By Kirsten Lee

America the Beautiful, written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates, sings of amber waves of grain. Upon driving through Western Kansas in June, many sightseers will see field after field of this amber wheat. Wheat grown in Kansas has a rich background filled with stories of heritage and multiple settlements.

Wheat is not native to the Kansas plains and valleys. What is this story?

The railroad company used posters such as this to recruit immigrants to Kansas.

It begins in the 1700s when 25,000 German settlers moved into Russia along the banks of the Volga and Karaman rivers. The settlers were first attracted to Russia by Czars who promised independence and exemption from military services. They became known as Volga Germans. Their close-knit colonies flourished, maintaining strong German customs and language within the Russian prairie lands.

Volga Germans came to the United States in 1874 after much encouragement from Carl Bernhard Schmidt, a German-speaking Santa Fe railroad agent, and  the promise of farmland and free living accommodations from the Santa Fe Company which would assist them in settling in Russell, Rush, and Ellis counties.

After the Russian Czar Alexander II withdrew his promises, the German settlers were looking for such an opportunity as this, and took it.

Bring Russian plains agriculture to Kansas

With this move to Kansas, Volga Germans brought their years of experience in Russian prairie agriculture and expanded the wheat production exponentially in Western Kansas.

The Kansas Historical Society states that Volga Germans “In 1874 alone added an estimated one million dollars to the Kansas economy.” In June 1902 the Kansas City Star remarked upon their success saying, “They refute the statement so often heard in Kansas that a farmer cannot make money growing wheat alone. They have grown nothing except wheat for twenty-five years and are prosperous.”

Janice Dinkel, a professor of social work at Kansas State University, who shares this Volga German heritage and the desire of carrying on their traditions, stated that “with this mass production of wheat, many Volga recipes show flour and grains as a staple ingredient.”

Dinkel also stated that it was a norm to see larger families in Roman Catholic Volga communities. “Everything had dumpling, bread, or flour in it. This really allowed it to stretch and feed the many mouths of the family,” she said.

One recipe that Dinkel remembers is called Pudding and Dumplings, which she found to be “chocolate pudding served over dumplings.” “It was a Friday staple for my ancestors. Yuck! But it was cheap and since they couldn’t have meat on Fridays, it was what worked,” she said.

Professor keeps family food heritage alive

There were several other recipes Dinkel brought to the table. One was a family recipe for bierocks. Dinkel said that her Aunt Butch bequeathed the recipe to her and now it her responsibility to make them for every Christmas.

She said that one Christmas she tried something different with the recipe and her whole family knew it. “Believe me, they rejected it. I can’t get away with anything different. They are just that much of a tradition in our family.”

Another recipe Dinkel described was one for galuskies, also known as cabbage rolls.

In her family, these rolls are made for every Thanksgiving, which is once more a strong tradition that can’t be changed or knocked. These recipe calls for steamed cabbage leaves filled and rolled with a mixture of hamburger, pork, rice, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. After being prepared, the rolls marinate in a crock with sauerkraut for about an hour and a half.

“These rolls do not have the flour base, but they were known for being an inexpensive meal that still carried on the strong German ties of sauerkraut, pork, and hamburger,” she said.

Festivals dot the landscape

If one is not advantageous enough to try out one of the many Volga German recipes from scratch, one way for Kansans to get the taste of this delectable food heritage is to visit Hays Kansas for their Midwest Deutsches Oktoberfest, not to be confused with the Fort Hays State University Oktoberfest.

The Midwest Deutsches Oktoberfest Associates started this separate festival due to the digression from the original celebration of Volga German heritage, to a celebration surrounding the homecoming festivities of Fort Hays State University.

The Midwest Deutsche Oktoberfest is an annual celebration of the Germans from Russia heritage of Ellis and Rush County. Admission is free, and is held at Ellis County Fairgrounds. Festivities include abundant varieties of food booths, refreshments, beer, crafts, and activities for guests alike to enjoy.

As they state on their website www.midwestdeutschefest.com, “The immigrants who settled in this area during the 1870’s used recipes that evolved from Germany to Russia and now America.  Although some of the ingredients and names for the foods they prepared varied from village to village, if you had eggs, flour, potatoes and cream, then you could always make a delicious meal!”

Bierocks Family Recipe
From Janice Dinkel

For dough
2 ¼-ounce packages  yeast (proof with some of the water and a little sugar)
6 – 6 ½  cups flour
½ cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
2 cups warm water
2 eggs, well beaten
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter + 2 tablespoons, melted

Combine proofed yeast, 2 cups flour, sugar, water, eggs, salt and butter. Then add 4 to 4 ½ cups flour to make a sticky dough. Knead and let rise 45 minutes or until double.  Roll out a little thicker than a pie crust.  When ready to fill, cut in 3-to 5-inch squares.

“The filling consists of hamburger, finely chopped onions, cabbage, salt and pepper.  Sometimes I add garlic salt.  Cook all of this until the hamburger is browned and the vegetables are very soft.  Drain, drain, drain – filling can’t have much fluid in it when you put on dough,” Dinkel said.

