WHEATON, Md. – Montgomery Parks Community Gardens program is inviting all food lovers to join its Foodie Fridays Speaker Series program this summer. Foodie Fridays will feature farmers, educators, community organizers, food lovers, and changemakers. Each session will be a conversation about a different food-related topic
Admission includes light refreshments and one alcoholic beverage for adults 21 and older with identification, as well as a ticket to the Josiah Henson Museum ($5 value) that is redeemable during regular museum hours.
What:
Foodie Fridays Speaker Series
When:
Fourth Fridays, June-October | 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Where:
Josiah Henson Museum and Park
11410 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20852
How:
Registration required at Active Montgomery.
Admission is $10
Limited accessible parking at the venue.
General parking nearby at Kennedy Shriver Aquatic Center
5900 Executive Blvd, North Bethesda MD
The first Foodie Friday falls on June 23, 2023. The topic will be Cultivating Traditions. Local growers will discuss how and why history, ancestral and traditional knowledge and culturally important foods influence their farming practices.
“Food is a powerful signifier of place and time and influences us for the rest of our lives,” said Emma Layman, assistant manager of Montgomery Parks’ Community Gardens program.
“Everyone remembers the foods from their childhood or homeland, long after they have moved away. Our Cultivating Traditions panel will discuss how local growers’ desire to connect with their heritage has influenced their farming”
Other Foodie Friday topics include beekeeping, medicinal plants and saving heirloom seeds.
Foodie Fridays Schedule:
June 23, 2023
Cultivating Traditions. Local farmers Tanya Doka-Spandhla and Nia Nyamweya share how they have personally thrived through cultivating crops important to their ancestral heritage. They will be joined by Anthony Cohen, and expert on the Underground Railroad and the operator of the Button Farm Living History Center in Germantown, Maryland
July 28, 2023
The Bee’s Knees. Local beekeeping expert Phil Frank talks about honeybees’ role in food production, the kinds of foods we would miss without them.
August 25, 2023
The People’s Medicine. Plants have been used in medicine for thousands of years. Today they can be found in 40% of prescription drugs in the Western world. Local herbalist Rhiannon Smith discusses holistic wellness and home herbalism.
Sept. 22, 2023
Saving Seeds and Stories. Niraj Ray, founder of Cultivate the City discusses the value and how to save seeds from culturally important and hard-to-find crops.
October 27, 2023
Food is Freedom. Susan Cook discusses how the ability to produce food was critical to helping her fourth great Aunt Alethia Tanner move from enslavement to freedom. Also, gardener and activist Vanessa Pierre will discuss her advocacy work and how gardening continues to empower communities.
A question and answer session will follow each presentation.
About Montgomery Parks
Montgomery Parks manages more than 37,000 acres of parkland, consisting of 420 parks. Montgomery Parks is a department of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), a bi-county agency established in 1927 to steward public land. M-NCPPC has been nationally recognized for its high-quality parks and recreation services and is regarded as a national model by other parks systems.
Accessibility
Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, encourages and supports the participation of individuals with disabilities. Please contact the Program Access Office at 301-495-2581 (Voice), MD Relay 7-1-1 or 800-552-7724 or ProgramAccess@MontgomeryParks.org to request a disability modification. Visit Montgomery Parks Accessibility for more information.
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