To market, to market to buy a fat pig . . . Once upon a time most consumers headed to the farmers' market for homegrown and home-produced goods. The 17th annual Western Reserve Studies Symposium, "Regional Foods and Markets: Reconnecting the Farmers and Consumers in the Western Reserve," will examine the plight of today's independent farmer as they struggle to survive against the Goliaths of agribusiness.

Sponsored by CWRU's College of Arts and Sciences, the event takes place October 18 and 19 at CWRU's Squire Valleevue Farm in Hunting Valley and includes a field trip to a local market.

Food history has become a popular academic topic to study. The historical review of Western Reserve farmers is the brainchild of Gladys Haddad, a regional historian at CWRU. Visits to the North Union Farmers' Market on Shaker Square in Cleveland inspired her.

"The personal exchanges are just incredible to listen to and engage in them. I want to make this first-hand experience available to other people," said Haddad. Eating is something everyone does, she said, but broader questions of how that food arrives on the table and why we eat what we do is...food for thought.

The symposium opens at 1 p.m. Friday, October 18. It will reach back into antiquities with its bacchanalian feasts, when CWRU art historian Jenifer Neils presents a short film and the talk, "Epic Appetites: Images of Food in Ancient Greece and Rome." Alan Rocke, CWRU professor of history, fast forwards the audience by centuries into Ohioan cuisines of yesteryear with "Buckeyes, Corncrackers and Suckers: Culinary Episodes in Ohio History," followed by Hale Farm's domestic skills manager Amy Halsey in character as Mrs. Jacob Meredith of 1848 discussing what was on her plate 150 years ago.

Concluding the Friday afternoon program are Joanne Lewis, author of To Market, To Market, with a discussion of the history of the West Side Market at West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue. Walter Leedy, a collector of Cleveland and regional postcards, and William Barrow of Cleveland State University also will present a talk, illustrated with postcards of area markets.

Friday night's dinner and Saturday's lunch come from Parker's, a west side eatery that uses only Northeast Ohio produced foods in its menu items. Prior to dinner, a reception will feature a talk and wines by James and Patricia Iubelt from Maple Ridge Vineyard. Following dinner, soprano Sandra Simon and her accompanist Nancy Maier will perform "If music be the food..." a medley of songs from opera and operettas with a food theme.

Saturday starts at 8 a.m. on Shaker Square with a tour of the North Union Farmers Market, led by Donita Anderson, the market's manager. The group will stop at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on the Square to review a display of food-related books.

Returning to the farm by 10 a.m., the group will reflect on their tour by "Sharing the Market Experience." Speakers will include North Union Farmers Market co-founders Mary Holmes on "The Market as Community" and Anderson on "Finding the Farmers." Parker Bosley, chef and owner of Parker's restaurant, joined by farmers Mark Welton from Norton in Summit County and John Johnson of Mt. Vernon in Knox County, will give "A View from the Dinner Table."

Laura Taxel, the author of Cleveland Ethnic Eats 2002 Edition, will be the keynote speaker at lunch.

John Rasmussen, consultant with Public Markets and Economic Development, will open the afternoon program with an address on "The Market as Engine for Economic Revival."

A panel discussion, "Reversing the Trends: Creative Ideas for Reconnecting Farmers and Consumers in the Western Reserve," will respond to Rasmussen's remarks. Featured speakers are Darwin Kelsey, Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy; Jill Clark, American Farmland Trust; Brad Masi from Oberlin College's Ecological Design Innovation Center; and Kit Jensen, WCPN/WVIZ ideastream. Holmes will moderate the discussion that raises issues facing smaller farmers and their economic impact on the region.

Throughout the symposium, the exhibit, "From Flour Scoops to Water Pitchers: Cooking by the Book" will be on display. The exhibit illustrates the history of cooking through antique cooking wares and books from the private collectors and Special Collections from CWRU's Kelvin Smith Library. Susie Hanson, CWRU's director of Special Collection, arranged the exhibit.

Registration is $50, with an additional $40 for dinner and $15 for lunch. For information, call Haddad at 368-4117 or visit http://www.cwru.edu/UL/WRS/.