Wild Edibles Workshop with Nova Kim and Les Hook, May 28:

Join Nova Kim and Les Hook for an informative wild edibles walk around Knoll Farm beginning at 4:30. After the walk, Chef David Hoene of Pauline's Restaurant in Burlington will demonstrate how to safely and deliciously prepare wild edibles. A tasting and further discussion will follow. Rain or Shine.

Nova Kim, of Osage heritage, and Les Hook, a true Vermont native raised in the vanishing mountain tradition, have more than eighty years of combined experience hunting the woods and fields for wild foods and medicines.

They promote the use of wild edibles while conducting and collecting research on the various plant forms (native and immigrant) occurring in the wild, encouraging and educating the public to the benefits derived from their usage, and helping to preserve the plants' natural habitat, thus ensuring a continuing supply for generations to come.

In this capacity, they have been presenters and guests of the Smithsonian Folklife and Cultural Festival for both Food Culture USA and the Forest Service, Culture, and Community in Washington, D.C.; Terre Madre, the Slow Food World Meeting of Food Communities, Wild Resources Session on their Canary Project, in Turin, Italy; the Native Food Summit in Sante Fe, NM; the Slow Food RAFT (Renewing American Food Traditions) Conference for the Clambake and Maple Nations in Vermont.; and Trading at the River 2008 Conference, a Gathering of Native American Businesses & Entrepreneurs, Food from Source to Table: Old Ways and New Opportunities Panel, Portland, Oregon.

Nova and Les recently became founding Board Members of The Wild Food Gatherers Guild & Cooperative, a non-profit.

“The purpose of the guild is to provide activities that will promote and sustain the collection of wild foods as a craft and livelihood and develop a voice and a collective market presence for wild foods and wild food gatherers everywhere. All are welcome…chefs, purveyors, collectors, and anyone interested in the ethical use and collection of our wild relatives.”

In addition to their many other activities, in April of 2008, they became the Vermont Slow Food Convivium Leaders.