We used the power of food (and in this case a good drink) as a convener of people and catalyst for conversation. More than 200 people came to 13 of Indianapolis’ best loved watering holes to discuss this fascinating moment in American history and its countless connections to current issues.

In addition to our in-person audience, we created additional conversations for people on Twitter and Facebook who couldn’t join us. In a few hours we had more than 500 “tweets” with a combined audience of more than 50,000 followers.

Some of our favorites include:

• @wfyi: Forget Occupy Wall Street…we’re Occupying Bars on Mass Ave! Would that have been a winning strategy back then? #chewonthis
• @rachelrubes:  “Let’s make toothpaste illegal, kids will be up on the rooftops brushing their teeth.” #ChewOnThis
• @indyhub: Texting while driving = modern day prohibition? #chewonthis
• @girlspintout: How intrusive do you want the government to be in your life? Do your rules usurp the law? #chewonthis
• @EvanStrange: Conversation at #ChewonThis was AMAZING. General sentiment: “I would do this every night.”
• @lindsgrace: Wishing I would have gone to #chewonthis, sounds fascinating

(For the full night of tweets, click here)

Want to make sure you don’t miss the next Chew On This?  Sign up for the Indiana Humanities newsletter here.  Have a fascinating idea for the next Chew On This?  Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

Moonshine and Morality (of the Indiana Humanities Chew On This series) ignited the impassioned minds of the fifteen person round table conversation. The Libertine’s craft cocktails fanned the flames (re: photo on the right of Neal Brown, The Libertine owner, in fact, lighting the healthily heated talks over his cocktails) of how passionate we are when it comes to the intersection of law and morality. The matter of prohibition and its influence on culture catapulted everyone into a stirring talk (which by the way… I could tell you the names of who raised these terrific questions and had the stellar answers… but we’re keeping it anonymous, in fine speakeasy fashion).

Teetotalers should be proud. They may disagree with our bonding over booze, but they’d be mighty proud of our unwavering moral compunction. Guests shook things up by weaving in points on possible prohibitions of the future — on specific foods or animal treatment, for two. “Where’s the shadow of religion fall over law? Murder is clearly wrong. But gay marriage? And drinking?” One answer: “With all moral movements, political opportunists will always be there.” In the case of America, “special interest lobbyists outweigh popular opinion.”

No matter past or future legislation, opinions are present and a true gift. In the end, prohibition was repealed “and democracy prevailed.” One guest summed it with “democracy is an extraordinary thing.” And another guest’s lightning round finale, “America needs a buzz.” This American is still buzzing from the extraordinary example of democracy: a hearty, intelligent talk. Indiana Humanities in full. 

This post was written by Jon Tower Akerman,  community manager for Yelp Indianapolis. Jon was an official “tweeter” at The Libertine for Chew on This: Moonshine & Morality.

This post is an example of an interview you might find in the Food For Thought Legacy Book. Enjoy!

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Larry Wappel of Wappel Farms in Northwest Indiana

Drive Highway 421 between San Pierre and North Judson after a rainstorm in July and, if you’re lucky, you’ll smell the aroma of fresh peppermint wafting up from the fields. Larry Wappel is a third generation farmer who has been growing mint and distilling the oil since 1988. Of the 60,000 acres of mint devoted to mint in the United States, about 15,000 acres are found in northwest Indiana. “I like challenges,” says Wappel. “I love my job. I love farming. I like to see if I can grow something different. So I started working on the mint farms one summer for something to do and liked what I saw. I thought I could do this.” Wappel says farmers are also fabricators: He has built much of his own specialized mint farming gear – diggers, planters, and steam distillation equipment, including separators and condensers — in his shop.

Mint was brought into Northwest Indiana in the late ‘20s or early ‘30s by two pretty big farm families because of the organic soils we have. The muck soils are very high in organic; they are fluffy, loose; they’re not a clay or a tight soil. If we try to grow it in tight clay soils or the prairie soils, like you have in central Illinois or down in central or southern Indiana, it will not do so well. The roots have to be able to penetrate the soil.

And mint requires a lot of water. Surface water. It doesn’t have the deep taproot that goes down like corn or other root crops. All the roots are concentrated in the top five or six inches. Our water table here is about three feet down. I dig a hole and I’m going to have water right now, coming in at three feet. This is very good for us because we get the water where it’s needed on mint, and that’s in the top six inches of the soil profile. We’re very successful with either pumping out of ditches for our water or doing very shallow wells and are able to pump on those all the time. There are only a few spots in the nation like this, and one of them happens to be here, in the Kankakee River Basin.

