Food has always been central to my research and teaching
For years, I would have students at the house, night-after-night, butchering deer, making cheese and grinding grains to provide valuable hands-on opportunities to bring to life what they learned in the classroom. To support this teaching and learning approach Christina and I even built a commercial kitchen in our basement! I didn’t realize it then, but those ten years spent teaching out of the house were actually laying the foundation for the creation of the Eastern Shore Food Lab at Washington College.
Making cheese for a class in our kitchen A pot firing in our backyard
Major Changes to the ESFL
PRESS RELEASE July 15, 2021
EASTERN SHORE FOOD LAB TRANSITIONS TO INDEPENDENT NON-PROFIT, WILL SHARE SPACE WITH MODERN STONE AGE KITCHEN
The Eastern Shore Food Lab (ESFL) created in 2017 as a research and teaching laboratory at Washington College, has become an autonomous nonprofit. Dr. Bill Schindler, who was instrumental in creating ESFL, will continue to direct the food lab and expand its programs. Dr. Schindler, who recently left his position at Washington College, has conducted internationally recognized research focused on identifying and documenting ancestral dietary approaches that create the safest, most nourishing food systems possible. He will continue that research at ESFL and will offer hands-on, immersive classes on a range of topics including cheese making, sourdough bread, nose-to-tail butchering and cooking, fermenting, and foraging. ESFL will begin offering international tours that immerse participants in the history and science of transitional foodways around the world. It will become a destination for individuals and groups drawn to Chestertown by the prospect of learning from ESFL programs.
Wendy and Larry Culp, active participants in many local organizations, observed “Bill Schindler and the Eastern Shore Food Lab are important members of the Chestertown Community. We are long-time supporters of his work and are excited to see him realize the full potential of the ESFL.”
The ESFL will share its 236 Cannon Street location with the Modern Stone Age Kitchen (MSAK) which Dr. Schindler has established with his family to bring to Chestertown an array of nourishing food made entirely from scratch using ancestral techniques. Joining Schindler are his wife, Christina, and their three teenage children, Brianna, Billy and Alyssa. Brianna’s popular sourdough bakery, Rise, which she began out of the family home at the beginning of the pandemic, will continue to operate under the new entity.
MSAK, in coordination with ESFL, will offer themed, sit-down meals designed to nourish, educate and entertain. These dinners will feature world-renowned chefs and innovators, bringing cutting-edge culinary experiences to Chestertown. The dinners will provide the additional opportunity to experience locally-sourced ingredients prepared in healthy, creative ways, all while educating and entertaining participants.
“We are excited to be able to take this next step to make a larger-scale impact as we work to replace the foods people eat every day with the most nourishing versions possible,” says Schindler. His book, Eat Like a Human: Nourishing Foods and Ancient Ways of Cooking to Revolutionize Your Health, will be published in November by Little, Brown, Spark. “We are excited to add our unique approach to the already dynamic and growing food scene in Chestertown,” adds Schindler.
Turning an Idea into Reality
Upon our return from Ireland in the fall of 2017, I launched the Eastern Shore Food Lab at Washington College in Chestertown Maryland. A great deal of donors, support from Washington College, and a grant from the state of Maryland has made this entire innovative space possible!
Spreading the Eat Like a Human Message
The mission of the Eastern Shore Food Lab at Washington College is to optimize personal and community health by drawing upon the dietary past that built us as a species. There we research, reimagine, and share strategies that meet and exceed our biological and cultural needs. We transition culture by strengthening the ties between environment, society, family, and ourselves through food as we address issues of sustainability, food access, and dietary and social health. We provide a model that institutions within any region can emulate, achieving zero waste by conscientious design and a commitment to revitalize human and ecological communities with every action.
