Greenwich Library’s Signature Series will welcome American food journalist, author, and former New York Times columnist Mark Bittman to the Library’s Berkley Theater on Thursday, May 5, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for a discussion on the present and future of food and the environmental impact of the food industry. This event will take place both in-person and via livestream.
Bittman will be joined in conversation by Kathleen Finlay, a leader in the regenerative agriculture movement. Their talk will delve into the food industry’s effect on the environment, focusing on regional solutions. In Bittman’s latest book, Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal, he argues “We need to create a kind of road map that will lead us to a just food system, one that will nourish us all, make good food universally affordable, sustain and protect the land, and provide more dignified and well-paying jobs in food and farming.”
Introducing Bittman and the event will be Mike Geller, founder of Mike’s Organic, a Stamford-based food delivery service that is dedicated to food transparency and delivering organic product directly from small farmers, fisheries, and other producers. Mike’s Organic was one of the first farm-to-home food delivery services in the country and will open a 2,000-foot retail market in Greenwich later this year.
Mark Bittman is the author of 30 books, including the How to Cook Everything series and the #1 New York Times bestseller VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health … for Good. He was a food journalist and columnist, opinion columnist, and the lead magazine food writer at The New York Times, where he started writing in 1984 and stayed for 30 years.
Bittman has starred in four television series, including Showtime’s Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He is a longtime TODAY regular and has made hundreds of television, radio, and podcast appearances, including on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Real Time with Bill Maher, and CBS’s The Dish; plus NPR’s All Things Considered, Fresh Air, and Morning Edition.
Kathleen Finlay is President of the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, a non-profit dedicated to building a just, healthy, and sustainable food system, and has been a leader in the regenerative food movement for most of her career. She has also been instrumental in organizing women who work for environmental progress. Kathleen has been a director of Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, where she developed and shaped programs to educate communities about the correlation between human health and the global environment, and founded Pleiades, a network of women leaders addressing environmental and social justice issues. Kathleen serves on numerous advisory councils including the Food Equity Council for the State of New York and Planet Women.
Registration using the Library’s online calendar is required for both the in-person and livestream options. A recording will be available on the Library’s YouTube channel approximately one week after the talk. All attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination (in the form of their CDC Vaccination Card or a photo or photocopy of the Card) or a negative PCR Test taken within 72 hours of the event. No one will be admitted without this documentation. Protocols may be modified as and when laws, science, and/or institutional requirements change. Please note that all attendees will be required to wear face masks at all times, regardless of vaccination status, per the Greenwich Library Board of Trustees.
Greenwich Library’s Signature Series offers dynamic, elevated public programming that engages the Greenwich community and region, featuring nationally recognized experts for timely analysis and conversations that promote an exchange of ideas. This series is made possible through the support of the Greenwich Library Board of Trustees and contributions by generous donors. For more information, please visit greenwichlibrary.org/signature.
For more information or questions about this event, please contact Kathy Cihi at [email protected].