Come celebrate all the roles food plays in our lives! The New Jersey Center for the Book and the Monmouth County Library are pleased to present on Sunday, March 4 at Library Headquarters in Manalapan, an educational food festival entitled: Food for Thought: Food as Science, Food as Culture, Food as Career, Food as Community Service…What’s on Your Plate? 

“We invite you to Food for Thought…What’s on Your Plate, designed to encourage patrons to look at food in new ways, to promote healthy eating habits and nutrition, and to focus on food as career, as science and as community service,” said Renee B. Swartz, chair of the New Jersey Center for the Book and Monmouth County Library Commission.  “The New Jersey Center for the Book is proud to present this state-wide collaborative program with the Monmouth County Library.”

The keynote speaker at this event will be the renowned American Chef David Burke, who owns restaurants in New York City, Chicago and David Burke Fromagerie in Rumson.

Featured presenters at the event will be Lynne Bugai of JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, whose topic will be: Hope is Delicious: Food as Community Service; and Chloe Rosen, Next Generation Chef and Kiwi Magazine Next Great Young Chef  National Award-Winner How2Heroes.com.

Browse through a wide-ranging food festival, which will include a delectable array of samples and displays from local merchants such as Sickles Market of Little Silver, Wegmans of Manalapan, and Trader Joe’s of Shrewsbury; and educational exhibits by the Monmouth County Historical Association, CentraState Fitness and Wellness Center and Rutgers University Nutritional Sciences Preschool, among many others.

“The Monmouth County Library is honored to partner once again with the NJ Center for  the Book on another entertaining and educational program series. Food for Thought… What’s on Your Plate? will be a great showcase for Monmouth County’s  food industry,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the Monmouth County Library System.

Food for Thought…What’s on Your Plate?  begins at 12:30 p.m. and runs until 4:30 p.m. The Monmouth County Library Headquarters is located at 125 Symmes Road, Manalapan, 07726.

Food festival participants will include:

• RU Raising a Healthy Eater? Rutgers University’s Nutritional Sciences Preschool will present award-winning research on encouraging preschool children to eat healthy foods.
• Cooking Through the Ages: The Monmouth County Historical Association will demonstrate the early cooking implements and customs from the American Revolution and will provide examples of food cooked in open hearths, such as gingerbread.
• Visionary Coffee: Rook Coffee Roasters will offer information about the coffee  roasting process and provides samples of cold brewed coffee.
• Helping You Make Great Meals Easy: Meet a Wegmans chef who will demonstrate how to make meals that are healthy and tasty.
• Trader Joe’s: Your Neighborhood Grocery will provide information and samples of the unconventional and interesting products their stores offer.
• The Good Stuff --Local, National and International: Sickles Market of Little Silver will offer samples of local and global cheeses, crackers, fruit, honey, nuts and jams.
• Cupcake Heaven: Cupcake of Little Silver will demonstrate the art of decorating cupcakes, and provide samples.
• Vegan Choices: Good Karma Café of Red Bank will bring tasty vegan recipes to try at home and samples.
• Gluten Free – Is that for Me? Katie Strakosch of Sunshine Kate’s will provide information about gluten free diets and cooking.
• Spring Into Fitness/Eat Right for Life: CentraState HealthCare System will provide information on nutrition and diet and fitness.
• All The Buzz About Honey: Herbertsville Honey Company will talk about bee-keeping and honey-making, and provide samples of honey and skin creams that are manufactured locally.
• Planting Seeds for the Future: Meet the 4 H Club of Monmouth County foodie club! Learn about creative culinary and domestic arts, menu planning and nutrition. Learn how to make a radish necklace!
• Get Ready for Spring: Rutgers Master Gardeners of Monmouth County will help you get started on your vegetable garden this spring!

The Sunday March 4 event will launch a month-long series of Food For Thought… What’s on Your Plate? programs at all 13 branches of the Monmouth County Library. More than 45 free Library programs will promote nutrition, food as a career, and healthy and local food as an alternative to the fast food world that we live in.

This programming is sponsored by The New Jersey Center for the Book in conjunction with the Monmouth County Library. Please visit the event calendar www.monmouthcountylib.org for details.

For the past 10 years, the New Jersey Center for the Book's mission is "to celebrate books, reading, libraries, and the diverse literary heritage of New Jersey” along with fostering programs that celebrate the print culture in our society.

Learn more about the New Jersey Center for the Book at http://www.njcenterforthebook.org/

Formed in January 2002 as an affiliate of the Library of Congress, the Center promotes literacy projects, recognizes New Jersey authors and designates literary landmarks in the state, most recently Walt Whitman’s home in Camden.

“Each year we plan and celebrate projects that inspire children to read, to stir their imaginations and to open their minds to the world, and to sponsor programs that promote literary events around this great state of New Jersey,” said Swartz.

 One of the annual projects sponsored by the New Jersey Center for the Book is the Letters About Literature contest. Students from grade 4 through high school are asked to write an essay about what a favorite piece of literature – fiction, non-fiction, poetry – meant personally to them. More than 70,000 students nationwide participated in 2011. The New Jersey Center for the Book has sponsored several national award winners.

The New Jersey Center for the Book also bestows the Miss Rumphius Award to a deserving school librarian each year, and recognizes other New Jerseyans who demonstrate exceptional dedication to literacy, reading, and the print culture with the Literary Lion Award.