Food & Education In Times of Crisis Dialogue

Food and Education in Times of Crisis:
A Bridging Classroom & Community Dialogue
 

Presented by the Leadership in Edible Education Program
at Antioch University Seattle & EduCulture

Thursday, April 23, 2020, 4-5 p.m.

How do we wrestle with the paradox we are currently experiencing at the cross roads of food supply and kitchen literacy when “(O)ur food distribution networks are under siege. At the same time, food is proving stressful for people who are not used to cooking for themselves” (New York Times 3-18-20)?  How do we hold space for the constraints we are experiencing with our food system and supply while creatively addressing short and long term solutions for food and education? 

With millions of students at home, schools struggling to create an on-line learning system, and parents struggling to feed and educate their children during a time of crisis, there are significant opportunities emerging for edible education and kitchen literacy on the home front and solutions for making our local-regional food community more relevant in a time of crisis and more durable and resilient for the future. 

Join us for a virtual dialogue via Zoom hosted by Antioch University Seattle, facilitated by Leadership in Edible Education faculty & Director Jonathan Garfunkel and feature program alumni and instructors. The dialogue will address the current COVID-19 crisis and its impact on our food systems. Among other topics, we will discuss the constraints to our food system and supply while also imagining creative solutions for a more durable and resilient future. Guests will include local food practitioners, helping to initiate this on-line dialogue.

This virtual event will also be an opportunity to learn about our upcoming LEE 2020-21 program cycle scheduled to begin summer quarter 2020.

ONLINE VIA ZOOM – Link and information will be sent prior to meeting date

To Register for this Free Event, visit: https://www.antioch.edu/continuing-education/course/SE%20LEE%201000_30283078/

Join us for Summer Farm to Table Dinner in the Fields

 Great company, local food, and wine.

EduCulture’s Summer 2015
Farm to Table Dinner & Farmraiser

Sunday, August 2, 2015
5:00-8:00p

Hosted in the fields of Bainbridge Vineyards
on Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms

8989 Day Road East, Bainbridge Island, WA

*****

Know where your food has come from
 through knowing those who produced it for you… Know where your food has come from
 by the very way it tastes: its freshness telling you 
how far it may have traveled
… so that you can stand up for the land
 that has offered it to you. – Gary Nabhan, A Terroir-ist’s Manifesto for Eating in Place

******

Join EduCulture this summer for an authentic farm to table experience in the fields where your food is grown.  Enjoy the pleasure of connecting place and taste, situated on the farmland where the ingredients of your meal are raised. The dinner and dessert will feature what’s ripe and sweet within our regional foodshed at the height of the summer season. This program is part of EduCulture’s effort to respond to a call for community based edible experiences grounded in tasting what we most need to learn about our local and regional foodshed.

Second courseThis foodshed to fork dinner is part of a series of seasonal dinners EduCulture is developing to bring people together around the wild and cultivated food traditions of our Pacific Northwest bioregion, some call Salmon Nation, including from our partner farms.

FT Dinner 7-14 entree

EduCulture is partnering with our Chef in Residence Leslee Pate, of The Food Shed,  and Local Guest Chef, Tad Mitsui, to help shape and deliver a menu built on what is seasonal and regional, all sourced locally, fairly and sustainably.

  • Enjoy a locally grownfarm to fork to cork dinner on Bainbridge Island.
  • Dine among the beautiful fields of Bainbridge Vineyards and Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms.
  • The meal will be prepared and presented featuring the ripeness and abundance of the summer season locally sourced from Laughing Crow Farm, Butler Green Farms, Bainbridge Island Farms, Paulson Farms, and other local wild and cultivated landscapes.

A great ending to a wonderful evening together.

The Four Course Menu will feature food prepared on site in a Wood Fired Oven:
1st Course: Oven Fired Focaccia Topped with Chèvre, Zucchini and Caramelized Onions

2nd Course: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Shaved Hard Cheese, Basil and Garlic Olive Oil

Main Course: King Salmon Fillet on an a Bed of Oven Fired Potatoes with Roasted Peppers, Fennel Relish and Wild Flower Butter

Dessert: Chocolate or Lemon Cakes in Jars with Fresh Cream and Raspberry Compote

  • Each course will be paired with slow wine, locally grown and produced by Bainbridge Vineyards.
  • Take a walking tour among the fields that serve as the source of your meal.
  • Appreciate the terroir of your wine while standing among the rows of vines that produced the grapes.
  • Enjoy the company of Betsey Wittick, farmer and winemaker, Laughing Crow Farms and Brian MacWhorter, Farmer, Butler Green Farms
  • Be a part of seeding & supporting EduCulture’s Edible Education Programs in 2015-16.

