

Food is transformative. It empowers individuals, strengthens connections, and builds community.
Food is the common denominator. Food has the power to unite. It opens our eyes to new cultures—and our minds to new ways of thinking … which is why we’re launching the Birmingham FOOD+Culture Festival.
As Birmingham’s first annual culinary-meets-cultural festival, FOOD+ brings together chefs, farmers, food writers, artisan food makers, distillers, and winemakers to highlight food as the universal thread that is woven throughout our city’s rich cultural fabric.
Through FOOD+, we celebrate not only Birmingham’s chefs and their unique flavors, but also the artists and the cultural vibrancy of the Magic City with the world.
We are launching with a three year plan:

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Super Wellness Day and Bham Food+Culture Fest @ The Market at Pepper Place
sponsored by:

Join us on Saturday, October 15, 2022 for extra special programming at The Market at Pepper Place.
Designed to celebrate our health and wellbeing programming and offer a very small sample of what FOOD+Culture will bring to Birmingham in 2023.
Super Wellness Day
Resources Attending:
- BCBSAL volunteers
- Samford Univ. McWhorter School of Pharmacy—health checks
- Live HealthSmart Alabama & UAB—working to improve health outcomes for all Alabamians by 2030
- UAB Center for Exercise Medicine—recruiting for a study about the results of exercise
- Levite Jewish Community Center of Birmingham—promoting classes and community to improve fitness and wellness
- Alabama Ballet—promoting dance for fitness, culture and community
- All of Us—NIH program at UAB collecting DNA for int’l research
Special Programs:
- 8am: Outdoor HIIT Class—Martin Biscuit parking lot, hosted by the JCC—free for walk-ups
Pepper Place Chef Demo Stage:
- 9am: Demo with Chef Sedesh Boodram of The Anvil Pub and Grill: Warm Fall Salad
- 10am: Magical World of Mushrooms—panel and tasting
Mushroom farmers:
– Tim Pfitzer of Magic City Mushrooms
– Charles Crowther of Grandview Farm
– Joanna Mann of Walden Farmacy
Moderator: Nutrition Professor Clara Darling, MS, RDN, LD, Director of Samford University Food Labs & Wellness Kitchen, with culinary assistance by undergraduate nutrition students. - 10:30am: Why Eating Seasonally is Better—all-women panel
– Kimberly McNair Brock, Bitty’s Living Kitchen
– Olivia Fuller, AL Extension Service–Auburn University
– Helene Jones, Pizza Grace
– Barbara Roberts, MS, RDN/LD, CDES, Professor of Nutrition Science at UAB, Live HealthSmart Alabama Program Manager
Moderator: Lisa Beasley, Manager, The Market at Pepper Place
FOOD+Culture Special Events
Food+Storytellers @ Hot and Hot Fish Club Patio:
- 9:00 am—Martie Duncan, Chef, Author, Party Planner
- 9:06 am—Van Sykes of Bob Sykes BBQ
- 9:14 am—Don Lupo, Director of Mayor’s Office of Citizen’s Assistance
- 9:21 am—Helene Jones, Restaurateur, Pizza Grace
- 9:28 am—Graham Boettcher, R. Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art
- 9:35 am—Kimberly McNair Brock, Chef/owner, Bitty’s Living Kitchen
- 9:43 am—Verna Gates, Award-winning journalist, food author,founder of Fresh Air Family
- 9:50 am—Jonathan Tucker, Chef/owner & pitmaster at Rusty’s Bar-B-Q
- 9:57 am—Jen Ryan, Owner, BLUEROOT; developer of CROUX app
- 10:05 am—Feizal Valli, Owner of The House of Found Objects, 3-time James Beard Award nominee
- 10:12 am—Chanda Temple, Award-winning cookbook author, City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office
- 10:19 am—Elizabeth Vander Kamp, Storyteller, Creative Director, Summer RED productions
- 10:25 am—Valerie Thomas, The VAL Group, Market at Pepper Place Board Member
- 10:32 am—Nick & Jenny Nicholson, Eating Alabama
- 10:39 am—Audrey Atkins, Author & former Director of Community Engagement for WBHM
- 10:46 am—Chef Sedesh Boodram, The Anvil Pub and Grill
- 11:03 am—Rahul Thadani, Executive Director, HR Sys Ops Human Resources, UAB
FOOD+Books
Book Signings@Stone Hollow/Yellowhammer Porch
9:30 – 10:30am
- Van Sykes — From the Pit to the Plate: The Story of Bob Sykes BBQ
- Audrey Atkins — They Call Me Orange Juice
- Carolyn Williams, PHD, RD — Meals That Heal
PLUS… Alabama Ballet Dancers–Spot them in Costume–and so much more!