MEDIA ADVISORY: ‘Renegade Lunch Lady,’ former White House Chef join celebrity chefs at MU for 2010 Farm to Table Event

Event will feature farmers’ market, workshops, presentations and hands-on demonstrations

Story Contact(s):
Christian Basi, BasiC@missouri.edu, 573-882-4430

Walter Scheib, former chef at the White House, will be one of several guest speakers and presenters at the 2010 Farm to Table event at the University of Missouri.

WHAT:

The University of Missouri University Club, University Catering and Event Services, and the American Culinary Federation Central Missouri Chapter will host the 2010 Farm to Table event. The event is an opportunity for cooking enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels to interact with national, regional and local chefs through workshops, presentations and demonstrations.

Workshops will include demonstrations on cooking with lamb, raising chickens, preserving and cooking with herbs, eating healthy, raising honeybees, creating a vegetable garden, and cooking with beer.

Special guest speakers will touch on various topics including children’s nutrition, sustainable agriculture education and Ozark heritage cuisine.

WHO: More than 15 chefs, nutrition experts and farmers will speak, including:

• Walter Scheib, former White House executive chef.
• Ann Cooper, a.k.a. the Renegade Lunch Lady, director of nutrition services for the Berkeley (California) Unified School District and founder of the Food Family Farming Foundation.
• Vera Massey, regional nutrition and health education specialist for University of Missouri Extension.
• Dan Wehner, executive chef at The Westside Local Restaurant in Kansas City.
• Patrick Byers, regional horticulture specialist with University of Missouri Extension.

For more information about the speakers and their presentations or workshops, please see attached information for details.

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, June 12 and 13. Please see attached schedule for details.

WHERE: Reynolds Alumni Center and the Carnahan Quadrangle on the MU campus. Please see attached schedule for details.

WHY: For more information, to purchase tickets or view a schedule of events, please visit: www.f2tuclubmissouri.com

Farm to Table

Information on Selected Speakers

June 12-13, 2010

Patrick Byers, a regional horticulture specialist with University of Missouri Extension, will discuss which berries are most suitable for commercial production and how to begin home production in Missouri. He also will present information on economically promising berries such as elderberry, aronia, hardy kiwi, gooseberry and stone fruits.

Ann Cooper, a.k.a.  the Renegade Lunch Lady, is the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley (California) Unified School District and founder of the Food Family Farming Foundation. She works to transform how American children are fed in school from commodity based and highly processed food to highly nutritious and wholesome substitutes that also are delicious. Cooper will describe how school districts across the county have changed their menus and improved kids’ lives.

Vera Massey, a regional nutrition and health education specialist for University of Missouri Extension, presents a dozen workshops each year on food preservation around the state.  She also teaches health promotion, stress management and healthy lifestyles. At the Farm to Table event, Massey will demonstrate the basics of food preservation and discuss the economic and social aspects.

Walter Scheib, White House executive chef from 1994 to 2005, will discuss his experiences at the White House and share what he sees as trends in American cuisine. Scheib said that the trend to old-fashioned, traditional American cuisine is fueled by a need to avoid processed and high-fat foods that cause obesity and chronic health disorders, to rediscover the social aspects of cooking and eating, and to support sustainable and ethical food processing. He said that these trends will be significant factors that restaurants and grocers will need to follow to be successful in the next 15 years.

Chef Dan Wehner, executive chef at  The Westside Local Restaurant in Kansas City. During the event, Wehner will describe the trend of restaurants that are building an infrastructure of local suppliers to provide healthier and more ethical food choices for customers. Wehner said that the mindset of Midwestern diners is changing; people are more cautious of food grown overseas or from factory farms.

FARM TO TABLE

Schedule of Events

June 12-13

Saturday, June 12

Worm Composting

9 – 10:15 a.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture

Preparing Rabbit

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Mike Odette, executive chef of Sycamore, Columbia, Mo.

Ozark Heritage Cuisine / One Hundred Years of Farm to Table

10 – 11:00 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Robert Stricklin, College of the Ozarks, Branson, Mo.

Five Decades of Farm to Table

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Bill Cardwell, owner of Cardwell’s at the Plaza, St. Louis, Mo.

Healthy Eating 101

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

T.E. Atkins Wellness Program

Lunch with Former White House Chef Walter Scheib

11:30 – 12:45 p.m. — Carnahan Quad Event Tent

Preserving and Cooking with Herbs after the Growing Season

12:45- 1:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Craig Cyr, chef and owner of the Wine Cellar and Bistro, Columbia, Mo.

Missouri Wine Taste Experience

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Great Room

Explore Beef Production — From Pasture to Plate

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Missouri Beef Industry Council

Sustainable Agriculture Education: Putting the Culture Back In Agriculture

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Bob Perry and Stuart Shafer, University of Kentucky

Introduction to Lamb 101

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Tim Grandinetti, Overlook Farm, Clarksville, Mo.

Rain Barrels

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

MO River Community Network

Preserving the Harvest

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Great Room

Vera Massey, MU Extension

Home Vegetable Gardening

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Jim Quinn, MU Extension

Cooking Healthy and Flavorful

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Debbie Gold, executive chef at the American Restaurant, Kansas City, Mo.

Building an Infrastructure of Farmers

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Jonathan Justus, owner of Justus Drugstore, Smithville, Mo.

 Cooking with Micro-Beer

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Dan Wehner, executive chef at the Westside Local, Kansas City, Mo.

Cooking with former White House Chef Walter Scheib

4:45 – 5:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Walter Scheib

Sunday, June 13

Raising Chickens

9 – 10:15 a.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

MU Poultry Department

 Preparing Rabbit

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Mike Odette

Ozark Heritage Cuisine / One Hundred Years of Farm to Table

10 – 11:00 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Robert Stricklin

Building a Better School: Model for feeding our children (INVITATION ONLY)

10 – 11:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Don Rey Room

Chef Ann Cooper, “The Renegade Lunch Lady”

Five Decades of Farm to Table

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Bill Cardwell

Finding, Meeting and Purchasing from Local Farmers

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Bob Perry and Julie Ridlon, owner of Farmer’s Market, St. Louis, Mo.

Cooking with former White House Chef Walter Scheib

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Chef Walter Scheib

Lunch with Former White House Chef Walter Scheib

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Carnahan Quad Event Tent

Building a Better Farmers Market

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Julie Ridlon

Preserving and Cooking with Herbs after the Growing Season

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Craig Cyr

Berries for Missouri

12:45 – 1:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Patrick Byers

Introduction to Lamb 101

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Tim Grandinetti

What Do Honeybees Do for You, and What Can You Do For Honeybees?

1:45 – 2:30 p.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Walk About Acres

Cooking Healthy and Flavorful

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Debbie Gold

Beer and Cuisine Pairing 101

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

O’Fallon Beer Tasting

Improving Our Children’s Nutrition

3 – 4 p.m. — Farmers Market Stroll Tent

Ann Cooper, “The Renegade Lunch Lady”

Building an Infrastructure of Farmers

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Columns Ballroom

Chef Jonathan Justus

Cooking with Micro-Beer

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. — Reynolds Alumni Center, Meeting Room

Chef Dan Wehner