Though it probably seems like a natural to readers of this magazine, rarely does the French Embassy host food events. But next Monday they are, and it’s one to skip work for. No no, it’s not the world’s biggest round of Epoisses or a tasting of sparking cidre from Normandy (though we’d be down for both) but a day-long program investigating the intersection of food culture and health from French and American points of view.
There’ll be both French and American scientists, chefs, politicians and educators (including Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard Professor in NYU’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, who is in her own category) to analyze, contrast and compare, and as the Embassy puts it: to “question cultural assumptions.” Nestle speaks at 10 am on Food Politics in France, but there are also sessions on 21st Century food, teaching children how to eat healthfully and pleasure and perception in eating. You can download the whole agenda right here.
The free event (see how to RSVP below) was inspired by a three-year academic/government research collaboration begun in 2009 called “21st Century Cuisine, Nutrition and Genetics in France and the U.S.” It’s being led on the French side by Richard Delerins, an anthropologist and chef whose focus of research is on (and we’re boiling this down to a sentence here) how our cultural and even genetic makeup relates to children’s food preferences and eventually to their overall health, and developing recipes that are satisfying on all levels.
French and American Perspectives on Food and Health
The French Embassy, 972 Fifth Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets
Monday, December 5th, 2011
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Get the agenda here.
RSVP required by November 30th by email to florence.barnier@diplomatie.gouv.fr or by calling 212.439.1463