We also have more varying microclimates because of Lake Michigan. That’s why you see the grapes and the apples and cherries. Here we still catch the lake effect – it preserves our roots. Mint’s a perennial, the roots are living organisms for next year’s crop, so we love to see snow and we get a lot more snow here in winter.

I have 1,200 acres of spearmint and peppermint. About 200 acres of native spearmint, which is completely different. It’s the mint family, but it’s the spearmint family, so when we distill that, we have to keep it separate, totally separate. If I saw a spearmint plant in my peppermint field, I’d pull it out and get rid of it. It has its own special uses, and there’s a small need for it, but most mint farmers in Indiana don’t even mess with it. I think the Midwest need is 10 percent spearmint versus 90 percent peppermint.

Most goes back to Wrigley’s and Colgate. It’s a mainstay for toothpaste and mouthwashes, as far as Colgate/Palmolive goes. Then, of course, Wrigley’s is candies and gums. There’s also a small amount that goes to liqueur companies for things like peppermint schnapps.

When Wrigley’s has a gum, let’s say Doublemint Gum, they want Doublemint Gum to be the same from year to year to year. So our oil is going to be very similar each year, but not perfectly similar because we have different weather from year to year. The buyer-broker’s job is to buy oil – say, from the Midwest – and then squeeze in some cheap oil from India or China, and still meet Wrigley’s specs for that year. Just like there’s a recipe for any food, there is a recipe for Wrigley’s for a specific mint oil, and it’s got to be consistent.

We have probably the most desirable oil. If you’re going to use oil for blending purposes, you want ours on the top of the line to blend with. In the United States, we have Midwest oil. The Midwest oil is grown in southern Michigan, northwest Indiana, and in parts of Wisconsin. We’re in the right latitude and longitude for that. Then there’s the Far West oil, which is grown in Washington, Oregon, Idaho. They have a totally different climate and the oils have different chemical make-ups that look completely different from our oil.

When buyers first get a sample of our oil, they’re like wine tasters. They’ll take a little swizzle stick and they’ll dip it in each sample. Then they’ll take it in a little glass and they’ll hold it up to the light to see what color it has, how clear it is. They grade it according to their taste, and the smell, and the color, and then they’ll run it through the Gas Chromatograph and grade it for purity.

The neat thing is this variety of peppermint goes back at least 80 or 90 years in Indiana and, before that, it was brought from Europe and settled in Pennsylvania for awhile. That’s where the Black Mitcham variety we grow actually came from.

There’s little, bitty microscopic oil glands on the bottom sides of the leaves. There’s no oil on the stem, there’s no oil on the top sides of the leaves; it’s all down below. Just walking through it, we’re rupturing those little oil glands. So right after a big storm, if the wind comes through here, it’ll blow the mint and they’ll rub on each other and break the oil glands. Then you’ll have a real strong smell of mint in the air.

At the Indiana Humanities nook, we asked attendees to answer one or more of four food questions, write their answer on a sticky note with one of our “kale pens” and post it to our board. We had great participation and a lot of fun responses! Here is a sampling:

Who is your Indy food hero and why?

• “Kristin Hess! Because she is a leader in generating creative conversations around food & a champion for Indiana food!”

• “Laura Henderson (Indy urban farmer). Love her vision, passion & results!”

• “My grandpa because he knows how to put the soul into a salad.”

Which food/meal most describes you and why?

• “Salsa! I go with everything, I’m down to earth, but a little bit spicy!”

• “Spaghetti! Because I’m all tangled up!”

• “Fried okra, because I’m kinda mysterious on the outside but crazy on the inside!”

Name your favorite local food and/or restaurant and why you love it!

• “R Bistro and Napolese because I love the seasonal fresh options”

• “Luxor gets my vote. Real, home-style Egyptian food on the buffet”

• “Garden-grown Indiana tomatoes. The taste of an Indiana summer!”

If you could invite someone from history to dinner, who would you invite and why?

• “Adam Smith, I’d like to ask him what he thinks of the current economy.”

• “Marie Antoinette, so I could see if she could adjust to simpler surroundings.”

• “Marlene Dietrich, I would like her to provide dinner music!”

We had a lot of fun at FoodCon 2 this year, and we hope this celebration of local Indiana food culture continues for many years to come!

Check out more photos of the event here!

