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Renewing America's Food Traditions - RAFT RAFT launches regional workshops on traditional foods at risk The Renewing America's Food Traditions consortium recently held the first of two regional workshops assessing the current status of uniquely American traditional foods in our fields, streams, kitchens and cafes. The first two workshops-- in the "Salmon Nation" of the Pacific Northwest and the "Chile Pepper Nation" of the Southwest borderlands-- brought together more than 50 farmers, fishermen, food historians, folklorists, chefs, and conservationists to develop regional red lists of foods deserving biological recovery, cultural revitalization and culinary celebration. More workshops are now being planned for Cornbread Nation, Clambake Nation and Bison Nation. The participants in these workshops first identify what foods are unique to the region, and significant in its history and cultural identity. They then assess which are "at risk"-- not merely in terms of biological endangerment, but more importantly, in terms of sustainable use by the region's resident cultures. The goal is to develop more public awareness of foods that need celebration and promotion, not merely "protection" from further contamination, habitat loss or competition. In this sense, the RAFT red list is unlike Seafood Watch or Endangered Species lists that primarily discourage harvest and use, because it focuses on conservation through appropriate uses. Nevertheless the final red list for Salmon Nation includes 180 distinctive foods of the Pacific Northwest, two thirds of which deserve recovery and revitalization. It will be published in March 2006. The list for Chile Pepper Nation currently contains more than 300 food species and varieties unique to the Southwest borderland state, but it too includes many foods that have recently fallen out of cultural use. Surprisingly, many varieties of chiles, squash, sunflowers, beans and corn that were once mainstays of the Southwest region's cuisines have fallen into disuse. The Chile Pepper Nation list will be released to the public by Summer Solstice of 2006. "Identifying a region's unique culinary treasures is a participatory process that has involved experts from many cultures, many non-profits and many professions as well as avocations," explained Dr. Gary Nabhan, RAFT founder, based at the Center for Sustainable Environments in Flagstaff, Arizona. "We not only welcome input from all sectors from our society, but encourage every inspired individual to adopt a traditional food and bring it alive in his or her community once more."
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