Bake at 375 for about 20 to 22 minutes (golden brown).

Galuskies Family Recipe
From Janice Dinkel

1 large cabbage
1 pound ground beef, 85/15 lean to fat ratio
1/3 pound ground pork
1 cup rice
1 medium onion chopped fine
Garlic salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 pounds sauerkraut

Steam cabbage until outer leaves are soft.  Remove from pot and cut out core.  Remove soft leaves and return to pot to soften inner leaves, continue process.  Drain leaves.

Combine beef, pork, rice, onion, garlic salt and pepper. Shape into ovals.  Wrap ovals tightly in cooked cabbage leaves.

Put sauerkraut in large crockpot. Add cabbage rolls and cook until meat is done and rice is cooked, about 1 1/2 hours.

By Ben Marshall

LENEXA – For two days in late June, the air near Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa fills with equal parts competitive spirit and sweet, hickory barbecue smoke.

A competitor grills his meat to perfection at the 2010 Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle.

Four Men and a Pig, Five Guys and a Grill and other cleverly named teams from across the country converge on the Kansas City suburb to put their sauces, rubs and meats to the test, vying for the title of Grand Champion of the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle, Kansas State Champion.

Started in 1982, the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle features live entertainment, children’s activities and a healthy dose of competition-quality barbecue samples.  This year’s event – the 30^th annual – will be on June 24 and 25.

According to Dawn Grosdidier, assistant parks and recreation director, the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle is one of the largest and longest-running competitions in the country.  In 2010, the contest hosted 195 teams and nearly 20,000 visitors.  This year, Grosdidier said she expects 200 teams to cook for around 240 judges – a far cry from the event’s humble beginnings.

Pat Dalton, long-time Lenexa resident and co-founder of the event, said the idea for the Lenexa Barbeque was born after he and friend Alan Uhl attended the second American Royal Barbeque in Kansas City, Mo., in 1981.

“As we were going through it, having a wonderful time, we said, ‘Wouldn’t this be a wonderful addition to the Lenexa Fourth of July celebration weekend?’” Dalton said.  “So we both agreed that if the city council would permit us, we would produce it.”

Dalton and Uhl appeared before the Lenexa City Council, received approval and, with the help of the city manager, started the contest.

“We drew up a set of rules for competition and got it going,” Dalton said.

The first barbecue was on July 3, 1982, and featured just 12 contestants and 12 judges.

As the event’s reputation grew so did its registration numbers.  Dalton said the number of contestants basically doubled each year – spurred in large part by then-Governor John Carlin who, on April 27, 1984, signed a proclamation declaring the Grand Champion of the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle as the official Kansas State Champion.

When the event outgrew its original location, organizers were forced to move to another area of the park.  The barbecue eventually became such an undertaking that Dalton and Uhl needed assistance to keep it running.  After about eight years of managing it themselves, the founders sought more help from the city of Lenexa.

For two days each June, Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa transforms to a barbecuer's paradise.

By then, Dalton and Uhl’s initial set of rules also changed.  The Kansas City Barbeque Society – a national organization that sanctions hundreds of barbecue contests – officially sanctioned the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle in 1994, giving it a standard set of rules and judging procedures.

“We have seven different categories and we have 10 places that we award in each of those seven different meat categories,” Grosdidier said.  “There’s brisket, chicken, sausage, pork ribs, pork, whole animal, miscellaneous.”

The contest also awards overall winners – third place, reserve grand champion and grand champion.  Grosdidier said winners receive a monetary prize and ribbons, and the grand champion gets a large banner denoting them as the Kansas State Champion.

“The effort to judge it properly has helped us grow a reputation for being an excellent competition,” Dalton said.

Special for the 30^th anniversary celebration, each team will receive green aprons instead of white.  The event will also feature live musical entertainment both days – rather than just Friday night like in the past.  The Nace Brothers Band is set to play 7-10 p.m. Friday and 12:30-2:30 Saturday afternoon.  Grosdidier emphasized that while the Great Lenexa Barbeque Battle is a barbecue competition first and foremost, it is also a family-focused event.

“It’s a community event.  Our sponsors provide free samples, we have a band and various forms of entertainment, and we also have a children’s area with lots of games and activities for them,” Grosdidier said.  “We just like to make sure it runs smoothly and safely and everyone has fun.”

While Dalton is not as involved as he once was, he and Uhl still take part in the festivities.  On Saturday, the duo presents the Founder’s Trophy – an award given to a team who they think epitomizes what they believe every barbecue competition team should be like.

And, according to Dalton, there are a lot of worthy teams from which to choose.

“I think we are second to none in terms of the product that the contestants produce,” he said.  “I think the Lenexa barbecue contest is as good as any in the United States.”

By Annarose Hart

“My little sister loved to eat coconut until she was 7 and her best friend Marcy told her she didn’t.”

Dr. Edgar Chambers IV, distinguished professor of sensory analysis and consumer behavior and director of Kansas State University’s Sensory Analysis Center, begins a story. Now Chamber’s little sister won’t touch the soft white flakes. A less abrasive way to experience peer pressure is through food and restaurant critics.

