Speaker, documentary to highlight Food Day at CSB

The College of Saint Benedict is celebrating Food Day Thursday, Oct. 24 with a featured speaker, the showing of a food documentary and booths featuring College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University clubs and local organizations affiliated with the sustainability movement.

Launched in 2011 by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day is a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better food policies. Across the country, 3,200 events took place in 2012 and 2,300 in 2011.

Parker Wheatley, associate professor of economics at CSB and SJU, will present "Playing with Food - Policy and Politics of U.S. Food and Nutrition Programs" at 7 p.m. in room 204C, Gorecki Center.  Wheatley will discuss the impacts and policy of the key domestic food and nutrition programs and address some of the politics surrounding recent efforts to cut those programs.  The presentation is free and open to the public.

Wheatley began teaching at CSB and SJU in 2005.  He received his doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota, his master's degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and his bachelor of arts degree from Sewanee: the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. 

His research interests have focused heavily on household decision and consumption among low-income communities; the study of the structure, pricing and location of financial institutions that service low-income communities; and a variety of topics in U.S. agriculture.

Before Wheatley's presentation, there will tables set up from 4-7 p.m. in the Gorecki Fireside Lounge featuring the Central Minnesota Sustainability Project, Common Ground Garden, CSB/SJU Nutrition Club, CSB/SJU Sustainability Alliance, Minnesota Street Market and the S. Nancy Hynes Institute for Women's Leadership.

A food documentary, "A Place at the Table," will be shown at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in Gorecki 204C. Discussion will follow each session.

A new initiative, Community Kitchen, will be introduced before Wheatley's presentation. Community Kitchen will be distributing CSB's surplus food through congregate dining and meal-delivery models to partnering organizations and individuals in need.