FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 12, 2007
Contact: Scott Hirko, , 517-372-0029 ext. 25

Website: http://michiganfoodways.org

ENJOY THE TASTE OF MICHGAN'S FOOD CULTURE AT MICHIGANFOODWAYS.ORG

Public invited to participate in recipe/story contest, learn about
Michigan's food culture as part of Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways
statewide exhibit tour in 2007-2008

(LANSING)-----The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) today
announced it has unveiled a website, michiganfoodways.org, as a
cultural resource and interactive foodways guide for all Michiganians.
Michiganfoodways.orgwas designed to help raise the awareness of
Michigan's diverse food culture as part of an effort directed at the
2007-2008 tour of a pair of exhibits, Key Ingredients and Michigan
Foodways. The tour will start on May 25, 2007 when the MHC will bring
the Smithsonian exhibit, Key Ingredients: America By Food and a
companion exhibit, Michigan Foodways, to Chelsea, followed by Calumet,
Cheboygan, Whitehall, Frankenmuth, and Dundee. In addition, the
Council will assist local communities in developing their own kiosks
and other local programs.

"The Michigan Humanities Council is pleased to offer this
website to the people of Michigan to help them learn about the history
and culture of the food we prepare and eat," stated Janice Fedewa,
executive director of the MHC. "Not only does it have interesting
historical perspectives of food in our state and many local food
businesses, Michiganfoodways.org also provides interactive features to
help engage the public in dialogue about what our food culture means
to us."

Michigan is best described as having local specialties
instead of having its own cuisine. Michigan foodwaysare the foods of
many communities, ethnicities, and occupations that constitute the
Great Lakes state. For instance, what really is the typical Michigan
meal? In Calumet it can consist of a pasty; down the road in Negaunee,
one can find a cudighi sandwich. Those in the thumb area would
consider the Bay Port Fish Sandwich for a meal. In the summer, the
Traverse City region overflows with cherry pie and cherry sausage.
People can always find open a Coney Island restaurant in metropolitan
Detroit, something unique to our state. Many Catholics in Monroe
consider the muskrat as a fish. And, to celebrate the diverse food of
the state, many communities hold food festivals: this includes
crowning an annual Bean Queen (Fairgrove), Mint Queen (St. Johns), and
Peach Queen (Romeo). Information about all of this, and more, is
available on the new website, michiganfoodways.org

RECIPE STORY CONTEST

The website includes an online statewide recipe and story
contest, at which the public can vote for their favorite of six
different recipes and stories. Each of the entries were submitted by
Key Ingredients Michigan Foodways host sites. This is more than a
simple recipe popularity contest as each recipe has its own story. The
recipes and stories include: Pasties (Calumet), Cranberry Apple Pie
(Cheboygan), Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Hickory Nuts (Chelsea),
Michigan Mom's Favorite Caramel Apple Pie (Dundee), Pretzels
(Frankenmuth), and Asparagus and Red Pepper Tart (Whitehall).

MICHIGAN FOODWAYS DINNER AT THE COMMON GRILL: MARCH 19

The public is invited to feast on Chef Craig Common's
interpretation of the ultimate Michigan meal at his renowned
restaurant,The Common Grill. Tickets include wine pairings for four
courses and entertainment by special guest, the internationally
acclaimed blues and boogie pianist,Mr. B., Mark Lincoln Braun. The
price is $100 per ticket, with proceeds to benefit the tour of
Michigan Foodways. There is limited seating; tickets are available at
michiganfoodways.org

MICHIGAN FOODWAYS CHEF CHALLENGE AT SCHOOLCRAFT COLLEGE: APRIL 21

On April 21, Schoolcraft College's technology-rich
VisTaTech Center in Livonia will host a unique, first-class chef
competition including a strolling dinner, beverages, and dessert for
guests. Schoolcraft's award-winning culinary arts alumni, along with a
student from their top-notch culinary arts program, will compete to
craft a thoroughly Michigan meal in the state-of-the-art facility with
live video and audio simulcast throughout reception area. Celebrity
judges, including Detroit Free Press food write Sylvia Rector and
Restaurant Villegas Chef and Fork in the Road host Eric Villegas, will
discuss and select their favorite plates, and a celebrity emcee will
entertain the crowd. Proceeds will benefit Michigan Humanities
Council's development of the Michigan Foodwaysexhibit and Schoolcraft
College. Tickets will soon be available at michiganfoodways.org

KEY INGREDIENTS MICHIGAN FOODWAYS TOUR

Key Ingredients is a touring exhibition of Museum on Main
Street (MOMS), a partnership of the Smithsonian Institute and the
Federation of State Humanities Councils. With photographs,
illustrations, and artifacts, it explores the connections between
Americans and food via the historical, regional, and social traditions
of everyday meals and celebrations.

Michigan Foodways is created by the Michigan State
University Museum and presented by the MHC. It explores our state's
food story by examining our rich agriculture, our diverse ethnic
cuisines, and our special culinary traditions. Examining other
influences that shaped Michigan's foodways, the exhibition
acknowledges a number of Michigan food producers and retailers who
have enriched the foodways of Michiganians as well as those
nationwide.

The six communities hosting Key Ingredients Michigan
Foodways will add their own local flavor to the exhibit's larger,
national story.

The tour schedule is:

· CHELSEA: Chelsea District Library. May 25 - July 8, 2007
· CALUMET: Keweenaw Heritage Center. July 13 - Aug. 26, 2007
· CHEBOYGAN: Cheboygan Area Public Library. Aug. 31 - Oct. 14,
2007
· WHITEHALL: White Lake Community Library. Oct. 19 - Dec. 2, 2007
· FRANKENMUTH: Frankenmuth Historical Museum. Dec. 7, 2007 - Jan.
27, 2008
· DUNDEE: Old Mill Dundee, Dundee Museum and Community
Center. Feb. 1 - Mar. 16, 2008

Key Ingredients is part of the Museum on Main Street, a
collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Federation
of State Humanities Councils. Support for the Museum on Main Street
has been provided by the United States Congress, the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation, and the Hearst Foundation. Michigan Foodways is
presented by the Michigan Humanities Council and MSU Museum, with
support from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs,
Select Michigan, Schoolcraft College, The Common Grill, Michigan Sugar
Company, MSU Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU College of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, and MSU Extension.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is the state's
independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the
Humanities.