Food critics and restaurant reviewers are the privilege persons responsible for apprising culinary industry professionals for their ability to match talents with public demands.

Often food critics spread awareness about the next big thing in the culinary world. This happens before most people are willing to venture out for their own adventure.  The public trusts people who are skeptical and have clear, concise opinions. Therefore most widely recognized food critics tend to have a distinct attitude.

According to Chambers, “To be the best prepared food critic, you must have a sense of what other people would enjoy. Otherwise it is worthless to write about something that few people would agree with,” he said. Truly gifted reviewers have the talent to be objective and observant.

Chambers explained, “The movie Ratatouille is a classic example of a good restaurant critic. The critic was presented with a very simple, very basic dish. It was blended, not under or overcooked, and everything worked together.”

The meal doesn’t have to be fancy, but there must be an evident ingredient; focus.

Chambers elaborates on necessary questions to ask oneself as an objective critic, “Are the flavors blended together? Is everything cooked correctly and not underdone or over cooked? What is the texture? Does the dish grow and bloom in the mouth?” A reviewer must be trained in the art of observation, and have all senses elevated. He must record what crunches, sizzles, floats, and soothes.

There are many secrets to get a “wow” from the taste buds. “There has to be a lot of flavors, with an appropriate amount of time lingering on the senses,” Chambers said.

With great bloom, comes great food; Chambers has completed research on  preference of Italian Gelato or  American ice-cream.  Gelato is most popular by far.

Chambers thinks the reason is the level of authenticity. “With Italian Gelato the flavors are correct,” he said. Gesturing with his hands he added, “The flavors bloom in your mouth. After the first taste, you think, Ohhh! Pear!”

Every food critic and restaurant reviewer is on the quest to find dishes that pull all the correct senses together, to provide the reader with perfect flavors. Ultimately the critic peer pressures the reader to hop in their car, grab the subway and sit down at the table to cultivate their own perspective and sensory vocabulary.

Typically when people go to a restaurant, they want a step up from what they would be willing to create at home. People do not want something that could be sold at Taco Bell to be served at a high end Mexican restaurant.

A critic does not have the luxury of only trying one type of food and must learn to appreciate the wide breath of food there is to taste. It is a food critics mission to describe food for the qualities it possess, and can be nothing more than objective journalism, with a dash of creativity.

“A food critic must think of not only their own senses, but also the senses of foodies from every kitchen and hotdog stand around the world,” says Chambers.

Without these qualities, a critic is worthless.

By Allie Coulter

“I don’t like seafood.” Dr. Edgar Chambers IV asked, so I told him.

Then he commented, “You must be from the Midwest. Many people around here do not enjoy seafood.” As a child I remember my parents fixing orange roughy and then forcing my sisters and I to eat it. Not only did I not enjoy the taste and texture but also the smell was enough to do me in.

The professor continued his interrogation.

“What did you eat yesterday?” he asked.

“Cereal.”

“What type of cereal? “

“Special K with chocolate.”

“What do you like about that cereal?”

“I like that it is crunchy, sweet, and it’s fast.”

Chambers, head of Kansas State University’s sensory analysis program, was illustrating a point. We choose to eat the certain foods for two reasons, he said. “First we decide whether or not we like it, and second what are the characteristics we like about the food.”

Food as rite of passate

Food can be seen as a rite of passage. Alcohol and coffee are examples, Chambers said. They may be seen as a sense of adulthood. The beverages may not necessarily be enjoyed the first time they are tried but with time evolve into something that is very much enjoyable.

Many factors come into play when we choose a food. For instance would you get a potato chip if it didn’t have the crunch? Probably not. This is because many products are linked to a certain characteristic that a consumer likes. The potato chip is known for its crunch, chocolate for its sweetness, and lemons for their sourness, Chambers explained.

How we taste is a deciding factor on what we put into our mouth. Chambers stated, “We don’t eat foods we don’t enjoy.” How do we decide what we like and what we don’t? Trial and error.

Food preferences change. When it comes to taste the individual decides what they like and what they don’t like. Then the characteristics of the food are divided into likes and dislikes. One person may like the fishiness of seafood while another person may not.

Chambers has a Ph.D. in sensory analysis and he studies the sensation of taste, smell, touch, and the other senses.

Tasting panel defines definitions

He uses a tasting panel to determine fine characteristics of food. For example, the panel tested a Pepsi product. It had a hint of citrus that consumers may or may not notice, Chambers said. The tasters investigated which of the 45 different types of lemon flavors ranging from lemon drop to furniture oil lemon they found in the soda.

In 2006 he was granted David R. Peryam Award. It is the highest award offered in his area of scientific research. He has worked on many research projects here in Manhattan, a few unconventional research projects in his lab included dog food testing, paper towel sniffing, and face feeling after a fresh shaved. The book Odder Jobs by Nancy Rica Schiff included these occupations. Those pages from the book were proudly framed in Chambers office.

Chambers wasn’t allowed in home economics courses as a kid growing up. Well, not that he wasn’t allowed, but he said “that the teacher would quit if he was let in.” So he joined 4-H. This is how he began exploring his interest in sensory analysis.

