CHEW meetings are free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted in a program’s description, meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Goodman Community Center, (Ironworks Building), 149 Waubesa St., Madison, Wisconsin. Got questions? Or want to get on our newsletter list? Email chewwisconsin@gmail.com
TO RENEW OR JOIN CHEW PLEASE GO TO www.chewwisconsin.com/enthusiasts/membership.
COMING SOON
Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm – “American Bacon: A Food Phenomenon,” with presenter Mark A. Johnson, Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St., Madison, WI (PLEASE NOTE: Our May meeting has been moved from our usual “first Wednesdays” schedule in order to welcome our speaker from Tennessee.)
In his new book, American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon, Mark A. Johnson asks (and answers) a seemingly simple question: How has bacon overcome centuries of religious prohibition, cultural contempt, and dietary advice to become a twenty-first-century culinary and cultural powerhouse? Through the stories of American bacon producers, like Wisconsin’s Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats, Johnson tells the story of bacon in the American gastroimagination. Since the 1930s, Nueske’s and others, like Benton’s Bacon in Tennessee, have continued to make bacon despite the Great Depression, the campaign against saturated fat, and the fear of chemicals like nitrates and nitrites. For Johnson, bacon’s story from “most dangerous food in the supermarket” to pop culture and gastronomic phenomenon reflects the cultural values of a nation.
MARK A. JOHNSON, from Milwaukee, earned a PhD in history from the University of Alabama. Previously, he earned an MA from the University of Maryland and BA from Purdue University. He currently teaches at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is the author of An Irresistible History of Alabama Barbecue: From Wood Pit to White Sauce and Rough Tactics: Black Performance in Political Spectacle, 1877-1932.
AND MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR:
Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 7 PM – “Apron Strings: Our Ties that Bind,” Goodman Community Center, Madison, WI. The apron, while a functional and practical garment, enjoys significance culturally when identified with a profession, their ubiquity in our home kitchens, and with the individuals who wear or have worn them. A former, but long- running, traveling exhibit (the Apron Chronicles) encouraged visitors to share stories of their aprons. For our interactive CHEW meeting on June 3, we invite you to bring and wear a favorite apron, and to share stories of the apron or aprons you keep, use, and treasure. Our event will also feature a virtual compilation of aprons collected and archived by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Check in here later or on our Facebook page for additional details.
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CHEW meetings feature invited speakers, lively discussions, and often food samplings or cooking 
demonstrations. See below for info about our newsletter, membership, traveling library and more.
Newsletter – To receive our email newsletter, send us a note at chewwisconsin@gmail.com.
Membership – For info about why and how to join CHEW, click here.
CHEW Library – One of the benefits of in-person CHEW meetings is access to CHEW’s traveling library. Our collection totals over 110 titles, ranging from James Beard award winner The Sioux’s Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen to the very drinkable Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’s Historic Bars and Breweries. To peruse all the book titles in our library, click Culinary. You can put in an “order” for a specific book by emailing chewwisconsin@gmail.com. The book will be brought to the next in-person meeting (if it hasn’t already been checked out). Several titles will also be featured at each meeting–you’ll hear a short review and will have the opportunity to check one of the featured titles out for a month.
Facebook – We also invite you to join CHEW on Facebook, for fascinating food links, discussions and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chewwis/