Why We Need To Know Where Our Food Comes From
âKitchen Literacyâ Author Programsâ
Why We Need To Know
Where Our Food Comes From
Ann Vileisis will present a thought-provoking slide lecture on todayâs food sources on Saturday, October 27, beginning at 2 pm, at Southbury Public Library, 100 Poverty Road. An alumni of Westover School in Middlebury, Ms Vileisis will also be speaking at Westoverâs Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, October 24, at 7 pm.
Ms Vileisis is the author of the just-released book Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get It Back. Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust and Southbury Land Trust are co-hosting the event to promote awareness of the importance of locally grown food. The program will be followed by a reception featuring local baked goods and beverages, and the author will be available to autograph copies of Kitchen Literacy.
How did we become so disconnected from the sources of the countless foods we eat? An avid gardener and cook, Ann Vileisis promises to broaden perspectives about historical and contemporary patterns of putting food on the table. Industrialized eating is undeniably convenient, but it has also created health and environmental repercussions, including the effects of toxic pesticides and pollution from factory farms.
A native of Middlebury, Ms Vileisis became interested in history and the environment as an undergraduate at Yale University, where she earned her BA. She also has a masterâs in history from Utah State University.
Ms Vileisis is also the author of Discovering The Unknown Landscape: A History of Americaâs Wetlands.
She is married to the author and photographer Tim Palmer. Together, they spent 11 years as nomads, living and traveling in a van as they did their research and writing. In 2003 the moved to the Oregon coast, where they now reside in the small town of Port Orford.
Both programs are free of charge. Call Flanders Nature Center, 263-3711, or the library, 262-0626, for additional information.
For information about the Westover program call 203-577-4565. The school is at 1237 Whittemore Road in Middlebury, opposite the town green. Parking and the entrance to the performing arts center are both on School Street.