Exploring food is something Chamber encouraged he stated “eat as much as possible.”

By Caitlin Adams

Rhonda Janke’s sustainability work began with her hands in the dirt. Playing and working outside was normal for Janke who grew up on a farm in Kansas. She lives, teaches and believes in the power of sustainability.

The farming experience Janke has led her to become an activist for sustainability. Finding less harmful alternatives to modern chemicals has become her passion. She carries out her passion at work and home with ranching, gardening, public policy reform and her specialty, an herb garden. She also looks at public policy on farming practices for solutions to the present-day problem of subsidizing unsustainable farming methods. The journey to her way of living started in childhood and continues as she gains resources and educates herself on sustainability.

Specializing in soil

Janke is an associate professor and extension specialist at Kansas State University in the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Recreation Resources. Her areas of specialty include soil and water quality, medicinal herbs, alternative crops and sustainable cropping systems.

Although Janke grew up eating the food grown on the family farm, her parents did not practice organic farming. She grew up in the 1960s when chemicals were new and seen as the modern way of farming. Along with others from her generation, the professor questioned putting chemicals into her food. Her opinion of modern farming is different from her parents’, but the practical knowledge of farming she grew up with stays with her today.

Janke gardens for pleasure, too. She has 10 acres with fruit trees, vegetables, chickens, sheep, herbs, nuts, and flower and dye plants. She makes a small income from selling her crops, but really enjoys eating what she grows because she knows where it comes from and can share it with others.

The herb garden is a specialty of Janke. Basil, sage and oregano, which are cooking staples, were among her first attempts at organic herb gardening. She also grows medicinal herbs including her favorite, Echinacea, which supports the immune system. She heals herself of common ailments such as colds and sore throats with the herbs, which she has found to work better than pharmaceuticals. “Medicinal herbs work with your body to help it cure itself, rather than taking a toxin to kill an organism in your body,” She explains.  “Organic farming methods work with nature and take care of soil, rather than ‘fighting’ against pests,” she said.

Who stole the ‘green’ movement?

Janke is excited about the new “green” movement, but concerned about companies’ advertisements against companies with sustainable products. They promote misinformation about sustainability and organic farming. Janke cites one example:  “Industrial food is difficult to keep clean, and has been documented to have more pesticide residue, higher likelihood of E. coli contamination, etc. Opponents of organic food try to critique organic as being unsafe- when the exact opposite is true – it is safer.” She believes that consumers can vote for sustainable products by purchasing from reputable sustainable companies.

The government still supports the traditional way of farming by subsidizing chemical fertilizer and pesticides making it unrealistic for most farmers to be able to switch to organic farming. Janke supports this fact by saying, “Prices for fertilizers are still going up, but farmers will buy them as long as crop prices are high and/or the Farm Bill supports the prices.” She continues by explaining that until the price of organic farming compared to traditional farming is equal, most farmers will not consider changing their ways. Because of the lack of evidence of immediate negative effects, changing to sustainable farming is still out of reach.

Janke sees hope for the future as more consumers and farmers join in the sustainability movement. It will take time to change attitudes, but as the public changes their view, companies, the government and producers will start to take notice.

By Kirsten Lee

The movie Star Wars, a common interest that was shared by Justin Kastner and Jason Ackleson, is what brought these multifaceted men together while attending college. Upon their galaxy formed friendship, they found other shared interests that overlapped in many regards to cover what is now within the Frontier program for the historical studies of border security, food security and trade policy.

In1998  Kastner and Ackleson founded the Frontier program, and in 2004, they  placed the formalizing touches to it. Kastner stated that the word “Frontier” was a play on words in that its literal meaning is to “cross or intersect borders”, but figuratively within the program it encourages students to “cross the frontiers of their disciplines and into others.”

Focusing of student field studies

The Frontier program is primarily a “scholarly community to provide students not only curricular educations, but experiential educations as well.” Within the program, students are able to attend “field studies” in which they get to experience firsthand what international trading, border security, and food security are all about, explained Kastner, assistant professor in food safety and security.

Field studies have included trips to Boston to see a working trading port, a visit to the Mexican border to see the livestock trade and how it’s handled, and to Washington DC for training in food safety and security.

Edward Nyambok, a graduate student at Kansas State University, spoke about field studies that he has attended within the program. In Wisconsin students and specialists exchanged knowledge in food safety at the international, regional, and state levels. They dissected the complexity of the food chain found within the United States and explored the extent in which it requires international efforts of public and private partnerships to secure the U.S. food supply.

The trade and security complexity of a hamburger

Nyambok recalled a firm image representative of the complexity of international food trade and security.

The image was of a hamburger.

Nyambok recounted the quote underneath this image:  “the ingredients in one hamburger come from upwards of twenty or more different suppliers from countries around the world.” He laughed and said that the number of countries involved in such a small unit of food was unimaginable to his mind at that time. Yet, this image has proven very steadfast in his dealings with the subject matter in his current studies.

The current climate change is a topic much discussed within the Frontier program at this time. Kastner and Nyambok study how the changes affect the world’s food security.

