The Slow Food USA Ark of Taste Sets Sail on the Wisconsin State Capitol Steps for the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Urban Picnic
Let’s ”Eat It To Save It”

MADISON, WISCONSIN – At 5:30pm on September 15th, 2007 at the foot of the Wisconsin State Capitol Steps, rare American heirloom fruit, vegetables and livestock such as the Native Wisconsin Cranberry, the Mississippi Cotton Patch Goose, the Florida Wilson Popenoe Avocado and the Inland Empire Old-Grove Navel Orange from California will be welcomed onto the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste. As the only international catalogue of foods describing and publicizing forgotten flavors, the Slow Food Ark of Taste is a vehicle for promoting foods threatened by industrial standardization, hyper-hygienic regulations, and the rigidity of consolidated distribution networks.

Comprised of a dozen activist leaders from ten states, the Ark of Taste committee convenes annually in Madison to taste, evaluate and board new foods which are then promoted through Slow Food “Eat it to Save it” tasting events around the country. Come to the Capitol at 5:30pm to discover these delicious and almost forgotten flavors!

This inaugural Ark of Taste press conference will precede the RAFT Urban Picnic, which begins at 6:00pm. RAFT is the first eco-gastronomic conservation project in America and brings together America’s most prominent education, conservation and food organizations to identify, restore, and promote our endangered heritage foods.

Celebrating the goals of the RAFT project, Chefs Justin Carlisle of Harvest Restaurant, Tory Miller of L’Etoile, and Patrick O’Halloran of The Old Fashioned will present a multi-course menu featuring breeds considered “critical” by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, heirloom varieties of seasonal vegetables and fruits saluting America’s unique food traditions, renewed.

Menu items in the works: local cheeses, wild rice with bison, Delaware Bay oysters, Java chicken, and panna cotta with wild plums and artisanal Wisconsin root beer.

Slow Food Madison, Chefs Collaborative, Research, Education, Action and Policy group (REAP), and the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) join forces to host this exciting evening.

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To confirm your attendance at the Ark of Taste press conference or for more information on endangered US foods, contact Poppy Tooker, 504-899-7374, .

For more information on the RAFT Urban Picnic contact Susan Boldt, 608 219-8846, .