Raising a toast to a great summer evening.

This special event is a farm-raiser for our 2015-16 Edible Education Programs. 

$95 per person, a portion of which will be tax deductible.

Bring your friends, family, or even better – gift someone a place at the table.

To reserve your place at the table, please contact EduCulture at 206-780-5797 or admin@EduCultureProject.org.  Seating is limited.

Enjoying the last rays of sun over the hill.

EduCulture Partners in “Snow Falling on Cedars” Events

Jon Garfunkel of EduCulture gives a Historical Museum tour to cast members of Snow Falling on Cedars.

EduCulture’s Jon Garfunkel works with the cast members of Snow Falling on Cedars at Bainbridge Island Historical Museum.

Only What We Can Carry (OWWCC), EduCulture’s heritage and human rights education program, is excited to be partnering with Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA) and other Island organizations in a full menu of educational activities surrounding and supporting the BPA stage adaptation of the book Snow Falling on Cedars, written by Bainbridge Island author David Guterson. OWWCC will be involved in numerous pre and post-show events throughout the months of February and March 2015. 

Cast members discuss the story and look over related artifacts at the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum.

Cast members discuss the story and look over related artifacts at the Historical Museum.

 

Click here to read an Inside Bainbridge article about the production and EduCulture’s involvement.

Having this play produced and performed on Bainbridge Island presents a special opportunity to make many connections with this locally grown story. As many know, the historical context in which the novel takes place surrounds WWII and the Japanese American Exclusion, and the Pacific Northwest setting for the story is drawn from our own Island’s heritage.

EduCulture is partnering with BPA and other community organizations to help facilitate a series of educational outreach opportunities for local schools and the wider community during February and March. Related events in which we will be involved include:

– Meeting with cast members at Bainbridge Historical Museum and Suyematsu Historic Farm to serve as a resource for them and to discuss the “real” story of Japanese American Exclusion behind the fictional account.

– Japanese American Exclusion Film Talks at the Bainbridge Public Library; February 27; 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

– First Friday Art Walk at the BPA Gallery; “Ansel Adams – A Portrait of Manzanar”; March 6; 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Exhibit ongoing in the BPA Gallery through March 31.

– Post-Show Discussions; Snow Falling on Cedars; EduCulture will lead post-performance “talk backs” with cast members and Bainbridge Islanders who lived through WWII and Japanese American Exclusion. Discussions, in a Q&A format, will be facilitated by EduCulture’s Only What We Can Carry Project, and will feature esteemed local guests such as Kay Sakai Nakao, Mary Woodward, and Lilly Kitamoto Kodama. March 15, 22, and 29 following the 3:00 Sunday matinee.

– Assisting with special matinee performances of Snow Falling On Cedars for local middle school and high school students; March 26, including facilitating pre and post-show classroom and curricular activities focusing on the real stories behind this fictional account of WWII and Japanese American Exclusion.

– Partnering on a new “Exclusion Tag Project.” As part of the community conversation surrounding Bainbridge Performing Arts’ production of Snow Falling on Cedars, you are invited to share how the experience of exclusion relates to your own life by recording your comments on replicas of identification tags similar to those that were issued to Japanese Americans during the Japanese American exclusion experience. Completed tags with your recorded comments will be displayed in the BPA lobby throughout the run of the performance. They will subsequently be archived at the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum as the “2015 Exclusion Tag Community Project.”

For more information on this rich program of events, please follow this link to Bainbridge Performing Arts.

Check out our Facebook page for more about the Snow Falling on Cedars cast & activities.

Also, check out the upcoming edition of Currents Magazine published by the BI Arts & Humanities Council for more about these special programs.

We also invite you to visit our new Snow Falling on Cedars page in the OWWCC section of our website for a list of references and resources for further study of the realities that informed this fictional account of WWII and the Japanese American experience of exclusion.

Hope to see you at a Snow Falling on Cedars production and at the many events surrounding these performances.

