Virtual Foodways Symposium Set for April 5 - 10

The annual Kalamazoo Foodways Symposium is sponsored by Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo Valley Museum and a number of community collaborators. The event inspires and empowers greater Kalamazoo area communities to honor its agricultural history and heritage cuisines, celebrate good food and work together to build a just and healthy future for all.

The 2021 Kalamazoo Foodways Symposium: Plant Forward Foodways will be a fully virtual event. It will focus on the future of foodways and will provide a platform for discussions not only about the intersection of food and culture, but health and environment as well.

The keynote session, scheduled to go live at noon Monday, April 5, will feature a cooking demonstration by author and chef Abra Berens. Live Q&A sessions will be offered at the end of the event, on Saturday, April 10 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Berens is a chef, former farmer and writer who believes that the meals we eat should change with the seasons and that their ingredients should come from nearby. She strives to make simple, delicious meals that champion the region.

Her first cookbook, Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables, is a teaching cookbook that aims to help build readers’ confidence in preparing vegetables by providing easy-to-follow recipes, detailed explanations of cooking techniques and a myriad of variations for each recipe to inspire future dishes. Berens will focus on how plant-forward cooking can be exciting, healthy, sustainable and delicious. She will provide recipes and tips to follow.

Throughout the rest of the week, educators, chefs, home cooks, activists and neighbors from the Kalamazoo community will present live sessions via Zoom. Topics will range from making your own soda syrups and vegan cheeses to at-home sustainability practices like composting and building a habitat for native bees and demonstrations and talks that share personal stories and traditional recipes - all with a focus on a love of plants and vegetables.

Sessions are scheduled at various times throughout the day from Monday, April 5, through Saturday, April 10. A full schedule and registration information is available at www.kalamazoofoodways.org.