Math and climate change

Nyambok is a firm believer in the current climate change, but knows that there is much debate surrounding the issue. Climate change has caused mass flooding in Australia, and the winter cold front that swept across the majority of the United States and concluded that these types of climate changes affect developed countries, and undeveloped countries in terms of purchasing power, he said.

Nyambok then used simple math to illustrate what purchasing power is to a country.

He laid out the basics first. “Countries have one hundred dollars to spend on food. In one country, food is more expensive because it’s less available; therefore that country spends fifty dollars of their allotted one hundred on food. In the other country, food is less expensive because it is more readily available; therefore that country spends ten dollars of their allotted one hundred on food. This makes the country that spends ten dollars on food the one with the greater purchasing power due having more disposable income.”

“Underdeveloped countries that undergo a climate change may have fewer crops produced because of it and this affects their food security. Due to this, the country also ends up having less purchasing power, which leads to food increasing in expense, which in turn decreases food security in the country even more. It is really a vicious cycle.”

This illustration along with others that were shared did bring round to the fact that the subjects of border security, food security, and trade policy all intertwined do make for a very complex subject at hand.

Kastner hopes that the students today will help create learning experiences for students of the future.

“The lights are on because of students,” he said, adding that it’s the professor’s job to educate and lead the student to the best sources of experience.

Through this program the student learns that it’s not just about him but ultimately the Frontier programs goal is to see what goes into the student come out of the student in regards to touching the world around them.

By Kelly Leonard

KANSAS CITY – Under the guidelines of the National School Lunch Program Flamin’ Hot Cheetos qualify for inclusion in children’s school lunches, but locally sourced tofu, a product that has considerably more to offer nutritionally than the Cheetos, is not allowed on the children’s plates.

Since Kiersten Firquain started Bistro Kids, a farm-to-school lunch program located in Kansas City, she has come up against the counterintuitive rules and complex politics involved with school lunches of which most of the American public is unaware.

Firquain trained as a chef at a culinary school in Napa Valley, California, and holds a master’s degree in business. She established Bistro Kids four years ago when she witnessed first-hand the poor quality of lunches her son was given at school.

Known as a “farm to school” program, Bistro Kids partners with Good Natured Family Farms, an alliance of more than one hundred farmers that are located within a 200-mile radius of Kansas City, to provide locally sourced, antibiotic and hormone free milk and meat, and organic fruits and vegetables to schools located in Kansas and Missouri.

Firquain is on a mission to bring this healthful food to as many kids as possible; however, many conflicting interests are involved in school lunches, making change difficult.

Since the establishment of the National School Lunch Program in 1946, politics have been inextricably linked with the mission of providing meals to children.

As Quentin Burdick, a senator from North Dakota in the 1960s summed it up, “The entire nation gains from this program because it helps assure a strong, well-fed youth, a larger income for the farmer, a huge market for the food trades…constructive outlets for abundant commodities, a well-nourished student who is more receptive to instruction and a healthier nation.”

The program wasn’t just established to provide nutritious meals to students; it also was a way for the agriculture industry to distribute surplus commodities such as meat, dairy, and processed foods which often resulted in a limited and inconsistent choice of foods for the schools.

From 1946 to 1972, children who paid to participate in the National School Lunch Program were served a hot lunch with the major food groups; however, the composition of the meals drastically changed when the concept of free and reduced price lunches was introduced in order to subsidize poor children’s lunches.  With less paying children and not enough assistance from the federal government, local school districts had a shortfall in their lunchroom budgets.  As a result, they turned to the private food industry to help cover the shortfall. At the same time, the United States Department of Agriculture lowered the school lunch standards, famously allowing ketchup to be considered as a vegetable.  Privatization, fast-food, and the introduction of national brands altered the composition of school lunches and might explain the presence of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on a school lunch tray.

Fast forward to 2011 and one in three children are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  Parents and schools are searching for solutions to reverse that alarming trend.

Firquain founded Bistro Kids to hopefully become one of those solutions.

The program provides, as Firquain puts it, “healthy takes on kid-friendly favorites” such as Macaroni and Cheese and Bison Sloppy Joes.  Each school has its own chef that tailors the menu to fit the students’ taste preferences.  Not only that, but Bistro Kids also provides hands on cooking classes, nutrition education in the classroom, field trips to the farms it partners with, and a school garden.

A day at the Oakhill Day School in Gladstone, Missouri provides an example of the Bistro Kids’ experience.  Lunch on “Fun Fridays” consists of a salad bar with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  The menu also includes baked Parmesan chicken, and the kids swear that it is better than any they have tasted in Italian restaurants.

During a nutrition education class given by Chef Mark Zukaitis, Jr., third graders gobble up “beet sticks” and help make a bulgur wheat salad with beet leaves, spinach, fennel and peppers.  One third grader proclaims, “Spinach is one of my favorites!”

Responses from the parents, the kids, and the teachers at the schools Firquain services have been overwhelmingly positive; however, she has faced some challenges in getting the program into more schools. Her meals cost twice the federal reimbursement which is currently around $2.89.  Although many of the schools that participate in Bistro Kids make up that shortfall with grants, that cost would be prohibitive for most public schools.

