February/March 2010

Exhibits
Hungry Planet Related Programs
Special Events
Science and Culture
Family Programs

museum info: 612-624-7083
registration: 612-624-9050
www.bellmuseum.org

EXHIBITS

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Through May 9, 2010
The grocery lists and dining tables of people around the globe are the subject of this provocative exhibit based on the national best selling book by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. Hungry Planet combines mesmerizing photos with hands-on displays that explore issues of food in the 21st century - what people eat and where it comes from, as well as how different cultures approach the growing and processing of food.

From Hybrid Corn to Honeycrisps: University Agricultural Success Stories by Photographer David Hansen
Through May 9, 2010
For more than 100 years, the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station has improved food and food production in Minnesota and around the world. University agronomists and horticulturalists are testing new plant varieties for hardiness, disease resistance and other qualities. And University livestock researchers lead the world in the discovery of reproductive technologies and improvements in food-animal health and nutrition. Since 1978, David Hansen has documented experiment station success stories through his vivid and award-winning photography.

HUNGRY PLANET RELATED PROGRAMS

Film: HomeGrown
Thursday, February 4, 7 p.m.
Free
The film HomeGrown follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. Find out how they manage to harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, make their own biodiesel, and power their computers with the help of solar panels. The screening and a post-film discussion are sponsored by the University's Agri-Food Reading Group.

From Open Flames to Sous Vide: The History Of Cooking in Five Courses
Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7 p.m., Doors open at 6 p.m.
Cost $50. Reservations required. Call 612-624-9050
Join Chef Chris Olson and local experts on an exploration of the evolution of cooking in five delicious courses. With the Bell Museum's wildlife dioramas as a backdrop, Olson, chef at St. Paul-based Meritage and co-creator of Paired, will take diners on a culinary journey through the ages, from the invention of fire to the scientific approach to food through molecular gastronomy. University biological anthropologist Greg Laden, whose work focuses on diet and human evolution, will join Olson in this deliciously illustrated tale. The event is co-sponsored by The Heavy Table, a Twin Cities-based online magazine devoted to telling the stories of food and drink in the Upper Midwest.

Exhibit Walkabout: Minnesota's Role in a Hungry Planet
Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Join the conversation about connections between Minnesota crops and foods and the resources that produce them with Michael Russelle and David Mulla. Russelle and Mulla, professors in the University's Department of Soil, Water and Climate, tackle a range of issues from Minnesota's crops to global water resources in the wake of growing populations, economic development and climate change.

A Week in a Northern Locavore's Diet with Beth Dooley
Thursday, February 18, 2010, 7 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Beth Dooley, food writer and author of the cookbook "Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland," will describe a week in her experience as a locavore living in America's northern heartland. She'll share recipes, offer tips on how to eat locally in winter, will decipher labels such as "fair trade," "free range" and "humanely raised," and discuss sustainable food systems as alternatives to processed food.

Planet Taco: The Globalization of Mexican Food
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 7 p.m.
Cost: $9, $7 members/university students, staff and faculty
Mexican food has become one of the world's most popular ethnic foods in just the last thirty years. You can now find tacos and burritos virtually everywhere, but are they really Mexican? University History Professor Jeffrey Pilcher studies the global love affair with south-of-the-border fare. Having written two previous books on the history of Mexican food-including one on tamales and another on the roots of the fajita-Pilcher is now researching how "Tex-Mex" has taken the world by storm.

Play with Your Food
Thursday, February 25, 2010, 7 p.m.
Free with museum admission.
Leave manners behind and enjoy this all-ages, family event featuring hands on science experiments and crafts done with common household foods. Learn how capillaries work by soaking celery stalks, make your own batch of play dough, create plastic goop from milk, plus many other fascinating food activities. Don't try this at home - without a little practice first.

Tour the University of Minnesota's Dairy Barns
Saturday, February 27, 2010, 9 a.m.
University of Minnesota Dairy Barn, St. Paul Campus
Cost: $9; $7 members; $5 children under 12
Registration required. Call 612-624-9050.
Follow milk's journey from cow to carton on a tour you won't forget. Meet the cows and calves of the University's dairy herd on a tour with members of the University's Animal Science Graduate Student Club. Visit the milking parlor, explore state of the art equipment, learn what dairy cows are fed and how they're cared for. Tours also will be offered Tuesday, March 23; Saturday, March 27; and Saturday, April 17.

Film: The Gleaners and I
Thursday, March 4, 7 p.m.
Free
The film The Gleaners and I captures the many aspects of gleaning and the numerous and sometimes unexpected people who hunt for food, knickknacks, and personal connection. The screening and a post-film discussion are sponsored by the University's Agri-Food Reading Group.