This post was written by Maria Porter, an intern at Indiana Humanities. Maria is a senior at Butler University studying Art+Design, Digital Media, and Spanish.

The author, Kevin Fish, on a trip to Africa with Grandpa Redenbacher.

Grandpa Orville Redenbacher had his start on his family farm near Brazil, Indiana.  Eating popcorn which his father made, he determined early on to seek how to make a better tasting popcorn. 

From selling popcorn in high school, he went on to study agronomy at Purdue University.  Most of his working life, from being a vocational high school teacher to a county agricultural extension agent to the manager of Princeton Farms to being president of Chester, Inc., he spent many years trying to come up with a better popcorn through cross-hybridization of popcorn plants.  In 1959, he hired plant breeder Carl Hartman to join him at Chester, Inc.  Between Grandpa’s expertise and Hartman’s experiments, the winning formula was discovered in 1965. 

Grandma and Grandpa Redenbacher in Cape Town.

I remember when my family lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in January-April, 1965.  Before, during, and after that time, we visited Grandpa and Grandma in Valparaiso, Indiana.  He always cooked up his popcorn, along with home-made ice cream.  Starting out as RedBow Popcorn (named for Redenbacher and his Chester partner Charles Bowman), Grandpa and Charles adopted the suggestion of renaming it Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popping Corn.  Starting in 1971, Grandpa personally drove around the United States trying to sell his new product, and soon began promoting it through television commercials. 

Grandpa Redenbacher on a trip to Ethiopia.

From those Indiana days, Grandpa exported Hoosier culture to the rest of the United States.  Furthermore, during his world travels in the agriculture program of People-To-People International, he introduced Hoosier culture to the world in the form of popcorn.  This writer was on one of those trips:  to Africa in 1968.  In fact, while Grandpa kept promoting popcorn to worldwide audiences, the State of Indiana held onto the distinction of being the largest popcorn producer in the United States, and still holds that honor.  Thanks to Grandpa’s determination and love of popcorn, Hoosier culture was transported worldwide.

Kevin Fish, a descendent of Orville Redenbacher, now lives in California.

This is Allison hard at work fertilizing a fruit tree on the farm.

Confession: I am embarrassed to say that I am a born and raised Hoosier, whose first immersion in agriculture took place halfway across the world. My earliest memories of traveling always include leaving the busy pace of Indianapolis and staring, with fascination, out of the windows of my mom’s minivan at fields of corn and beans. Annual visits to the state fair were a treat, highlighted by strolls through rows of chickens and goats and horses. It was like visiting a foreign country. The closest I ever got to a farm was the plot of tomatoes and green beans in my grandparents’ tiny backyard.

In the past several years, I have fallen in love with the idea of local food production and organic farming. However, having no personal experience with growing my own produce, I had this nagging feeling that I really had no clue what I was rambling about. I felt inauthentic. So I took matters into my own hands: I decided to WWOOF. (Yes, you can use that as a verb. I think.) “WWOOF” stands for Worldwide Opportunities for Organic Farmers, and is a network of farmers and workers who are interested in operating successful organic farms across the globe. So – after a bit of research – little Allie from the east side of Indy jumped on a plane with old jeans, hiking boots, and a whole lot of “what-the-hell-am-I-doing” thoughts. I landed on the Kona coast of Hawaii, with a vision of me as a professional coffee farmer and expert on all things organic.

Did you know that coffee beans are actually seeds, not beans? These are some coffee cherries before the “beans” are removed.

Naturally, this was not entirely the case. I did, however, experience the satisfaction of planting, harvesting, and (most importantly) eating a variety of traditional Hawaiian foods. My farm was 8 acres, with 7 acres of an organic coffee plantation and an acre dedicated to exotic fruit trees, a family garden, and a fully functional bed and breakfast. Nearly everything we grew was edible, so I became accustomed to picking random berries and eating them without a second thought. (On a completely unrelated side note, do not eat raw taro plants. They are toxic and will burn your mouth and you will be too embarrassed to tell your farm owner.) The most fulfilling moments occurred at the end of a long day on the farm, when I was caked in dirt and blood. I never thought I would thrive on feeling utterly disgusting.

Allison's WWOOF “ohana,” or family, on Lyman Kona Coffee Farms.