Farm to Fork to Cork Dinner, August 2, Bainbridge Island

Food2454

Saturday, August 2, 5:30-8:30p
Hosted at Bainbridge Vineyards on Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms
8989 Day Road East, Bainbridge Island, WA

**********
Know where your food has come from
 through knowing those who produced it for you…
 Know where your food has come from
 by the very way it tastes:
its freshness telling you 
how far it may have traveled
…
so that you can stand up for the land
 that has offered it to you.
– Gary Nabhan, A Terroir-ist’s Manifesto for Eating in Place

**********

Join EduCulture this summer for an authentic foodshed to table experience, and have the pleasure of connecting place and taste, situated among the very fields where the ingredients of your meal are raised. The meal and tour will feature what’s ripe and sweet within our regional foodshed this summer season.

FarmView1

  • Enjoy a locally grown, farm to fork to cork dinner on Bainbridge Island.
  • Dine on the beautiful fields of Bainbridge Vineyards.
  • The meal will be prepared and presented by regionally renowned Food Shed, featuring the ripeness and abundance of the summer season.
  • The food will be locally sourced from Laughing Crow Farm, Butler Green Farms, Bainbridge Farms, and other local wild and cultivated landscapes.
  • Each course will be paired with slow wine, locally grown and produced by Bainbridge Vineyards.
  • Take a walking tour among the fields that serve as the source of your meal.  Appreciate the terroir of your wine while standing among the rows of vines that produced the grapes.
  • Enjoy the company of the farmer and winemaker, Betsey Wittick.
  • Be a part of seeding & supporting EduCulture’s Edible Education Programs in 2014-15.

IMG_1759

This foodshed to fork dinner is part of a series of seasonal dinners EduCulture is developing to bring people together around the wild and cultivated food traditions of our Pacific Northwest bioregion, some call Salmon Nation, including from our partner farms.  EduCulture is partnering with The Food Shed to help shape and deliver a menu built on what is seasonal and regional, all sourced locally, fairly and sustainably. 

Menu

Each course will be paired with wine locally grown and produced by Bainbridge Vineyards.

Appetizers  

  • Handmade Bread and Crackers with three spreads: Beet Hummus, Roasted Pepper and Currant and Cheese
  • Curried Jade Dumplings and Fresh Island Spring Rolls with Soy Lime Chili, Hoisen Sesame, and Peanut Dipping Sauces

Salad Course 

  • Kale and Shredded Beet and Cabbage Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing and Iggy’s Kimchee

Dinner 

  • Salmon Cakes
  • Green Beans tossed with butter, garlic and Edamame
  • Thin sliced roasted potatoes

(with Ponzu sauce and Iggy’s Sushi Kraut and fresh sprouts

Dessert

  • Matcha Green Tea Cakes with hand crafted Island Strawberry Ice Cream and fresh Rhubarb Sauce

 Click on the player below or here to listen to a podcast on
Bainbridge Community Radio about this upcoming dinner.

This special event is a farm-raiser for our 2014-15 Edible Education Programs. $95 per person, a portion of which will be tax deductible.

Bring your friends, family, or even better – gift someone a place at the table.

To reserve your place at the table, please contact EduCulture at 206-780-5797 or admin@EduCultureProject.org.  Seating is limited to 30 guests.

IMG_4364

Setting the Table for a Foodshed Series This foodshed to fork dinner is part of a series of seasonal dinners aimed at bring people together around the wild and cultivated food traditions of our Pacific Northwest bioregion, some call Salmon Nation, and eating what we most need to learn.

EduCulture is partnering with The Food Shed to help shape and deliver a menu built on what is seasonal and regional, all sourced locally, fairly and sustainably. In the spirit of creating convivia, each dinner will focus on a foodshed theme and will feature local producers, storytellers, or artists who will feed us with words, music, and  ideas.

This program is part of EduCulture’s effort to respond to a call for community based edible experiences grounded in tasting what we most need to learn about our local and regional foodshed.

Click here to read about our Winter Foodshed to Table Dinner.

IMG_2886

About The Food Shed The Food Shed’s objective is to cultivate conscious consumption by advocating local and sustainable food sources and cycles. They strive to be stewards of our own foodshed by providing local food experiences, enriching relationships between micro-producers, growers and local consumers, and modeling a “cradle to cradle” food hub that is centered in a deep local economy. The Food Shed makes sure every step along the food chain, from production to recycling, works in a cyclical and durable progression. We are working to pioneer new ways of collaboration and food interdependence, which in turn encourages farm literacy and folk culture and micro economic viability from the root of the community. To learn more about The Food Shed, visit www.KitsapFoodShed.com or see their Facebook page.

