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The Renewing America’s Food Traditions Alliance
Renewing America's Food Traditions —
RAFT Overview
An oily fish that built trade routes in the Northwest, a
hot pepper that tells the story of Minorcan immigration to
Florida, a Cajun cream cheese that holds the history of southern
dairies-these are the stories of North American traditions
that lie hidden within our foods. Yet many of these foods
have been rapidly disappearing from our tables.
With these losses has come a decline in traditional agricultural
and culinary knowledge, and declines in the food rituals that
link communities to place and cultural heritage.
To document, preserve, and celebrate the incredible diversity
of America's edible plants, animals, and food traditions,
seven of the most prominent food, agriculture, education and
conservation organizations in the United States came together
under Slow Food USA in 2005 to launch RAFT, the country's
first eco-gastronomic conservation project.
Uniting gastronomy's emphasis on food quality and cultural
traditions with conservationists' knowledge of agricultural
biodiversity and their imperative to preserve it, RAFT is
the first collaborative effort ever assembled to:
- make a comprehensive catalog of America's indigenous edible
plants and animals;
- to document which foods have fallen into disuse and are
at risk of extinction; and
- to determine which are capable of being restored and revitalized
in ways that benefit their stewards.
The earliest success of the RAFT project is the RAFT List
of America's Endangered Foods. This list includes over 700
endangered plant and animal foods, from apples to shellfish,
and identifies the status, location, as well as the historical
and cultural links of these foods. The list is a result of
research and recommendations from the expertise of dozens
of food historians, chefs, conservation biologists, farmers,
plant and animal explorers, genetic conservationists, and
agricultural activists. The list is the spine of RAFT's program
initiatives.
The founding partners of RAFT include: American Livestock
Breeds Conservancy, Center for Sustainable Environments at
Northern Arizona University, Chefs Collaborative, Cultural
Conservancy, Native Seed/SEARCH, Seed Savers Exchange, and
Slow Food USA.
For further information on the RAFT project and how you can
participate, contact:
RAFT
Program Officer
Makalé
Faber, Slow Food USA
718/643-3401 |
RAFT
Founder and Facilitator
Gary Nabhan,
Center for Sustainable Environments
928/523-6726 |
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