John Kallas gathering knotweed shoots and stems. Photo courtesy of Robert VanCreveld © 2006
Dr. Kallas gives entertaining slide presentations to businesses, organizations, and schools. He speaks to professional groups in areas like outdoor education, botany, nutrition, food preparation, cooperative extension, and health care. John presents at conferences, company retreats, training camps, and schools. Event displays are available to show prepared samples of wild foods and photographs of edible plants, wild food social events, and prepared foods. John has been the “entertainment” speaker at medical, educational, and a variety of professional conferences often unrelated to wild foods – typically at award dinners where professionals are joined by their families.
Dr. Kallas can advise on and/or investigate the edible properties of any plant and its relatives for academic, culinary, theatrical, agricultural, or food product development. Dr. Kallas’ library is one of the largest in the world regarding uses of wild plants for food and other purposes. Screen writers will find our expertise on wild foods valuable to reasonably portray Native American, pioneer, cultural, and prehistoric foodways.
John is available to serve as a reference source, fact checker, and image source for journalists and writers on the topic of edible wild plants and other foragables.
We work with outdoor organizations, schools, businesses, and individuals to develop and implement high quality, enlightening, and fun training on wild food topics. Wild foods can be easily integrated into science, outdoor learning, and experiential curricula. Training can yield information on simple and sustainable living, wilderness survival, Native American uses, plant identification, and the nutrient contribution of wild foods. Trainings can deal with regional edibles; cooking and processing techniques; wild gourmet garden vegetables; neighborhood edibles; wild foods of the wilderness; medicinal plants; poisonous plants; and more. Expeditions and overnight trips to parks, wilderness areas, and hot spring resorts can be arranged. For workshops that are already established, go to our workshops page.
Wild Food Adventures provides education and training to the general public, institutions and academic organizations in the field of edible wild plants and other forageables. The Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants and Other Foragables engages in research, long range planning, and problem solving to advance the field of wild foods. To get involved with the institute as an intern or research associate, send and e-mail to mail@wildfoodadventures.com and ask for a “Working With The Institute” factsheet.