Attention Foodies: Eat Alberta 2012

Attention foodies!

Have you heard about Eat Alberta?

If you haven’t, well then you’ve clicked on the right post to find out! ;)

Eat Alberta calls itself “a celebration of local food heroes.” It’s a non-profit organization that puts on an annual, extremely hands-on, food conference.

This year’s event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at NAIT on Saturday, April 14.

“Our target audience is the young adult and young parent,” Eat Alberta Conference Chair Valerie Lugonja tells me.

“We are aware that so many no longer cook at home and we want to provide an exciting and engaging event to provide knowledge, skills and support for our attendees in this area, and in all things regarding Alberta food.”

Last year’s Eat Alberta conference was wildly successful (selling out) and Lugonja hopes the same will happen this time around.

So what can you expect at Eat Alberta 2012?

For one thing, a lot of hands-on sessions! That includes sessions like:

• Artisan Cheese Making
• Artisan Sausage Making
• Artisan Pasta Making
• Macaron Basics
• Making Salad Rolls at Home
• Foraging Mushrooms and more!

There will also be tasting sessions involving fruit wine, honey, cheese and beer, mixed in with presentations from farmers, chefs and more.

“Our participants will connect with other like minded people, participate in hands on learning, participate in taste education, be inspired to ask good questions about the food they eat and begin to understand that buying local doesn’t have to cost more,” Lugonja says.

You can register for the conference here.

Registration includes access to the full day conference, breakfast, lunch, wine. Also, everything you make during the DIY sessions, you get to take home with you! (That is if you haven’t already gobbled it all up during the day). You’ll basically be surrounded by food makers, lovers and advocates – plus food itself. Sounds like a pretty good day to me! :D

This year’s theme is “Your Real Food Survival Guide” so the focus will be on providing insight into tasting, preserving and preparing food while living in a winter climate.

Attendees will:

• Connect personally with rural food producers, farmers, rural youth, aboriginal people and the elderly through a range of hands-on learning and food tasting experiences
• Learn how to use, taste and source local and regional Alberta food
• Share expertise about food preparation
• Preserve Alberta heritage and cultural recipes and foods, including aboriginal food preparation
• And develop nurturing and ongoing relationships with one another and with those that produce our food, while participating in a variety of hands on learning experiences.

If I wasn’t working, I’d be there myself.

But since I am (so I can’t), I figure it’d be worth suggesting to others! :)

For more information check out Eat Alberta‘s website and follow them on Twitter @eatalberta.

Linda