Mural Arts Program Celebrates Philadelphia Food

The Mural Arts program in Philadelphia recently kicked off its summer program "What We Sow." The program takes celebrating food to a new level through art. It also and takes art beyond the canvas with cooking demos and more.

The community is invited to celebrate heirloom foods through workshops, tastings, artist talks, and mural tours now through the beginning of October.

Mural Arts Program Coordinator Netanel Portier told CBS Philadephia that "we were able to put together three tours that focus on three different neighborhoods in the city."

These include West Philadelphia, Southeast Philadelphia, and Kensington. Each location will host events that connect communities to the politics of food production and art.

The program is believed to be an opportunity to ask some difficult questions concerning food access and food quality such as what is the history of our food, what are our cultural connections to our food, and what can we learn from new foods brought by people immigrating here.

Mural Arts will also be partnering with international artists to host a community meal on October 5 in Old City this fall for its 30th anniversary. The meal will be a visual and performance art piece that will gather people around a table to discuss issues of heirloom foods and how to create a healthier food system.