Also, Firquain feels that changes need to come from the top down in school districts instead of grassroots efforts.  Firquain faced this with her own son’s parochial school, the source of inspiration that sparked the development of Bistro Kids.  Even with broad parental support, she was unable to get the school to participate in her program due to resistance from the administration.

She has also faced issues with the National School Lunch Program standards, of which she must meet in order to service schools with over 60 percent of students receiving free and reduced price lunches.  Her voice filled with frustration describing clashes with a state administrator over allowing veggie burgers and the aforementioned tofu to be served.

She currently has the capabilities to add one to two new schools a year but plans on partnering with a large company that will allow her to expand even more rapidly.

Firquain faces an uphill battle to change the landscape of American school food.  Industries, such as the food service and agriculture industry, with powerful resources and interests other than providing the healthiest meal for children have been involved in the National School Lunch Program since the beginning and won’t give up their lucrative toehold easily.

But Firquain feels she’s up to the challenge of meeting her mission “to feed as many kids as possible healthy, organic meals.”

For more information about the program, visit www.bistrokids.com.

By Ben Marshall

Trident White.  Dentyne Ice.  Wrigley’s Extra Dessert Delights.

In any given grocery store checkout aisle, dozens of tiny chewing gum packages bombard customers, each claiming to perform minor mouth miracles.

And if a Kansas State University professor and researcher have his way, a mouth-watering new formula may find its place on crowded store shelves within a few years: spearmint with hyena spit.  Or something to that effect.

Dr. Tonatiuh Melgarejo, associate professor of human nutrition, has been researching host defense peptides (HDPs) – mainly in wild African hyenas – for nearly a decade.  HDPs are natural antibiotics that protect an animal against deadly microbes.

In December 2006, Melgarejo and his team of researchers received $50,000 in grant money to observe hyenas in their natural habitat in places like Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa.

“Hyenas eat all these carcasses and all this carrion.  The amount of bacteria present in hyena’s diets is tremendous.  They have bacteria that can kill a human in 12 hours, can kill a mouse in five hours,” Melgarejo said.  “We realized hyenas must have something that is protecting them.”

In the second phase of Melgarejo’s research, his team collected samples from wild hyenas in Botswana to determine just how hyenas survive on such dangerous diets.

Typical collection times began at 1 a.m. when, according to Melgarejo, hyenas are most active.  His team traveled by Land Rover across the pitch-black African Savannah to locate hyenas feeding on partially decomposed hippos or lions.  After the hyenas ran off, the group retrieved DNA samples – blood, urine, saliva and hair – anything the hyenas left on or around the carcasses.  They returned those samples to a nitrogen tank in the Land Rover for preservation.

After several costly trips back and forth from Manhattan to Africa, Melgarejo said he and his team made a very promising discovery.  When an HDP present in hyena’s saliva is synthesized and isolated, it is, according to Melgarejo, “highly effective” at killing bacteria present in the human mouth.

“Now we are thinking, ‘OK, how can we use this molecule to help humans to improve oral health?’” Melgarejo said.  “So we are looking at chewing gums where we can include this molecule.  People who start chewing will have a constant contact with this molecule for at least 20-30 minutes.”

Contact with the bacteria-killing molecule, it is hoped, will reduce the risk of periodontal disease and cavities in humans.

“It has been highly rewarding and everything we’ve done looks like we are in the right direction,” Melgarejo said.

Research continues.  Not only do they need to make sure the molecule is nontoxic to humans, but Melgarejo and his team also have more research to do on 14 other molecules discovered in the hyenas.

While Melgarejo continues to travel abroad for various research purposes, he no longer needs to book a flight to Botswana every time he wants to collect more hyena samples.  His computer screensaver shows a dark-haired Melgarejo smiling and snuggling with two hyenas on a concrete floor at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan.  The hyenas – Charlie and Mila – were purchased two years ago from Botswana in an effort to reduce research costs.  Melgarejo visits the hyenas one or two times each day for research purposes and to maintain a familiarity between him and the wild animals.

It will likely take another three years before Melgarejo said he can take his chewing gum idea to big companies and try to sell it.  And for Melgarejo, that’s what it’s all about.  It’s not about the hundreds of thousands of dollars it has taken to get to this point, or the thousands of miles of travel, or the years of painstaking research.

Melgarejo said what matters is the possibility of discovering something in hyenas that can help humans.

“I have fun, I travel, I talk to very smart people, young people who are always telling me ‘You’re wrong because of this and this and that,’” Melgarejo said.  “And at the end of the day, we can have a product to help society.  That will be almost too good to be true for me.”

By Jeanette Pryor

Old Downtown Overland Park, two quaint, store-lined streets, is becoming Kansas City’s Slow Food District, its Culinary Center and specialty shops are delectable evidence that the local branch of Slow Food International is convincing people to center their lives around the joy of home cooked meals; meals made from the resources of local farms and artisans, and shared with people who believe the table should be the heart of family and community.

