What is a truffle, and why is so popular? The Department of Community Development and Applied Econimics is please to host a lecture and tasting of this über-shroom on Wednesday, August 30th at 4:30 PM in the Davis Center Chittenden Bank Room. The lecture will be offered by Zachary Nowak, who is the director of the Center for Food, Sustainability and Environment at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy.

What is a truffle, and why is so popular? The Department of Community Development and Applied Economics is please to host a lecture and tasting of this über-shroom on Wednesday, August 30th at 4:30 PM in the Davis Center Chittenden Bank Room. The lecture will be offered by Zachary Nowak, who is the director of the Center for Food, Sustainability and Environment at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy.

During the lecture, Professor Zachary Nowak will dig deep into the history and fame of this unlikeliest of luxury items. He explores how this homely fungus helped reverse a nineteenth-century environmental disaster in France’s Provence region, and in doing so offers a portrait of this charming mushroom.

Zachary Nowak has worked for The Umbra Institute since 2005. Nowak received his PhD from Harvard University in 2018 and is a food and environmental historian with an interest in how place and taste go together (or don’t). He has written about the history of pizzerias in Naples, Chianti in California, unsalted bread in Perugia, polenta in Italy, terroir nowhere, and truffles all over the world.

The lecture is open to everyone, and highly encouraged to students with an interest in food systems, studying in Italy, community, and truffles.