Food Dialogues: Minneapolis brings together consumers and producers to share concerns about food production

Many consumers wonder about the impact that food production may have on their health or on the planet. The Food Dialogues: Minneapolis seeks to bring together food and retail executives, farmers and others for a conversation about what more can be done to, in organizers' words, "bridge the information gap between food production practices, consumer concerns on health and the environment and the choices that are being made when sourcing food products." A forum on Aug. 11 will be moderated by Bloomberg agriculture policy journalist and Minnesota native Alan Bjerga. Held at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, a panel discussion will range from GMO safety to animal welfare. Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, Nebraska Soybean Board and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, the event is one of more than 25 that have been hosted nationwide. The free event begins with check-in and a networking reception at 5:30 p.m., with the panel discussion at 7 p.m. For more details and to register to attend (and submit a question to panelists), visit fooddialogues.com/events/ fd-minneapolis.

Here's one way to keep cool and help kids on July 30. During Thursday's 10th annual Miracle Treat Day, $1 or more from every Blizzard Treat sold by participating Dairy Queen stores will be donated to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a national organization committed to raising awareness and funds for children's hospitals. In Minnesota and western Wisconsin, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising benefits Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. Participating locations can be found at miracletreatday.com.

Minnesota has 21 restaurants on Wine Spectator's list of 2015 Restaurant Awards, which honor outstanding eateries with extraordinary wine lists. This year, the program recognized more than 3,600 restaurants worldwide. Twenty of the Minnesota restaurants won an Award of Excellence, with two receiving a Best of Award of Excellence for offering a wine list of typically 350 or more quality selections "with significant vintage depth or superior breadth in one or more major wine regions."

They are Bellisio's Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar in Duluth, and Domacin Restaurant and Winebar in Stillwater. For the entire list, visit winespectator.com/restaurants/search, and type in Minnesota in the search field.