Slow Food International – How the Threat of a Hamburger is Changing the World

Long before the executive chef of Kansas City’s most famous Italian restaurant brought the Slow Food Movement to the American Mid-West, the organization was an act of rebellion against the invasion of Rome by… hamburgers!  In 1986, a horrified Italian awoke to the iconoclastic news that the Golden Arches were going to become part of the Eternal City’s skyline.

Fearing the eventual effects of this viral infection of the heart of the gastronomic universe, knowing what would happen if Italian cuisine was replaced by the embodiment of modern food, an amalgamation of chemicals designed for profit, convenience, and expediency, Carlo Petrini founded Agriocola with several friends. His original intention was to unite and organize the efforts of those who held that human beings should preserve and promote the production of real food, food cultivated with care and in natural ways.  This respect for food is motivated by the place it should hold in civilizations, the central unifying locus of the deepest human bonds, family and community.

By the time the group renamed their reformation “Slow Food International,” it had honed its purpose, “Slow Food works to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives.“

The 100,000 members of Slow Food International are organized into “convivia” from the Latin for “to live with.”  The “convivial” are local branches that strive to unite members of communities who share the core values espoused by Petrini and endeavor to communicate this way of life to others.  Celebrating and availing themselves of the local produce and artisanal food is the main focus of the local groups.

“I Wanted to Teach People to Make the Table the Center of Their Own Families”

In 1948, Jasper Mirabile Sr. and his wife, Josephine, opened a little restaurant on the outskirts of Kansas City.  While they were working at the family business, their youngest son, Jasper Jr., was at home with his Nona, his grandmother, begging to learn the secrets of her cooking.  Today, in 2010, the family restaurant, Jaspers, is high on Zagat’s list of America’s Top Ten Italian restaurants in the US, and Jasper Jr. is the executive chef.

“My father’s legacy, his dream and ours, is to have our customer’s feel like they are eating at our family table.  In our family, the meals bring us together and our lives literally center around the love of good food.  We talk recipes and where the best olive oil comes from and how the asparagus is this season.  I wanted to communicate this love of food and the importance of family meals to the people who eat in Jaspers,” Jasper Jr. explained when he learned of the Slow Food Movement, he recognized his own dreams echoed in Petrini’s mission.

“I started the Kansas City Slow Food chapter because it was a way to extend the philosophy of the restaurant to the whole community.  We have so many local farms and artisans, I thought that starting a local group would bring people together who could promote local products in our own communities, helping those who have a true passion for healthy, real food,” he said.

Judging from the extensive and varied membership list, Jasper’s outreach has been an enormous success.  The Slow Food table gathers these and dozens of other members, food enthusiasts who get together to enjoy cooking and sharing their creations.

• Quality Meat Goats from Double O Ranch
• Fervere Bread Company
• Edible Schoolyard
• Kansas Wines
• Good Shepherd Farms
• Louisburg Cider Mill
• Shatto Milk Company
• Travels With Taste
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds

The members are deeply committed to employing natural or ecological techniques in the raising of animals or growing crops, whenever possible.

Law Books Or Cook Books?

While Jasper was using Slow Food to bring the Mirabile family’s love of “the shared table,” to the community, a young attorney was dreaming of trading her law books for her cook books, the courtroom for her kitchen.  Laura Laiben O’Rourke had grown up with a passion for cooking.  A brilliant student, she ended up in the less creative law library, the top of her classes, but feeling like something was missing.  Ten years ago, Laura took a giant leap and founded the Culinary Center of Kansas City.

“The center is a unique venue in the Midwest where “‘culinarians”’ of all skill levels can gather together to celebrate the culinary arts in a variety of ways.  Warm service, attention to detail and the commitment to go the extra step in everything we do are the hallmarks of our business philosophy,” she explained.

The center, located in downtown Overland Park, offers thematic cooking classes by local chefs.  Julia & Me, for example, offers the public the opportunity to learn and practice the basics of French cooking, in much the same way that the now-famous Julie Powell of movie fame, cooked her way from ignorance of the culinary arts to accomplished resident of the kitchen!  Under the Tuscan Sun is a two and a half hour class that introduces students to the joy of signature Italian cooking.

Expanding beyond its original “test kitchen,” the center now houses the Kitchenology shop that offers kitchen tools, aprons, fabulous cook-books and pots and pans designed to withstand a nuclear blast.  The center also boasts two spacious dining rooms in which the famous “Staff Lunches” are held.  Every Tuesday, the resident chefs of the center serve lunch for a modest fee.  The only rule is European seating; you have to sit by someone you don’t know!

Laiben O’Rourke’s dream was not to start a professional cooking school, but a place where anyone who wanted to learn to cook could come and “brush” up on basic skills.  The center now offers advanced classes and, in addition to the stand-alone evening thematic classes, offers class series.

It should be no surprise that Jasper Mirabile, the “human hub” of the food scene in Kansas City, should find his way to the center.  He brings his “Family Table” message, along with his mother, to the Center to teach classes every month.  Laura and her staff at the Center, are an important conduit for the Slow Food message, the enthusiasm for cooking healthy meals, for discovering new and varied ethnic foods.

“There Goes the Neighborhood!”

