The Body/2010 Chicago Humanities Festival 11/2-11/14

Sustenance, survival, pleasure—eating is a marvelously complex and necessary endeavor. Our tastes are both a biological imperative and an art. With these needs and desires in mind, we ask, what are the ingredients for the perfect meal? From the wine to entrée to dessert, three Chicago tastemakers will talk us through a palate-pleasing journey. Join Paul Kahan, the executive chef behind Blackbird, avec, Publican, and Big Star; Mindy Segal, owner and pastry chef at Wicker Park’s HotChocolate; and Alpana Singh, sommelier and host of WTTW’s Check, Please, for a mouthwatering excursion and quintessentially Chicago experience.

The connection between diet and chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease is well established. Over the last decade, public health officials have shifted away from blaming individuals for poor habits to considering a community’s food environment and how it affects consumption and health. This approach, called policy and environmental change, has led to bans on trans-fats, the development of alternatives for high-fructose corn syrup, and the National Salt Reduction Initiative, and it relies on an unprecedented collaboration between public health officials and the food industry. Panelists include Opokua Kwapong, director of R&D for PepsiCo, Marice Ashe, executive director of Public Health Law & Policy, and Dr. Bechara Choucair, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.