Is millet the new quinoa? Sujala Balaji is a food scientist turned social entrepreneur committed to feeding the world sustainably by using ancient grain millets to address the need for sustainable and resilient food systems. With no need for pesticides/fertilizers, requiring much less water to grow, and their ability to help keep the soil healthy, millets are being called the "smart foods" by ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics). After working in the corporate world for over…

Join Laura Carlson, food historian, writer, and host of the award-winning radio show & podcast, The Feast, for a an exciting dive into the history of medieval Spanish food and culture. Considering the voyage of a medieval pilgrim along the famous pilgrimage path, the Camino de Santiago, Laura will take you on a journey through the cultural and culinary landscape of medieval Spain, and give you a sense of its enduring legacy. The pilgrimage path even inspired what might be…

Voyage to the Anthropocene: rocking the future of food. The Holocene is giving way to the Anthropocene, the epoch of humans. What this means is that humankind is now the most impactful geological force on the planet. It will be official once geologists agree a start date and markers. 1950 is among the candidates for the start date; and you may be surprised to learn about some of the candidates for the “golden spike” or chief marker of the epoch.…

For millennia, in cultures around the world, the communal oven was the center of community life. Shauna Kearns looks at how the ancient tradition of wood-fired bread baking is helping transform communities in modern-day Pittsburgh Shauna Kearns is a founder and co-facilitator of the Braddock Community Oven in Braddock, PA. In this engaging talk, Shauna will explore how the Braddock Community Oven came to be built, and the role it plays in Braddock, touching on issues embedded in outsider-driven community…

Thu Nguyen is organizes Karma Kitchen in Moss Park, a monthly pay-it-forward delicious experiment in generosity. Our all-volunteer team makes vegetarian banh mi with fresh ingredients from Building Roots and spend the afternoon sharing our gifts with the residents of Moss Park. The guests are get a $0 bill at the end of their meal and invited to pay it forward to someone they don't know next month. Thu was inspired volunteering at the original Karma Kitchen in Berkeley where the gift economy model has…

Many consider Kensington Market one of Toronto’s food treasures, a precious ethno-culinary hearth. Food educator and podcaster Rosalin Krieger will be talking about Kensington Market’s eclectic, evolving ethno-cultural mix, class history and political significance from 1815 to present.  Like many others, Rosalin is concerned about the market’s gentrification pushing out long-term food creators and residences. This talk aims to celebrate, discuss ways to maintain the market’s unstable foothold in Toronto’s evolving food landscape and heritage. Dinner by Len Senater This…

Suzanne Barr occupies a space where many passions overlap: local community, food security, and advocacy for people of colour & LGBTQ communities. Join us for a conversation about intersectionality within kitchen culture as a woman of colour, the importance of storytelling, and understanding our positions of power and how we influence the next generation. ----- Dinner by Len Senater Tonight's menu features recipes by chefs of colour from around North America who are changing the face of our culinary landscape. Kimchi…

Join local food maverick Joshna Maharaj for a lively discussion about Take Back the Tray, a movement to reconnect food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in public institutions around the globe. And it's a story about how a chef took on the challenge of showing how we can create better food — and better food practices — for our public institutions. "My big dream for institutional menus is that they're seasonal, sustainable, diverse, AND inclusive. It's a nice thought,…