FOOD:
Feeding Our Bodies,
Our Minds, and the World
Conversations Throughout NYC in January
FOOD
will be the subject of conversations throughout New York City during the month
of January, in a project sponsored by Conversations New York (CNY) and
listed on its calendar at www.conversationsnewyork.com.
“Lively-minded
New Yorkers will gather to share their ideas, experiences, and feelings,” says
Ron Gross, founder of CNY. “Giving more thought to
what and how we eat can help us understand ourselves, our world, each other
more deeply. And it can save our
lives.”
Conversations
will take place in a myriad of
public venues, anchored by a
TED-New
York Salon facilitated by Ron
Gross on Fri., Jan. 15th
at 5:00 at The Olivia, 315 West 33rd Street, and a CNY Conversation
hosted by Gross at the Manhattan Center of Adelphi University, 75 Varick
Street, on Wed., Jan. 20th at 6:00.
Why not host such a conversation yourself – with whomever you
like, wherever and whenever you like --
to explore FOOD from your perspective?! It’s a great way to share experiences and ideas, make new
friends, and deepen commitment to sustainability. See the CNY website for suggested venues including
cafes and restaurants, the atriums of
major business buildings like CitiGroup, IBM, and SONY, and churches and campuses.
Among
the topics to be discussed at these conversations will be:
What does Food mean to you? (In your heritage, community,
family, life history, current situation)
Are we thinking and talking about Food too
much? Too little? In the right ways?
Do you feel any moral and ethical issues involved
in your dietary choices?
Why do so many people have health issues with
Food? What do you know about the
science?
What role does eating (“dining”?!) play in your
social, cultural, and professional life?
How can we be savvy about how, what, and where we eat in NYC? (How do you find, size up and choose
places to eat, and how do you deal with problems with what you are served?)
What is our responsibility as citizens and consumers, for the Politics
and Ideology of Food, e.g., feeding the world equitably, food production and
Global Warming.
YOUR questions/experiences/reflections about FOOD.
Suggested
Optional Reading: In Defense of
Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan; Food Matters, by Mark
Bittman; The Philosopher’s Diet: How to Lose Weight & Change the World,
by Richard A. Watson; The
Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think, by Julian Baggini; and “Thus
Ate Zarathrustra”, by Woody Allen.
Conversations New York (www.conversationsnewyork.com)
is a community of volunteers
devoted to enhancing the quality of life in NYC by promoting more and better
conversations. CNY’s projects have included the first national
conference on THE POWER OF CONVERSATION at Columbia University, annual
CONVERSATION DAYS in Bryant Park, and promoting 1,000 conversation per year on
its on-line calendar.