attention to local food initiatives
has become a Madison tradition” says Grunes. The
first festival was held in 1998 and has continued to grow in popularity
each year.
“We have more booths and exhibitors this year than ever before,
full of new tastes and ideas,” says Grunes. The
annual festival is joined each year by celebrity guests.
Speakers and chefs from past festivals include Gary Paul Nabhan,
author of “Coming Home to Eat,” Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse
in Berkeley, California, Francis Moore Lappe, author of “Diet for a
Small Planet,” and Rick Bayless of Frontrera Grill in Chicago. The
festival is made possible by the generous support of
Whole Foods Market, Natural Ovens Bakery, Organic Valley Family
of Farms, Williamson Street Grocery Cooperative, Johnson Block &
Co., MATC Culinary Arts Dept., Divine Chocolate (distributed by SERRV
International), Home Grown Wisconsin, Isthmus Publishing, Marigold
Kitchen, Roden Creative, L’Etoile Restaurant, Prairie Dock Farm,
WisconsinGuide Magazine,
UW Lectures Committee, UW Dept of Agriculture and Applied
Economics, UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW Dept of
Rural Sociology, UW Dept of Agronomy, UW Dept of Horticulture, and F.H.
King Students of Sustainble Agriculture. For
more festival information and the latest listing of activities,
locations and times, please see the festival web site at www.reapfoodgroup.org/FFTF2004/index.htm. |
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