à la carte: The Food on Your Plate with Sarah Elton and David Waltner-Toews
à la carte: Free food literacy events presented in partnership with the Ottawa Public Library with support from the government of Ontario.
In Person Big Ideas Science History
This will inform and fascinate readers of food history, gastronomy, epidemiology, and ecology, as we begin to understand more about the lives of insects and the important roles they play in our society.
Join Sarah Elton, the award-winning author of Meatless?: A Fresh Look at What You Eat, a journalist who specializes in writing about food, and epidemiologist, veterinarian, and writer David Waltner-Toews, the author of Eat the Beetles!, for a conversation on our relationship with the food on our plates.
Humans are eating more meat than ever before. At the same time, vegetarianism is capturing more widespread attention. From Meatless Mondays to vegan options, people are talking more about meat and whether or not to eat it. Journalist Sarah Elton tackles the topic by explaining what vegetarianism is, why people choose it, and how their reasons—including religion, animal rights, food security, and the environmental cost of eating meat—have changed over time. As a conflicted meat eater herself, Sarah Elton encourages freedom to choose.
Will eating insects change the world for the better?? There are millions and millions of them and many fewer of the rest of us — mammals, birds, and reptiles. Since before recorded history, humans have eaten insects. While many get squeamish at the idea, entomophagy — people eating insects — is a possible way to ensure a sustainable and secure food supply for the eight billion of us on the planet. David Waltner-Toews examines the cultural, ecological, and evolutionary history of entomophagy.
As part of the à la carte food literacy project each attendee will receive a free tomato plant seedling at the end of the event.
We would like to thank both authors for visiting area schools as part of our WriteOn! Chilren’s Literacy Program while in Ottawa. 