Exhibit Walkabout: Food Systems and Food Safety Around the World
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 7 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Join professors Jean Kinsey and Fancisco Diez-Gonzalez for an exhibit tour focused on what people around the world choose to eat and why. Kinsey is director of the University's Food Industry Center and studies consumption economics and consumer food consumption behavior and trends. Diez-Gonzalez is an expert on food and food safety. Find out the difference between fresh vs. packaged food, and explore your options and the choices people make around the world.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Pilobolus Family Fungi Fest
Saturday, February 13, 2010, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Celebrate Northrop Dance's performance of Pilobolus and the funky world of fungi at this drop-in, family-friendly festival. The imaginative dance company takes its name from the type of fungi known for its otherworldly shape and ability to shoot spores with water cannon-like force. Kids and parents will marvel at exotic fungi from the Bell Museum's collections, experiment with living pilobolus fungi, and meet members of the Minnesota Mycological Society, a club whose members are devoted to mushroom and fungi hunting, collecting, cooking and crafting. Afterward, families can head over to Northrop for an unforgettable performance designed for all ages. Visit the Northrop website for dance ticket details.

Minnesota Native Plant Society Annual Meeting
Saturday, March 27, 2010, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cost: $40 Native Plant Society members; $50 non-members.
Advance registration required. Call 763-599-3114.
This annual symposium is a treat for anyone - expert or amateur - with an interest in Minnesota's native plants and natural history. This year's focus will be on Minnesota's sand dune ecosystems. Learn about dune biology and natural history, the plants and animals that inhabit them, and current issues and threats to these special places. For details, visit www.mnnps.org/events/symposium.html.

SCIENCE AND CULTURE

Café Scientifique: Waste = Food
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater
Tickets: $5-$12
Call 612-825-8949 for reservations
University of Minnesota College of Design alum Sarah Wolbert promotes an ingenious view of rebalancing urban food systems - one that involves design of detritivore and decomposition systems that eat waste products. This method of using waste as nourishment can actually improve the safety and security of our food supply. Wolbert will share ideas from her graduate design thesis and involve the audience in generating even more solutions.

Café Scientifique: Food Safety and Food Defense
Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater
Tickets: $5-$12
Call 612-825-8949 for reservations What's really in the food on your plate and where did it come from? Examine food's role in public safety with Koel Ghosh, a research fellow at The Food Industry Center in the University's Department of Applied Economics who studies food safety, food health and food defense. From accidental contamination to deliberate food terrorism, we'll look at ways food impacts our health and safety.

Café Scientifique: Gathering Wild Foods in the City
Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater
Tickets: $5-$12
Call 612-825-8949 for reservations
Harvesting wild plant food in urban areas such as parks, empty lots, backyards, and green spaces is gaining in popularity. University research fellow Michele Schermann and her colleague Marla Emery, a research geographer with the U.S. Forest Service, will discuss what they have learned working with the Hmong community in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and about foraging on public and private lands and roadsides for wild edible plants. They'll also talk about what harvestable plants are good to eat - including invasive species - and where they can be found. Think garlic mustard mashed potatoes and dandelion pie!

Café Scientifique: Going Local
Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater
Tickets: $5-$12
Call 612-825-8949 for reservations
Interest in local foods has been growing rapidly, but local foods still account for a only small portion of food purchases. University Applied Economics Professor Robert King will share findings from a coordinated series of case studies designed to improve our understanding of local food supply chains and the prospects for their growth.

CHILDREN AND FAMILY PROGRAMS

Nature Tots: Nature Scents
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 10 a.m.
Free with museum admission
Discover the powerful and amazing world of scent. Learn how some baby animals identify their mothers by smell and play a game that tests your own ability to identify your parent or friend by a particular scent. Win prizes and make a scented Valentine to take home.

Nature Play: Pilobolus Family Fungi Fest
Saturday, February 13, 2010, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Free with museum admission
Celebrate Northrop Dance's performance of Pilobolus and the funky world of fungi at this drop-in, family-friendly festival. (see more details in the Special Events section of the calendar)

Nature Tots: Food: Colors, Shapes, and Sizes
Thursday, March 4, 2010, 10 a.m.
Why are fruits so brightly colored and so tasty? Why are veggies green? Explore different food forms and make great food art.

Nature Play: Fruit Printing
Saturday, March 13, 2010, 1-3 p.m.
Come and see the photography exhibit Hungry Planet: What the World Eats and play at the food market. Where do our foods come from? Get an up close look at the origin of corn, rice and cows. Create a fruit print to take home.

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Location: The Bell Museum is located at the corner of University Ave. & 17th Ave. SE in Minneapolis, on the University of Minnesota campus.

Children under 3 & U of M students/staff/faculty: free
Free admission for all visitors on Sundays

Program Registration Policy:
We accept payment for programs requiring advance registration by Visa, MasterCard and Discover. We can't reserve places without payment. Phone registrations require credit card payment. Send check or money order to the Bell Museum Registration Office, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104.

Museum Information: Call 612-624-7083.
Registration: Call 612-624-9050.

Receive discounts on programs by becoming a Bell Museum member.