Let’s Talk About Food Festival

Food sustains a community, creates cultural traditions, has an
impact on health, affects the environment, creates jobs, energizes the economy
and nourishes the next generation. Food creates memories, brings together
family and friends and plays a central role in both celebration and
consolation. What other single topic ties our world together as powerfully and
joyfully as food?

On Saturday, October 5,
2013, celebrity chefs, farmers, writers, great food thinkers and anyone with a
passion for food will gather in Copley Square for the 2013 Let’s Talk About
Food Festival, the
region’s largest public food festival and outdoor seminar.   Presented by Whole Foods Market and
produced in conjunction with The Boston Globe, the free festival will celebrate
and explore all aspects of the food system.

“Food brings all of us together and impacts every part of our
lives,” said Louisa Kasdon, founder of Let’s Talk About Food. “This event will
explore every aspect of food, from nutrition to the environment – and we’ll do
it in a way that is engaging, educational and fun. We want to spark many
conversations about food and the role it plays in our community.”

From
food labeling to food allergies, food science to farming, fishing and cooking,
the festival aims to engage the public in participatory and meaningful
conversations about all aspects of the food system.  This fun and family-friendly event will offer
a series of talks and demonstrations along with interactive activities,
designed to engage and educate people on a series of topics, including health, nutrition, science, environment, cooking, farming
and agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, sustainability, fisheries, food
access, food safety and school food. 

“People
today are more interested in learning about food and where it comes from than
ever before,” said Kimberley Rose, regional vice president for Whole Foods
Market North Atlantic. “Because Whole Foods Market is committed to offering the
highest quality natural and organic food, we’re proud of the opportunity to
foster these important conversations and encourage everyone to come out to the
event on October 5.”

The event kicks off with a town hall forum on Thursday, October 3,
2013 at 6:00 p.m. at Trinity Church in the Back Bay.  The Forum “Can
New England Feed Itself?” will focus on the issues of sustainability in New
England.  Presented by the Massachusetts
Department of Agriculture, the event will feature a distinguished list of
speakers including Chef and Wholesome Wave CEO Michel Nischan, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (ME), Gregory
Watson, Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture, Amanda Beal, director of the By Land and By Sea Project, Brian Donohue, Associate Professor of
American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, Timothy Griffin, Associate Professor and Director of the
Agriculture, Food and Environment Program of the Friedman School of Nutrition
Science & Policy at Tufts University, Glynn
Lloyd, co-founder of City Growers and CEO of City Fresh Foods, and John Piotti, executive director of
Maine Farmland Trust.   The event is free
and open to the public but pre-registration is encouraged at www.letstalkaboutfood.com

On Friday, October 4, at 6:00 p.m., the discussion continues with
a community forum on Food, Faith and Ethics at Trinity Church.  Exploring the ways that food justice, ethics
and faith come together, this panel will feature Fred
Bahnson,
director of the Food, Faith and Religious Leadership Initiative at Wake Forest
University School of Divinity, Ellen
Parker, executive director of Project Bread, Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D, the director of the Consumer Safety and
Sustainability Group for Consumer Reports and The Reverend Patrick C. Ward, Associate Rector for Worship and
Communications at Trinity Church in Boston. The event
is free and open to the public but pre-registration is encouraged at www.letstalkaboutfood.com

On Saturday, October 5, the outdoor festival kicks off with a host
of presentations and programming elements. 
The main stage presentations will include:

·        
Cooking
for Geeks:  The science of food and
cooking presented by Jeff Potter

·        
Raise
Your Hand for Better School Food – a discussion on why
school food is so complicated and how it can be improved, featuring Ann Cooper
and chef Jody Adams  

·        
The
Mediterranean Diet – exploring the relationship between flavor and health, featuring
Oldways’ President Sara Baer-Sinnott, chef Ana Sortun and Kathy McManus from
Brigham & Women’s Hospital

·        
Let’s
Talk About Seafood – a discussion on sustainability of seafood featuring Barton
Seaver from the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment

·        
How
to Fuel an Athlete – learn how athletes eat for optimum performance, presented by
Tara Mardigan, nutritionist for the Boston Red Sox and Steve “Nookie” Postal,
former chef at Fenway Park

·        
An
Israeli Brunch: Beyond Hummus and Falafel – Explore Israeli
food with chefs Gil Hovav and Michael Leviton

·        
Men
(and Women) in Blue – local first responders from Cambridge, Watertown and Boston will
compete with area chefs in a cook-off. 

Throughout
the day, there will be a host of demonstrations and workshops, including
chocolate making, cheese making, pasta making, knife skills, fermentation and
much more.  For a full schedule of
demonstrations and workshops, visit www.letstalkaboutfood.com

 Exploring
the hunger issue is critical in any discussion about food.  Project
Bread, the statewide anti-hunger organization, will host A Fresh Approach to Ending Hunger at
Trinity Church.  Throughout the day,
non-profit organizations offering innovative approaches to ending hunger will
offer presentations and cooking demonstrations in Trinity Church.  Organizations onsite will include City Growers,
Community Servings, Cooking Matters, Dorchester Community Food Coop, Lovin’
Spoonfuls, Massachusetts Farm to School, Mill City Grows, and Project
Bread. 

The
festival will also feature The Endless
Table, where festival attendees can mingle with food experts for a daylong
series of conversations about the food system, including how food affects the
body, the economy and the planet.  Each
segment of The Endless Table will host
a moderated discussion on food topics, including food and obesity, school food,
sustainability, food safety, urban agriculture, food labeling and more.

Other festival activities will include:

o  
The
Edible Garden - a
hands-on container garden, or series of container gardens that lets adults and
children “get their hands dirty” and learn about planting and tasting edible
gardens.  

·        
The
Marketplace - a
food-centered marketplace for exhibitors, health and food vendors, and
educational institutions and community organizations to present their wares and
their works to the public.

·        
Ask
a Chef - get all
the answers to cooking and restaurant questions from a revolving roster of
chefs

·        
Ask-a-Nutritionist – get the answers to healthy
eating and nutrition questions

·        
Calories In, Calories Out – an interactive activity
showing calories in common foods and how much activity it takes to burn the
calories off

·        
Kitchen Conversations - a living project that captures
the spirit of food in a rich, archive of first-person narratives about food
memories.   A recording booth onsite will
allow festival goers to share their own stories

There
will also be author readings, cookbook signings and more throughout the
weekend. For more information about this free festival, visit www.letstalkaboutfood.com