UW News

May 16, 2011

Farm-to-table dinner May 26 at UW Center for Urban Horticulture

News and Information

The UW Farm and UW Department of Anthropology will host “A Taste of Spring,” a reception and dinner featuring local, seasonal foods. The event will be Thursday, May 26, 6-9 p.m. at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle.

A wine and appetizer reception will be followed by a farm-to-table dinner featuring salmon and seasonal produce. A vegetarian main dish – red bell pepper stuffed with wild mushrooms – will also be available.

A row of broccoli plants at UW Farm.

A row of broccoli plants at UW Farm.Julia Reed, UW

Tickets are $50 with proceeds benefiting the UW Department of Anthropology and the UW Farm. Seats are limited and the organizers encourage registration by May 19.

“This event grows out of efforts on the part of students and faculty to incorporate the farm as a hands-on laboratory for experiential learning into the academic mission of the University through classes on food issues,” said Ann Anagnost, UW anthropology professor and one of the events organizers. “It also celebrates the development of the anthropology of food as a topical area within the department of anthropology.”

Anagnost, whos a member of the UW Farm board of directors, also said that the dinner will include risotto cake and roasted vegetables and a salad with foraged and garden greens.

There will also be a dessert auction featuring treats made from local ingredients.

UW students gather around a three-bin compost pile that they built last year.

UW students gather around a three-bin compost pile that they built last year.Julia Reed, UW

Molly Wizenberg, a UW anthropology alumna and now a food writer, will speak for about 25 minutes about how her study of anthropology shaped her food writing.

A Taste of Spring attendees can tour the UW Farms expansion at the Center for Urban Horticulture and browse posters highlighting food research by UW anthropology graduate students.

“The UW Farm is one way for students to explore re-localizing the food system and the many ways that that small change could make big impacts for consumers and communities in Washington State and the Puget Sound region,” said Elizabeth Wheat, UW Farm education coordinator.

She added that the UW Farm is a way to explore how to live well on Earth while living in the middle of a city, such as how much food can a city produce and how can city-dwellers contribute to their own foodshed.