 

Celebrate 2nd Annual Akio Suyematsu Day

Come Celebrate Second Annual Akio Suyematsu Day!

Please join the Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farmers Guild, The Suyematsu Family, EduCulture and others in remembering this locally grown hero. All are welcome to attend.

Monday, August 19, 2013, 6-9pm
At Historic Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms, Day Road East, Bainbridge Island (Farm Stand Entrance)

Akio Suyematsu

Following his passing in 2012, the City of Bainbridge Island proclaimed August 19 “Akio Suyematsu Day” in honor of this iconic farmer. Akio Suyematsu was the last of the original Japanese American Bainbridge Island berry farmers, who created an agricultural and community legacy on a working landscape second to none in the Puget Sound region. His life’s work has kept alive a taste of Bainbridge for over nine decades and inspired generations of local farmers.

This celebration will feature a memorial display of Akio Suyematsu’s life, an historic walking tour of the farm, live music, and locally grown food and refreshments.

Read more…

Only What We Can Carry Project Helps Host National Tour of Historic Suyematsu Farm

DSCN2172On July 7, about 150 visitors from around the US toured Bainbridge Island as part of a National Conference hosted by the Japanese American National Museum.   Our Only What We Can Carry project was honored to be involved in this special event.

DSCN2162

OWWCC’s Jon Garfunkel organized the historic tours of Suyematsu Farm, accompanied by members of the Suyematsu family and farmers from Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farmers Guild.  Visitors were treated to a locally grown lunch featuring greens, potatoes and raspberries from the farm.

DSCN2152

Along with visiting the farm, these visitors also toured Bainbridge Gardens, Sakai School, and the BI Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.

There were almost as many docents hosting the event as guest visitors.  It was a special day that made one feel proud to be a part of our Island Community.

DSCN2159  DSCN2176

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Ray Tabata

Summer Celebration & Work Party

IMG_3105

Join us to celebrate the end of spring seeding and the beginning of summer!
Our celebration will showcase the hard work by our partner schools, our teachers, students, and their families. Come have fun with us for this part farm tour, part work party, and part “farm-raiser”.

Bring your work gloves to help weed, transplant, and hunt ripe strawberries. Our new chicks will be on display, as well as our fast growing worker rabbits.
We will serve a light brunch sourced from our partner farms and catered by Food Shed.

EduCulture is deeply grateful for the continued support of donors and volunteers. Please plan for our “Farm-raiser” as we seek to fund our developing edible education learning centers. Donations of $10 will get you a chance to take home a baby chick of heritage breed, or a young rabbit.

10483020-red-wild-strawberry-a-berry-and-a-white-flowerHave you tasted a Shuksan strawberry? You would remember if you did. These strawberries are so incredible, and we are lucky to have two rows of them growing. They will be served by Food Shed at our event, and some are available to pick that day. Take home your own strawberry plant for a donation of $5.

Call or email to RSVP or for more details:

 admin@educultureproject.org  206-780-5797

Summer Farm-School Work Party Schedule

IMG_2760

Summer is here! It is time to roll up our sleeves and get dirty. Our demonstration plots at Morales Farm and Heyday Farms need help this summer to maintain the hard work our students seeded this spring. We have work parties throughout the summer, on weekdays and weekends, at both plots. If you can’t make a scheduled work party, but still want to help, call us to schedule your own private farm time.

Bring your work gloves, wear your sunscreen, pack a picnic lunch. Sweet strawberries are ready for the picking!

Tuesday mornings 10-12 @ Morales Farm (Wilkes, Ordway, Island Coop)
June 18th
July 2nd,     July 16th,     July 30th
August 13th,    August 27th

Saturday mornings 10-12 @ Morales Farm (Wilkes, Ordway, Island Coop)
June 29th: RESCHEDULED to July 6th,    July 27th,    August 24th

Monday mornings 10-12 @ Heyday Farm (Blakely partners)
June 24th,    July 29th,   August 26th

We are immensely grateful for the community support that keeps our programs going.

Those interested in becoming docents are welcome at all work parties. Docent training is ongoing throughout the summer.

Check our Calendar for updates.