Greater Midwest Foodways: Maize with Cynthia Clampitt, 3/7

Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance

How Corn Changed Itself and then
Changed Everything Else

Presented by Cynthia Clampitt, author

Saturday, March 7th, 2015 at 10 AM
Kendall College, School of Culinary Arts
900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago
(West of Halsted Street, North of Chicago Avenue)
Free Parking in the student lot across the street, not in front, please!
Cost: $3. Free to Kendall students and faculty with ID.


About 10,000 years ago, a weedy grass growing in Mexico possessed of a strange trait known as a “jumping gene” transformed itself into a larger and more useful grass—the cereal grass that we would come to know as maize and then corn. Nurtured by early farmers in the Oaxaca region, this grain would transform the Americas even before First Contact. After First Contact, it would span the globe, with mixed results, but for newcomers to North America, it expanded its influence from rescuing a few early settlers to creating the Midwest. Today, it is more important than ever. As Margaret Visser noted in her classic work Much Depends on Dinner, “Without corn, North America—and most particularly modern, technological North America—is inconceivable.”

Cynthia Clampitt is a writer and food historian. A fourth generation foodie, Clampitt has always considered food a topic worth studying. She has pursued her love of culture, history, and food in thirty-seven countries on six continents (so far). She began writing about food history in 1996 and joined Culinary Historians of Chicago in 1999. She is the author of Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland, published by the University of Illinois Press. In addition to CHC, she is a member of the Society of Women Geographers, the Agricultural History Society, and the history section of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Copies of Cynthia Clampitt's book will be available for purchase, please advise when you reserve.

This program is hosted by the Greater Midwest Foodways. To reserve, please e-mail: greatermidwestfoodways@gmail.com.

The Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance is dedicated to celebrating, exploring and preserving the American Midwest’s unique food traditions and their cultural contexts.


http://www.GreaterMidwestFoodways.com

Cathy2 has said that it's okay to mention another event that will feature my book -- in case you don't make it to the GMFA event -- or even in addition to it, but with more food.

Chicago Gourmets has kindly invited me to show up and sign books at their March 8 dinner at NIA. The menu looks pretty amazing, and it's always fun to hang out with people who like to eat. So if you're free and always wanted to try the food at NIA, this is a good opportunity. Here are the details: http://chicagourmets.org/CGevents150308.pdf

Hope to see some of you somewhere.

“How Corn Changed Itself and then
Changed Everything Else”
Presented by Cynthia Clampitt, author
Recorded live March 7, 2015 – Podcast
at Kendall College School of Culinary Arts