Hungry? NHMU Announces Food-Themed Series

If you’re reading this, it probably means you’re alive (fingers crossed), which then leads us here at Salt Lake magazine to conclude that you are, in fact, a human—and therefore that you do, in fact, eat food. Are you still with us? Good, because the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City is putting on a lecture series all about the literal sustenance of life: food! How have our eating habits changed over the course of time? What do we need to change? How can we do better, feel healthier, and feed more people? (You have no idea how much willpower was involved in not using the tired phrase “food for thought” here, and you should attend the event based on the inspiring nature of that alone.)

The series will start on March 7 and 8 with Naomia Starkman, who is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the food publication Civil Eats. The site is an award-winning daily news source encouraging critical discussion of the American agricultural system. Starkman, as credited by the Natural History Museum, “is quickly becoming one of the leading minds in reimagining the way we think and talk about food.” Civil Eats argues that we need cleaner food, fairer food, and better food. It’s not just about numbers anymore. The Natural History Museum says that “Now more than ever, people are demanding truth, trust and transparency about their food.” In her lecture, Starkman will outline the Good Food Movement and its social, economic and cultural effect on regulation, businesses and communities. The lectures starts at 7 p.m. but since it’s free, get there early (doors open at 6:15)—reserve seats for the 7th here or reserve seats for the 8th here.

Naomia Starkman
Naomia Starkman

On March 23, researcher and entomologist Dr. Diana Cox-Foster will be delivering a lecture about bees and whether or not we should all panic about their rumored disappearance. (Hopefully she’ll tell us we have nothing to worry about, because 2017 is hard enough, but from the looks of the lecture so far… we should buckle in for some cold, hard, educational truth.) Dr. Diana Cox-Foster is a pioneer researcher in understanding the value of pollination in producing the food we eat. She’s also deeply knowledgeable about the reality of heightened bee death as they drop out of our delicate ecosystem that so dearly relies on their care. Their loss creates “devastating effects.” But there may be hope yet—so in her lecture, Dr. Cox-Foster will let us know what is being done to alleviate us from this bee-free dystopia. For tickets, click here.

photo Andrew Zimmern
photo Andrew Zimmern

The last (announced) lecturer will be Andrew Zimmern, whose resume reads like a lengthy grocery list: TV personality, chef, food writer, teacher and three-time James Beard Award-winner. The museum says that Zimmern is “widely regarded as one of the most versatile and knowledgeable personalities in the food world.” His numerous shows on the Travel Channel center around exploration into unusual, weird and sometimes terrifying food—it seems crucial to note that all three of his Travel Channel shows have “Bizarre” in the title, which seems like a promising thing for a lecture speaker. If you care to learn more about his international adventures, Zimmern will be offering his “interpretation of the way we live our lives through food” as well as suggesting what we might change for the future. Tickets are here and range from $6-$12.

 

–by Amy Whiting

Salt Lake Magazine
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