By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

WILMINGTON, Ohio — The push to grow responsibly and eat healthy is catching on across the nation.

In order to further stress this need, Wilmington College will host a food symposium tomorrow entitled “Food and Farming for the Future: Eat Healthy/Grow Responsibly.” It is part of the college’s Grow Food, Grow Hope initiative.

“Clinton County has always been a strong farming community,” said Monte Anderson, professor of agriculture at Wilmington College. “We as a society are becoming more aware of natural resources. We have not only affordable but high-quality, nutritious food produced in Ohio. This symposium will help consumers have the knowledge to make the right choices.”

Wilmington College has had a prominent agriculture program for more than 60 years. The free, daylong event is being held on the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970.

The symposium will feature presentations on such topics as the impact of modern food production with an emphasis on corn, fresh and healthy food alternatives and feeding the world’s growing population in a sustainable manner. Film director Aaron Woolf will urge a mindset change from the status quo in “Nudge Our Food System in a Different Direction” at 1 p.m., in the Hugh G. Heiland Theatre.

At 2:30 p.m. master Chef Martin Yan will present a “Garden Fresh Chinese Cuisine” demonstration in the Kelly Center. At 7:30 p.m. Denis Avery of the Hudson Institute Center for Global Food Issues will speak on “Feeding the Future, Sustainably” in the Heiland Theatre.

Avery is a leading spokesman for the modern farming systems that provide more food from fewer acres. He is the author of the book Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High-Yield Farming. The son of a farmer and extension agent, Avery spent 15 years with the USDA, helping inspect foods, assemble farm income data and analyze price support policy.

Photojournalist Peter Menzel will have a daylong exhibit with images from his acclaimed book, The Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Menzel’s work features dinner tables from around the world and documents 12 families from 12 countries, providing a thought-provoking visual analysis of what people share and lack. This exhibit is at the Harcum Art Gallery.

Related activities include exhibits featuring ethnic grocers, cooking utensils from around the world, the local Grow Food Grow Hope program and an outdoor display of farm equipment from three distinct parts of the world.

For more information, contact Melo-Dee Frederick at 937-382-6661, ext. 205.