2009 Cultural Cuisine Dinner
This year's Cultural Cuisine Dinner was bigger and better than ever! With talks from special guests Penny Livingston-Stark and Helge Hellberg, as well two professional dance presentations, this was an event to remember!
MESA hosted its annual Cultural Cuisine Dinner at a new venue this year - the Firehouse at the Fort Mason Center.
In addition to meeting with MESA Stewards from around the world, guests were treated to presentations by two internationally renowned luminaries in the sustainable agriculture movement, Penny Livingston-Stark of the Regenerative Design Institute and Helge Hellberg of Marin Organic!
Following the presentations, there were mesmerizing performances by world-ranked salsa dancers from the group Salsamania, and India's 2004 Miss Talented Bollywood!
This year's menu included traditional dishes from Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Thailand plus organic beer and wine. Guests not only dined in style, but had the opportunity to meet agrarians from across the globe and hear what they
have gained from their MESA experience in the US. Several MESA Stewards also presented their proposed community projects which they'll be undertaking upon return to their home countries.
A slideshow of event highlights is below! Be sure to push the 'i' button on your keyboard so you can read the captions as the photos go by!
Lauren and Leah were recently on the radio show 'An Organic Conversation!' Listen to the podcast about how MESA cultivates a sustainable future via cultural exchange.
Former MESA Steward Philip Munyasia is applying what he learned at Ecology Action in California to start OTEPIC, his Home Country Project, in Kenya!