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The Renewing America’s Food Traditions Alliance
INITIATIVES
Creating Regional Food Communities
The RAFT Alliance brings local farmers, chefs, fishers, agricultural historians, ranchers, nurserymen and conservation activists together to exchange information, tell the stories of regional foods and food producers, and create publications. Through RAFT, these communities of food producers publish lists of traditional regional foods, telling readers the stories and threats to these foods, and where seeds, nursery stock, or seafood and livestock hatchlings can be purchased to aid in their recovery. The result is the growth of food-concerned communities that are reestablishing healthy local economies at a Snail’s pace. In 2008-2009, RAFT will expand its documentation work to the unique and endangered foods of New England, California and the Great Lakes region. This year, the RAFT Alliance is publishing the first book that addresses the current state of the culinary treasures unique to the North American continent. Savoring and Saving the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods, edited by Gary Paul Nabhan, will be released by Chelsea Green Publishing in May, 2008. To learn more about this book and download RAFT’s regional publications, visit the RAFT Publications page.
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Restoring At-Risk Plants and Animals
Heirloom Vegetable Recovery
Building on the successes of seed banks such as Seed Savers Exchange and Native Seeds / SEARCH, who have prevented the extinction of thousands of heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties, RAFT coordinates heirloom food “grow outs” with sustainable market farms. These grow outs help restore regional foodsheds and local economies. To date, over 500 specialty growers around the U.S. have participated, sharing data on growing habits as well as providing ingredients for meals at restaurants, diners, and university cafeterias in communities throughout the U.S. RAFT is now planning for a 2009 New England endangered foods grow-out, which will involve regional organizations, farmers, fishers and chefs in the planting, harvesting and preparing of over 200 foods that sustained the region before industrial agriculture. For more information or to participate, contact the Chefs Collaborative.
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Heirloom Fruit Tree Recovery
Just as dozens of vegetables, corn and bean seed companies were consolidated and bought out by multi-nationals in the 1970s reducing the diversity available to the public, the same trend has been affecting the fruit and nut tree business since 1995. While there remain a few specialty houses that feature “antique apples” or “heirloom peaches,” they largely cater to a national audience of hobbyists and not to a place-based culture of fruit growers. At the same time, global climate change has induced severe droughts, floods and other catastrophic events, whittling down the number of fruit and nut trees still on the landscape. Native Seeds/SEARCH is leading a RAFT training of heirloom fruit enthusiasts in the basic skills of cutting, grafting, documenting tree histories, and distributing scion wood of the most flavorful historic fruit varieties.
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Heritage Breed Recovery
Modern food production now favors the use of a few highly specialized breeds selected for maximum output in a controlled environment. As a result, many delicious, regionally adapted livestock breeds have lost popularity and are threatened with extinction. These traditional breeds are an essential part of the USA’s agricultural inheritance. The need for livestock conservation is urgent. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) leads the RAFT Alliance in documenting endangered breeds with the most commercial potential and working with their producers to restore historical levels of productivity and increase their numbers for sustainable distribution. Using a model developed with the Buckeye breed, ALBC is expanding its poultry breed recovery work to Delaware and Java chickens. ALBC is also focusing on Pineywoods cattle and rare swine breed recovery work. Chefs Collaborative and Slow Food USA are partnering with ALBC to ensure breeds are selected with thought to taste quality and chef and consumer preferences.
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Celebrating America’s Food Traditions
The best assurance for continued diversity in our food supply lies in connecting the stories, flavors, fragrances and textures of these foods to larger audiences, so their eating, purchasing, and recreation habits once again support the food’s producers. RAFT celebrations take many forms, from wild foraging expeditions to cooking demonstrations and picnics; from oral history kiosks to radio shows and classroom lessons. What anchors all our celebratory activities is a shared meal, which is the most pleasurable (i.e. effective) way to connect people to the who, what, where and why of their food. To this end, the highest profile projects to date have been “American Traditions Picnics.” These community events feature endangered American fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry identified by the RAFT partnership, boarded onto the Slow Food Ark of Taste and grown by local farmers. To learn about upcoming events celebrating regional foods and food traditions in your area, contact your local Slow Food convivium (chapter). For tips on how to create a meal with endangered foods, click here.
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