Announcing the Museum of Food and Drink's first exhibit

[DaveArnold]

Hi all,

You may know me from my work at the French Culinary Institute and Booker and Dax, but I’m also the founder of the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD), a non-profit organization that aims to open a first-of-its-kind food museum in New York. (For more about MOFAD, please check out our website at www.mofad.org.)

After two years of planning and research, MOFAD is ready to launch our first exhibit: BOOM! The Puffing Gun and the Rise of Breakfast Cereal. This explosive exhibit features a machine called a puffing gun, which was historically used to make cereals like Quaker Puffed Wheat, Kix, and Cheerios. MOFAD has purchased one of these machines from a company in Omaha, Nebraska that still makes puffing guns according to original designs from Kellogg’s. We’ve already tested the machine and designed a platform that will allow us to display the exhibit in public spaces around New York and beyond.

This is a project born of passion and fueled by the efforts of a few dedicated individuals. (Our entire staff worked for one year without pay.) We've got a Kickstarter campaign going, but time is running short (and we'd appreciate your support!)

Of course, we're very interested in the thoughts of the food community, so let's hear 'em!

[Lisa Shock]

Thanks for working so hard for this project. I think it's about time that such a museum existed. I think that many people don't really know much about the history of food, and this is a great way to help them discover the past.

[SylviaLovegren]

This is wonderful! (And I'm old enough to remember the ads for Quaker Cereals Shot From Guns!

Will suggest the Culinary Historians of Canada mention the museum in their newsletter in things to do outside Canada. And have you touched base with the Culinary Historians of New York? Surely they'd be interested!

[DaveArnold]

Lisa: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I certainly agree that the time is right for MOFAD; it's been a long time coming, but I know we'll make it happen.

[DaveArnold]

Sylvia: Great advice. We have been in touch with the Culinary Historians of NY and have asked them out help out with spreading the word about the exhibit; any cross-promotion you can do in Canada would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and that video is one of our favorite pieces of puffed cereal advertising here at MOFAD. Thanks for passing it along.

[Kerry Beal]

Dave - what's this about you eating raw vegan for a week if you raise enough? That shows determination above and beyond what any human should have to endure!

[DaveArnold]

Kerry: That is indeed the plan. Not sure what I've signed myself up for, but it's worth it to help make MOFAD a reality. Here's the breakdown:

$90K = paleo diet for one week

$100K = paleo for one week PLUS lemonade cleanse for one week

$110K = paleo for one week PLUS lemonade cleanse for one week PLUS raw vegan for one week (in other words, certain discomfort and and possible death)

Anyone have tips on how to endure these diets?

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry: That is indeed the plan. Not sure what I've signed myself up for, but it's worth it to help make MOFAD a reality. Here's the breakdown:

$90K = paleo diet for one week

$100K = paleo for one week PLUS lemonade cleanse for one week

$110K = paleo for one week PLUS lemonade cleanse for one week PLUS raw vegan for one week (in other words, certain discomfort and and possible death)

Anyone have tips on how to endure these diets?

Cheat?

[DaveArnold]

Kerry: Very tempting, but for this cause it's worth the effort.

A quick update: MOFAD's Executive Director, Peter Kim, has promised to stick to a 1-week Cowboy Diet if our campaign reaches $100K. At the rate things are going, it looks like I have 1 week of paleo dieting in my future.

Any other diet dares out there? We could have the whole MOFAD staff in dietary agony for weeks to come.

[KennethT]

Dave - congratulations on this first step and on getting funded!

My wife did the Lemonade cleanse years ago back when she was a Raw Vegan yoga teacher... Let's just say she didn't make it past day 3 because of horrible cramps and crazy fatigue, and to this day still can't stand the smell of maple syrup. But, with that being said, many of her co-Vegan Lemonade fasters cruised past day 10 saying they felt better than ever and had tons of energy... Personally, I think their results came from the crystal meth... or they were cheating...

Good luck!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry: Very tempting, but for this cause it's worth the effort.

A quick update: MOFAD's Executive Director, Peter Kim, has promised to stick to a 1-week Cowboy Diet if our campaign reaches $100K. At the rate things are going, it looks like I have 1 week of paleo dieting in my future.

Any other diet dares out there? We could have the whole MOFAD staff in dietary agony for weeks to come.

Paleo I think I could handle. Raw vegan might feel like suffering but I would probably have fun making up recipes.

That lemonade cleanse has been around for years - I recall someone finally eating after doing that for two weeks and being gratified that the grapes they had eaten passed through them intact! Not my idea of how you want to treat your gut. I'd probably offer to do that one if you raised a million - but nothing less!

[KennethT]

I don't want to derail this thread, but I had never heard of the Paleo diet and had to look it up.... http://thepaleodiet.com/getting-started-with-the-paleo-diet/ ..... what a great laugh!!! Sure, our ancestors between 2.6mil and 10K years ago didn't have obesity, diabetes, cancer or osteoporosis, but they also didn't live past 25 years old, and I'm sure they got plenty of exercise running around hunting and gathering! And how do these 'scientists' know that our paleolithic ancestors didn't have acne or hemorrhoids?

[Lisa Shock]

If you raise enough to need to choose a diet, or want to challenge people to give more, or something, why don't you go for a truly historic one? You could eat like a medieval European peasant for a week, or pyramid building Egyptian slave, or a Chinese servant in the court of the Yuan dynasty, or somesuch.

[Holly Moore]

Excited to learn about the Museum of Food and Drink.

Wondering who will be the first to use a puffing gun in molecular cuisine?

[heidih]

We are not strangers to the exploded grains around here. Check out this post and then scroll down just a bit for more images - http://forums.egullet.org/topic/101470-popping-rice/#entry1399823

My local Korean market does something similar with rice to make an instant rice cake (as in the puffy cereal style kind)

[Kerry Beal]

So Dave - check out NomnomPaleo. Should make your first week less painful. Sorry to hear you didn't reach raw vegan for a week. Close but no cigar!