I returned to Indiana with many nuggets of wisdom, but the most exciting is my newfound appreciation for the subtleties of taste. I was on a coffee farm, so I brewed my morning cup with beans that were grown, picked, dried, roasted, and packaged all on one plot of land. I’ve grown up paying outrageous prices for gross coffee that needs to be drowned in flavored syrup, so to identify the light acidity and flowery aftertaste was a new phenomenon for my taste buds. It was brilliant. I look forward to bringing my willingness to truly recognize organic tastes back to the Hoosier state.

As I salivate over the stands at farmer’s markets and the rows of spinach at Butler’s campus farm, I’ll feel confident knowing I am capable of growing things myself. My summer was just as educational as any semester I’ve had in college, and I encourage anyone interested to visit wwoof.org to explore your options. After years of studying sustainability and environmentalism, I’ve finally put theory into practice, and it was exhilarating.

This post was written by Allison Gardner. Allison is an intern with Indiana Humanities.

Stop by the exhibit to learn about Indiana’s unique and growing food culture. In addition to the exhibit, Evansville is offering a variety of classes and activities, ranging from a session about apples to a program on local foods. During the month, visitors can learn how to cook, and even how to make smart, cheap, and healthy grocery decisions!

Remember, this is the exhibit’s very last stop, so this is your final chance to check it out before it finds its permanent home! Get pumped about Evansville’s programming by watching this video. Also, get a preview of all the great events by checking out the schedule below. (All events will take place within the Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library system.)

Future home of the Food for Thought traveling exhibit from Sept. 10 to Oct.2!

For adults…
Sept. 12 – Food for Thought: Buying Local Food – Learn about supporting local food options and buying from local farms.  6:30 p.m. in Meeting Room, North Park Branch, 960 Koehler Dr.  For details, call 812-428-8237.

Sept. 19 – Apples: Fall’s Bounty – Susan Plassmeier, Vanderburgh County Extension Educator, will share apple recipes as well as canning and preserving tips.  6:30 p.m. in Meeting Room, Oaklyn Branch, 3001 Oaklyn Dr.  For details, call 812-428-8234.

Sept. 20 – Dollar Stretcher Series: Eating Healthy on a Budget – Learn how to select healthy foods that fit into your food budget.  6 p.m. in Browning Events Room B, Central Library.  Registration required.  To register, call 812-759-7625.

Sept. 24 – Country Kitchens Remembered – Author Marilyn Kluger joins Jane Jett of the Posey County Extension office in a program on preserving our past in memories and food.  A cookbook exchange will follow.  10 a.m. in Meeting Room, McCollough Branch, 5115 Washington Ave.  For details, call 812-428-8236.

Sept. 27 – Dollar Stretcher Series: Shopping Smart – Learn how to make smart choices at the grocery store, and evaluate how healthy your shopping cart really is.  6 p.m. in Large Group Room, Central Library.  Registration required.  To register, call 812-759-7625.

For teens…
Sept. 12 – Cooking with Mrs. Cookie – Learn about cooking techniques, menu planning, and more.  Plan and cook an entire meal at the end of this series.  3:30 p.m. at East Branch, 840 E. Chandler Ave.  Registration required.  To register, call 812-428-8231.

Sept. 19 – Cooking with Mrs. Cookie – Learn about cooking techniques, menu planning, and more.  Plan and cook an entire meal at the end of this series.  3:30 p.m. at East Branch, 840 E. Chandler Ave.  Registration required.  To register, call 812-428-8231.

Sept. 26 – Cooking with Mrs. Cookie – Learn about cooking techniques, menu planning, and more.  Plan and cook an entire meal at the end of this series.  3:30 p.m. at East Branch, 840 E. Chandler Ave.  Registration required.  To register, call 812-428-823.

The Food for Thought traveling exhibit on a previous visit to Randolph County this past June!

Then head over to Dig-IN: A Taste of Indiana onAug. 28 at White River State Park from 12 p.m.- 5 p.m. But don’t just go there to eat. Head over to the Speaker Series tent to hear from Indiana experts on using local ingredients.

Here’s the lineup:

12:30     Home Grown Indiana: Christine Barbour and Scott Hutcheson
Join Indiana University professor Dr. Christine Barbour and Purdue University Economic Development expert Scott Hutcheson for a chat about the distinct role food plays in the culture of the Hoosier State.

1:30        Pairing Indiana Wine and Food: Jeanette Merritt
Which Indiana wines pair well with locally grown Dig-IN dishes?  Jeanette Merritt, marketing specialist for the Indiana Wine Grape Council has some suggestions.

2:00        Pairing Indiana Beer and Food: Rodney Weaver
Which Indiana beers pair well with locally grown Dig-IN dishes?  Hoosier Beer Geek Rodney Weaver has some suggestions.

