Renowned Food Activist Bryant Terry to Appear at Two Portland Farmers Markets Aug. 29 & 30

Renowned Food Activist Bryant Terry to Appear at Two Portland Farmers Markets
on August 29 and 30

Oakland Food Activist, Eco Chef and Author Hosts a Cooking Demonstration and Book Signing at Saturday PSU Market and a ‘Local Lunch Box’ Educational Event for Kids at New Sunday King Market

Portland, Ore., August 5, 2009 – Portland Farmers Market welcomes food activist, eco chef and author Bryant Terry to Portland in August. As a child growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Bryant Terry’s grandparents inspired him to grow, prepare and appreciate good food. Now the author of an inspired new cookbook, Terry is appearing at two Portland Farmers Market events. He will present a cooking demonstration and sign cookbooks at the Saturday PSU Market on August 29, and he will host an educational event to enable local kids experience nutritious food at the new Sunday King Market in N/NE Portland on August 30.

“We are thrilled to have Bryant Terry coming to meet local shoppers and food enthusiasts,” said Ann Forsthoefel, executive director of Portland Farmers Market. “He is one of the bright stars in the healthy and sustainable food movement.”

Portland Appearances

Terry will be signing copies of his new cookbook, Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine from 10:00 am – to noon on Saturday, August 29. He will also appear on the Chef in the Market stage for a cooking demonstration.

On Sunday, August 30 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the new King Sunday Market, Terry will take part in a “Local Lunch Box” event for kids. The Sunday King Market, which opened in May, is located at NE 7th and Wygant Streets between NE Alberta and Prescott.

Lunch Box Event

A number of free educational activities for school-aged children are planned for the first-ever Portland Farmers Market “Local Lunch Box” event.

Young participants can take part in a market scavenger hunt to learn more about good versus bad food choices, learn about a day in the life of a farmer, and experience fresh and/or new fruits and veggies.

“Creating life-long healthy eating habits starts early,” explains Anna Curtin, education and events manager for Portland Farmers Market. “These activities were created so local kids can experience the world of nutritious, healthy and fun food choices at the farmers market.”

Other planned activities include an opportunity for children to cook simple recipes similar to Portland Farmers Market Kids Cook classes, nutrition bingo, make-your-own lunch box, and a blind box produce game where children can identify fruits and veggies based on touch and smell.

Portland Farmers Market is asking parents/children who are interested to RSVP to the event by calling (503) 241-0032 or emailing contact@portlandfarmersmarket.org.

More about Bryant

Terry has spent the last nine years working to build a more just and sustainable food system and uses cooking as a tool to illuminate the intersections between poverty, structural racism, and food insecurity. He is a fellow of the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He has received the Natural Gourmet Institute Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Food Education in addition to being chosen by San Francisco’s 7×7 magazine as one of the area’s “Hot 20 Under 40.”

In 2002 he founded b-healthy! (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth), a multi-year initiative designed to empower youth to be active in creating a more just and sustainable food system. His first cookbook, coauthored with Anna Lappé, was Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, which won the 2007 Nautilus Award for Social Change.

About Portland Farmers Market
Founded in 1992, Portland Farmers Market, a nonprofit 501(c)6, brings the best of the country to the heart of the city by supporting the region’s farmers and creating vibrant urban marketplaces where growers and consumers come together. This nonprofit’s staff of four full-time and four part-time employees aims to grow, nourish and inspire the community by staging weekly markets in five different locations throughout the Portland area from March until December. In addition to managing the markets, Portland Farmers Market has been an early leader in Portland’s sustainability movement and has served as an incubator for small businesses. With more than 250 vendors from Oregon and Washington – including farms, bakeries, nurseries, meat and seafood providers, cheese makers and specialty food producers – Portland Farmers Market is a true showplace of Northwest agriculture. www.portlandfarmersmarket.org