High on Jasper’s list of Slow Food resources are the fresh array of local Farmer’s Markets.  Addicts of the Culinary Center classes and open lunches can cross the street and fill their baskets with the fresh produce offered at Overland Park’s by local farmers, bakers, bee hive keepers and other local artisans.  While not all the vendors represent member businesses attached officially to Slow Food, they are the very reason the organization exists.  It is to these stalls and families who hauled their crops and the best their gardens had to offer that Jasper, Laura, and Slow Food are trying to direct Kansans.

In last month’s newsletter, Laiben-O’Rourke commented on the food mecca sprouting  in the once empty shops downtown Overland Park?  Penzeys Spices and the Tasteful Olive offer fresh spices and fresh, natural olive oils and vinegars.  Three new restaurants, all family owned have opened.  None are chain franchises, and   the menus offer fresh, local choices for customers.

Kansas City’s Slow Food No Longer Moving At Snail’s Pace

“The most important thing in this world is family,” Jasper summed up the work of the convivium.  “We have folks come to eat here, at the restaurant, who moved here and are far from family because of work.  Sometimes, a spouse has passed and there is no one left for them.  We try to have them feel at home when they come here, and having this spirit of sharing good food with people who care about them, that picks them up.  Some people in Slow Food focus on the ecological aspects of food, and we feel this is very important.  But, I want people to create family bonds, bonds that extend to the farmers and bakers, and people here in Kansas City, without going elsewhere.  This is the best way to bring people together, around the passion of food we have here, near our own city.  We bring folks to the table and that is the magic of food.”

People who share this passion for food will find kindred spirits in the “food district” in Overland Park.

Bringing big appetites and the week’s grocery list to local Slow Food artisans and stores is a great way to sustain Kansas and live by Petrini’s motto, “Encourage food that is healthy, fair, and delicious.”

Jeanette Pryor took the distance Food Writing course in Spring 2010. The mother of four lives near Kansas City and is a senior social sciences major.

By Grant Guggisberg

Trying to decipher which United States city has the most restaurants per capita is like guessing how many stars are in the sky. Everyone has an opinion, but nobody seems to know.

The myth floating around the Sunflower State and beyond is that Wichita ranks second in the nation in restaurants per person. This is an impressive statistic to boast – most likely why the claim appeared in a Wichita visitor’s bureau pamphlet, despite the nonexistent statistics to back it up.

Yet, if you’ve ever been to Wichita, you know there are plenty of places to eat out. It seems fairly logical to assume Kansas’ largest city could be near the top of the list in restaurants per capita.

One of the knocks on Wichita, and really Kansas in general, is the assertion that there’s nothing to do for fun. With no Rocky Mountains, major professional sports or even major tourist attractions, there’s certainly some truth to the claim. In Wichita, people go out to eat, and they do it often.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000, the Wichita metropolitan area had a population of 545,220, good for the most in Kansas. The U.S. economic census, conducted every five years, reported in 2002 that Wichita had 1,088 restaurants in the area. That gives Wichita roughly 501 people per restaurant.

So how does that rate on a national scale? The following statistics were obtained the exact same way from the U.S. Census Bureau for every metropolitan area with a population of at least 400,000 in the year 2000. There were 102 cities that made the cut and Wichita ranks 13th on the list.

Not bad, but not quite No. 2 either.

The No. 2 spot goes to Honolulu, Hawaii, most likely because of all the tourists visiting the island. The top spot belongs to Madison, Wisc., which had 1,146 restaurants catering to just 426,526 people.

For Wichita to be 13th on the list is impressive because of the lack of tourism in the area. Nearby cities such as Denver, Kansas City and Oklahoma City all have more going on in the area of tourism and attractions. However, these cities also have large populations to go with it, meaning the restaurants per person actually goes up. This means Wichita is supporting its 1,088 restaurants from mostly loyal customers.

One good thing for the city of Wichita is that the number of restaurants is growing at a rate disproportional to the population growth. Lisa Graham, marketing and communications director for the Kansas Hospitality and Restaurant Association, said the city of Wichita now has around 1,052 places licensed to sell food.

“Those are places that have a license to serve food, so that would be a safe estimate,” Graham said. “However, the list I’m looking at was last updated in December 2009. So we haven’t gotten the most current one for this year yet.”

Graham mentioned that this would include just food licenses issued to addresses with Wichita as the city, meaning neighboring cities like Andover and Derby that get lumped into the metro area statistics are omitted.

The U.S. Census Web site estimates that the population for the city of Wichita – not the metropolitan area – was 366,046 in 2008. More concrete data will be available after the 2010 Census is completed. Regardless, using those figures, Wichita has 347 people per restaurant. This would rate first on the list, giving the Wichita visitor’s bureau something to really brag about.

This statistic creates the biggest problem. If you called every state’s restaurant association and obtained similar statistics, you might find that all of the top cities on this list would lower their numbers. So until the U.S. Census releases its 2010 numbers, consider this the most concrete answer on restaurants per capita.

In the end, this only reaffirms the obvious: Wichita has a ton of restaurants and a loyal base of customers that go out to eat for entertainment.