The Ark of Taste, part of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, aims to preserve foods at risk of extinction and promote culinary and biodiversity. The program helps protect rare foods through presidia, small groups that help artisanal producers.
The Ark of Taste is part of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and aims to identify and preserve a unique economic, social, cultural and culinary heritage in the form of foods at risk of extinction. Most Slow Food members practice eco-gastronomy, but the Ark of Taste takes it to the next level, actively working to save the rare foods people eat around the world. According to Slow Food International, Europe has lost 75% of its crop diversity since 1900 and the United States has lost 93%. Thirty plants feed the majority of the world’s population, which means that culinary diversity and biodiversity are both at serious risk. As part of the Ark of Taste program, Slow Food has been working to save rare varieties ranging from Irish Kerry Cattle to Louisiana Roman Taffy Candy.
There are several categories under which foods can be considered in the Ark of Taste catalog to include anything from regional plant varieties such as a type of broad bean grown only on Santorini, Greece, to Navajo-Churro sheep. The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity believes that the best way to save rare foods is to eat them, creating a market for artisanally produced or unusual foods. Culinary biodiversity is vital, and the Ark of Taste addresses concerns that global food supplies could be threatened by heavily engineered crops. If these crops fail without backup, as they did during the Irish Potato Famine, when one potato variety dominated Irish agriculture, feeding the world could become much more difficult.
In addition to preserving biodiversity, the Ark of Taste also helps to preserve economic and cultural heritage. Many of the animal breeds listed under the Ark of Taste, for example, have been cultivated for centuries by people who have built their cultures around the animals they raise. Losing those animal species would result in a loss to cultural diversity and biodiversity. By listing a food in the Ark of Taste, Slow Food can work with producers to save it. The Ark of Taste also hopes to change agricultural policies that are harmful to Slow Food, such as a ban on raw-milk cheeses and slaughter restrictions.
The Ark of Taste works to save rare foods through presidios, small groups that help protect artisanal producers. Sometimes local principals just need to connect producers to a potential market. In other cases, they can help producers obtain a designation of origin to protect their unique foods, help rebuild farming and harvesting structures, or unite multiple producers into a strong lobby. Presidia around the world work to preserve fruits such as the Gravenstein apple in the United States, Kalakukko bread in Finland, Italian cheeses such as Aurina Valley Graukase and Haviar preserved fish from Turkey.
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