Neighborhood Expo Discusses Why 'Food Matters'
  McCann Technical School culinary students spoon up squash soup and apple crisp at the 12th annual Neighborhood Expo. Left: Grace Boland mashes an apple cider doughnut from Green River Farm in bite-size pieces. Top: Sharon Wyrrick captures it all on film for a documentary |
"We were taking about how food is a very conversational thing, and how it tastes better when you're eating with people you like," Evan Dethier of Williamstown, currently a junior at Williams College, told the gathering at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center.
His group of Williams students suggested potluck dinners as a way break through boundaries. "We could all sort of get to know each other."
Tony Pisano suggested a gardening group that would go around to help both new and experienced gardeners. Gail Nelson said education was key to helping people create healthy meals rather than rely on MacDonald's. "Our children should be taught how cook and eat healthy."
Those were some of the suggestions at the "Food Matters to the Northern Berkshires" was this year's theme of the annual Northern Berkshire Neighborhood Expo, a public event sponsored by the Northern Berkshire Commuity Coalition that's brought people together for 12 years to discuss topics ranging from appreciation of the region's natural beauty to welcoming the its most diverse neighbors.
This year, the fous was on memories of shared meals, healthy eating and the affordability, accessibility and support of the local food system — farmers, distributors and restaurants.
After a welcome by Mayor John Barrett III, networking and watching a film clip, participants broke into groups and wrote down their ideas on the paper-clad tables, then dined on lunch made with local produce and whipped up by Chef Joseph Mazza of Pittsfield Brew Works.
"This is about bringing the community together and harvesting ideas," said organizer Ashley Benson of NBCC. "We're finding ways to continue the conversation."
Those conversations were based on the "World Cafe" concept of building on group discussions to create actionable results. Two questions were posed; the first about the participant's most valuable experience on sharing food, the second about how to incorporate those elements into daily life.
"There's a lot of fear and anxiety around food issues; it's not a simple issue. By looking at the values [we identify in food], I think we can speak more openly," said facilitator Emily DeMoor, an education professor at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and volunteer with NBCC.
 'Iron chef' Joseph Mazza, left, came up with the meal after being given local ingredients on Friday. He also used herbs from his own Veazie Street garden. Other items were regional, such as the Cabot Cheese tray. More photos here. |
"I felt a shift in this event; there was a warmth and joy," she said, which can used to empower the community.
Filmmaker Sharon Wyrrick feels much the same passion for sustainable food issues, having started an organic garden three decades ago — long before it became trendy.
A documentary about food, its local production and its place in the community has been stewing in her mind for some time, said the Williamstown resident. "As a performance artist, I regularly work with people's stories. ... It's an effort to tell the story of what's important to the community."
Wyrrick, who's created works in theater, performance, dance and installation, has been shooting "Food Matters: From the Ground Up" in and around Berkshire County. It looks at the network of locally grown, sustainable food from farmers to backyard gardeners and who's eating it and why.
A 15-minute sampling of Wyrrick's work was shown to help spark the conversation — all why Wyrrick continued to film the event and the meal afterward.
 Participants wrote down food/community ideas on the paper-clad tables |
"People are working very hard to create something very vibrant and available to the entire community," said Wyrrick of the push for buying local food.
While the film looks at people's stories in a broader perspective, the city's best-known collector of local memories saw food as the catalyst for communication.
"Food is the excuse to get people together to look at each other," said Joe Manning. "The kitchen table is where people can really talk and we ought to go back to those kitchen tables."
