Belly Up Pork, beer, and money for the kids

The first installment of Pork Off! is both a battle of succulent pork plates from area chefs and a benefit for REAP Food Group’s Farm to School program. Farm to School aims to get quality food into Madison schools, and the event sprung from both philosophical and porcine concerns: "I just wanted to have all my friends together to eat pork and drink beer, then I thought it would be a good idea to make it a benefit for getting fresh, local foods into our schools,” says organizer Joey Dunscombe. “If you know even the smallest tidbit about nutrition, you can see these kids are not getting anything good for their brains." On Sunday, Jan. 10, attendees will work through 11 pork preparations at Weary Traveler Free House (1201 Williamson St., 608-442-6207)—ideally washing them down with suds from Goose Island, Great Dane, Lake Louie, and New Glarus breweries—and then vote on their favorites. Even Dunscombe doesn’t know exactly what the menu will entail: “Everyone is keeping it a secret because it's a competition.” David Oliver of Nattspil (211 King St.), Nick Johnson of Restaurant Magnus (120 E. Wilson St., 608-258-8787), Ben Hunter from Underground Food Collective, and eight others will contribute their craftiest porky designs.

Fatsometer: 9. Beer and pork are merely fuel for the calorie-burning engines inside triathletes. Most of us, however, are not triathletes.