The Carmi Rotary club held a very wide open meeting on Thursday, where they discussed food and some of the unusual and exotic meals they had tried.
President Patrick Haskell started the program by bringing a “secret” dish for the day’s meal. Along with the fish and other items from Little Giant, Dr. Patrick brought a side dish that everyone tried and failed to guess. The closest guess was barley, and although not related, the secret food was very similar.
When everyone had finished eating, Dr. Patrick told the club they had been eating Job’s Tears. This food was grown in Thailand, but can be grown in many, many places around the earth. It thrives in areas with little rainfall, but can also grow in tropical regions. Patrick had prepared the dish with onions, black olives and a few other ingredients, and the club agreed it was very good.
The discussion then turned to other food items, such as goat, sheep, soy based products, and other less know items. Patrick told the club that currently there are only one to two dozen food sources used worldwide that account for the majority of the food consumed. It is estimated that there are over two thousand potential sources that have not been made well-known.
Dr. Patrick also told the group that it is believed that if everyone on earth had one “meatless” day each week, the result would be a noticeable improvement in the overall food supply.
And speaking of food…
The club discussed the upcoming Rotary Fish Fry, which will be held on Friday, May 17th at the American Legion on Oak Street in Carmi. Fried catfish and all the sides will be served from 5:00 until 7:00 that evening. The cost per ticket is only ten dollars and no one will be leaving hungry.
The Carmi Rotary club meets every Thursday at noon at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street in Carmi. Anyone wishing to learn more about this civic organization is welcome to attend a meeting or speak with any Carmi Rotarian.