2:30        City Ag: Laura Henderson and Andrew Brake
It doesn’t get any more local than this: both flora and fowl for your table can be grown right here in the city.  Laura Henderson will share her expertise about which plants do well in an urban environment and Andrew Brake will explain how you can start your own backyard chicken coop.

3:00        The Butler Way: Tim Carter
We’ve all read about the Butler Bulldogs and the Brad Stevens way.  But how about the Butler Bees and the Tim Carter Way?  Butler’s Center for Urban Ecology’s Tim Carter, Ph. D., will talk about what’s growing on the school’s urban farm and why the addition of 10,000 honeybees is so important to its future.

3:30        Farm Fresh: A panel of livestock farmers
Join the conversation as some of the livestock farmers who provided meat and poultry for Dig-IN fare discuss how they run their operations and care for their animals.

4:00        Hoosiers Heal Thy Ways: 10 Ways You Can Make Healthier Choices: Dr. Emily Frank
We all want to eat healthier and making good choices isn’t easy. Sometimes we need an expert to help sort out the issues. Dr. Emily Frank is that expert.

The Food For Thought exhibit will visit the West Lafayette Public Library on Aug. 29 – Sept. 8 and many exciting events are planned around the visit. One of the goals is to inspire local community members to tell their favorite food memory or story. The library is anticipating that some of the stories can also be used for its West Lafayette Memories project. It shouldn’t be too hard for the community to generate some great stories based on West Lafayette’s vast food heritage and robust ethnic restaurant representation.

The Food For Thought visit will also be in town during West Lafayette’s annual Global Fest, which is a celebration of the area’s ethnic restaurants, businesses and culture. The event takes place on Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. While attending the festival attendees will be able to spin the thought provoking Chew on This Wheel which features food related questions. After spinning the wheel and answering a question you can win a food inspired prize!

West Lafayette Public Library is also creating a food inspired questionnaire that visitors of the exhibit can complete to stimulate thoughts about food and the role it plays in our lives. For inspiration library goers can see what some of the West Lafayette celebrities, community leaders and former residents have said are their favorite memories about food.

The library will also play host to a poster series from the book Hungry Planet. The posters depict different families from across the world with food that they typically cook and eat. The posters show how different parts of the world eat, and encourage kids and adults to think about their own eating habits and rituals.

The exhibit will be on display from Aug. 29 – Sept. 8 and will be open during normal library hours (208 W. Columbia, West Lafayette).

Check out this video for highlights from Food For Thought:

Food For Thought in West Lafayette

Here are some food stories from two former West Lafayette residents:

“My signature dish of corn caviar has a Purdue look to it.  It  won 1st prize at the Indiana State Fair during the Year of Corn, and with the yellow sweet corn, black-eyed peas and black olives as key ingredients, it does indeed illustrate Boilermaker colors.  It does have a little red (tomatoes) and green (green chiles) but the Purdue colors are what made this dish a winner.” Submitted by Kenda Resler-Friend, Dow AgroSciences, Purdue Graduate

“The Food For Thought exhibit being in West Lafayette reminds me about the limited menu I consumed while a poor freshman at Purdue in 1976.  It consisted mainly of peanut butter and jelley on white, off brand mac and cheese (27 cents a box), generic frozen pot pies (13 cents apiece), Dominos Pizza ($3.99 for a large pepperoni) and beer (Schlitz or PBR).  Sounds tasty, eh? Did you know you can make a box of mac and cheese without milk or butter?  Water and a touch of oil work just fine.  It’s more granular and clumps up quickly, but it’s perfectly edible if you have no culinary standards.” Submitted by Andy Dietrick, Indiana Farm Bureau, Purdue Graduate

Sugar Cream Pie from Nick's Restaurant in Huntington, Indiana

The winners are:
First Place: Julie Lyn Barber of Delaware County for “The Ball Jar”
Read it here.

Second Place: Deborah Green of Hancock County for “A Taste of Heaven — Hoosier Style”
Read it here.

Third Place: Rose Meldrum of Huntington County for “Experiencing an Old Favorite — Sugar Cream Pie”
Read it here.

Honorable Mentions included:
Carole Williams of Marion County
Beverley Rossell of Morgan County
Fancheon Resler of Wells County

Visit the Home & Family Arts Building at the Indiana State Fair to view the winners on display, and flip through a binder with all of the applicants.