Feb 3, 2010 at 7:15pm.

REAP (Research, Education, Action & Policy) Food Group’s Farm-to-School Program

Lisa Jacobson, manager of REAP’s Farm-to-School program and proprietor of the Mermaid Café on Winnebago Street, will speak at the next meeting of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW), Wednesday, February 3rd, at 7:15PM. Lisa will discuss the Farm-to-School program, which is a grassroots initiative whose goal is to enhance Wisconsin schools' existing meal programs by introducing fresh, nutritious, local and sustainably grown food to children. The program, like similar farm-to-school programs around the country, provides opportunities for children to reconnect with their natural world, strengthen links between the classroom and the lunchroom, and help establish a stable market for local farmers and processors. Highlights of her talk will include the recent (January 16th) inaugural "Pork-Off" competition to raise money for the Farm-to-School program. Ten chefs cooked about 200 pounds of pork for a dozen plus pork-based dishes for the event, which raised about $1000 for the Farm-to-School program.

Meeting Venue: 
Goodman Atwood Community Center, Bolz Room A; 149 Waubesa Street, Madison 53704; 608-241-1574.

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March 3, 2010 at 7:15pm

Wednesday, March 3rd, Kathleen Kline co-author (along with Ronald M. Bruch and Frederick P. Binkowski with photographs by Bob Rashid) of "People of the Sturgeon: Wisconsin's Love Affair with an Ancient Fish" will share the history and lore of the lake sturgeon in Wisconsin.

Lake sturgeon -- ancient fish native to the Great Lakes region that can grow to be more than six feet long-have teetered on the brink of extinction since the late nineteenth century. But in Wisconsin, careful management for over 100 years has allowed one population to thrive. People of the Sturgeon is a history of the cultures surrounding lake sturgeon in Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago region, told by a fascinating collection of photos, artifacts, and a few good fish tales. From some of the earliest inhabitants of Wisconsin, the Menominee Indian Tribe, to the spearers who flock to frozen Lake Winnebago for the annual sturgeon spearing season, people have always been drawn to this ancient fish. While overfishing, dams, and pollution nearly wiped out other populations of lake sturgeon, Winnebago sturgeon have survived and flourished because of the dedicated efforts of state managers, university researchers, and a determined group of spearers known as Sturgeon for Tomorrow. This is the only population of sturgeon in the world to have been nearly extirpated, then resurrected through a community-wide effort of people who are now joined together as People of the Sturgeon.

Kathleen Schmitt Kline is a science writer at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute.  She has a B.A. in biology and English from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and an M.S. in life sciences communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Meeting Venue: 
Goodman Atwood Community Center, Bolz Room A; 149 Waubesa Street, Madison 53704; 608-241-1574.

To get on the mailing list, or for more information, e-mail joanp@ginkgopress.com, or call Joan Peterson at 608-233-5488. Alternatively, email Paul Lyne at pwlyne@gmail.com or call Paul Lyne at 608-231-3674.