Kalamazoo Valley Community College Hosts Foodways Symposium April 5 to 9

KALAMAZOO, Mich., March 23, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The 2022 Kalamazoo Foodways Symposium will take place April 5-9. The event is meant to inspire and empower the Greater Kalamazoo community to honor its agricultural history and heritage cuisines, celebrate good food and work together to build a just and healthy future for all.

This year's theme of "Central American and Mexican Foodways" will be explored with experts both online and in person through lectures, workshops, demonstrations, food tastings and an outdoor Foodways Festival.
The virtual keynote speaker, chef Claudia Albertina Ruíz Sántiz, can be viewed live from a personal electronic device or at Kalamazoo College's Arcus Center from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5. Experience live online cooking demonstrations during the evenings of April 6, 7 and 8. Participants will learn from expert instructors about fascinating cultural and heritage food topics as well as how to cook the food at home. Registration for these live virtual sessions is available at kalamazoofoodways.org.

Virtual Sessions:
Tuesday, April 5
6 – 8 p.m.
Keynote Presentation
Resurgent Indigenous Foodways in Mexico: A Conversation with Chef Claudia Sántiz

Claudia Sántiz is among a handful of young chefs who are awakening the world's minds and taste buds to the breadth of indigenous Mexican cooking. Join us in an evening of conversation with Chef Claudia and food system scientists Helda Morales and Bruce Ferguson as we explore the ways that her roots in a Tstotsil Maya community inform her work as a cook and restaurateur. Alarmed by precipitous changes in local food and farming, Claudia puts care for human health, culture and the land at the center of her culinary practice. Her life experience and the challenges she has faced as an indigenous woman mirror broader patterns of power and resistance in our food systems.
To register go to: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8cb-Nsd3SJe-qIQIG2a-0A

Wednesday, April 6
7 – 8 p.m.
The Kitchenistas – Film Panel Discussion and Cooking Demo
The Kitchenistas is a feature documentary film released in March 2021 and airing on PBS stations across the nation. What started as a seven-week nutrition program eight years ago in National City, California, for women seeking healthier diets to address a family crisis of obesity, diabetes and other diet-related issues has, by 2022, became a 320+ Latina-led movement to raise the health, well-being and resilience of a community. National City has one of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in San Diego County and in California, and the program graduates, called "Kitchenistas," are out to change that, one healthy meal at a time. They are community builders, teaching healthy food traditions and advocating for high-quality food in their homes, schools, city and beyond.
The screening will be followed by a bilingual panel discussion with film producer Mary Ann Beyster, two Kitchenistas - Chefs Patty Corona and Aureny Aranda, and Dr. Sabrina Falquier Montgrain. The Kitchenistas will give a cooking demo to share a fun, tasty and healthy dish celebrating the Mexican culture.
NOTE: Film will be available via online streaming, and sent to all registered participants prior to session.
To register, go to: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JorJiq2cTuauXxoZglfMlQ

Thursday, April 7
6 – 8 p.m.
Indigenous People and Biodiversity: Imperatives for Food Sovereignty
Instructor: Rony Eleazar Lec Ajcot

This course will introduce participants to the bridge between Indigenous people, biodiversity and traditional knowledge as pillars for food sovereignty both locally and globally. It will present the crucial role of Indigenous people as guardians of biodiversity and natural resources, and it will demonstrate how these elements are connected to our daily life, and how they ensure food security for humankind. The presentation will be followed by a cooking demo with members of the Institute for Mesoamerican Permaculture, featuring the importance of corn and the many uses of it in traditional Mayan culture.
To register, go to: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eVlHPjz5STuCcEaWznaLgA

Friday, April 8
6-7 p.m.
Corn, Culture, and Community: A Conversation with students at Kalamazoo College
"Maíz (corn) is like a human being; it cannot grow without human care and human beings cannot grow without maíz. It is our Indigenous belief." - Cente Tlakatl Ke Cente Cintli, Human Beings Are Like Kernels of Corn, Paula Domingo Olivares

The enduring relationship between corn and the Indigenous Peoples of what is now called Central America and Mexico is a vital piece in the history and culture of those regions. From these diverse regions of Central America and Mexico come many stories of life sustained through corn. We wish to follow corn's enduring relationship with people of Central American and Mexican heritage to the land now called Kalamazoo. How can we see corn's relationships within our communities in and around Kalamazoo College? How do relationships with corn look different between generations of people from these regions? What can we learn from people's stories about corn? Through a short interview-based documentary, as well as a virtual panel discussion, we hope to invite those of Central American and Mexican heritage to share their stories about corn and its role in their lives.
To register, go to: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LDg26FN6TK6jfTOGIKDEHw

On Saturday, April 9, the symposium will conclude with an outdoor Foodways Festival on the property of the Food Innovation Center (FIC) of Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The Foodways Festival will include many who contribute to the community culture of Central American and Mexican foodways in Kalamazoo. There will be booths from local businesses and nonprofit organizations, food trucks, exhibitors, presentations, panel discussions, activities for kids, workshops, music and more. There will be live music from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. by the Connecting Chords Music Festival in partnership with the Kalamazoo Valley Museum featuring musicians Rene Meave and Kris Paul.
This event will take place rain or shine and includes a close-up look at the FIC's greenhouse and innovative hydroponic and aquaponics growing systems.

The Foodways Symposium is a community collaboration made possible in part by a grant from the KVCC Foundation. The program and activities provide historical, cultural and practical insights into food and food systems in Southwest Michigan. It serves as a convening point for students, practitioners and the community to come together to build a strong, vibrant local food system.

Media Contact: Linda Depta
Executive Director of KVCC Foundation
Director of Fund Development
269.488.4821 or [email protected]

Media Contact

Dawn Kemp, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, 269.488.4685, [email protected]

SOURCE Kalamazoo Valley Community College