ARK OF TASTE —
SAVING OUR LOCAL
FOOD HERITAGE, ONE
FOOD AT A TIME WITH
SLOW FOOD
JENNIFER CASEY, [email protected]
BARB HEINEN, [email protected]
Overview….
Food biodiversity
 Local food heritage
 Slow Food’s Ark of Taste (AOT)
 How to get involved in the AOT to
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protect and restore our local food heritage—e.g.,
to seek out, enjoy, grow, cook with, and to identify
and submit products to be boarded onto the AOT
Food Biodiversity

Food biodiversity = variation of life forms within the
food system.
 Essential
for good nutrition
 Essential global food security
Food Biodiversity
Today over 95% of traditionally eaten plant and animal
foods have disappeared in the USA—75% lost
globally. 300,000 extinct vegetable varieties
alone…in the last century. -FAO
LOST
60%
World’s Food—
Wheat,
Rice, Corn
REMAIN
FOODS
Food Biodiversity

Why losses?
 Industrialized
food system (monocrops)
 Land use changes
 Pollution
 Climate change
 Overharvesting (fishing)
Food Biodiversity
“Biodiversity underpins to food
security, sustainable
livelihoods, ecosystem resilience, coping
strategies for climate
change, adequate
nutritional requirements, insurance for the
future….”
-Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, FAO
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/biodiversity_paia/PAR-FAObook_lr.pdf
Slow Food….
…protects food biodiversity.
What is Slow Food?


Slow Food is a way of eating and living. It is also….
…a global, grassroots organization with
over100,000 members in over 150 countries, which
links the pleasure of food with a commitment to
community and the environment.
--www.slowfood.com
History of Slow Food
Founder—Carlo Petrini
Slow Food Founded 1989
Slow Food USA in 2000
Vision
We envision a world in which all people
can access and enjoy food that is good
for them, good for those who grow it
and good for the planet.
-slowfood.com
Good, Clean and Fair

GOOD a fresh and flavorsome seasonal diet that satisfies the senses and is part of
our local culture;

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CLEAN food production and consumption that does not harm the environment,
animal welfare or our health;

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The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional
diversity.
Nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with
methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.
FAIR accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for small-scale
producers.

Food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and
produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.
Source: slowfood.com & slowfoodusa.org
What does Slow Food do?

Slow Food defends biodiversity in our food
supply, promotes food and taste education
and connects sustainable producers to coproducers through events and building
networks.
Source: slowfood.com
Slow Food: Internationally
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Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity
Ark of Taste & Presidia
Terra Madre
Salone del Gusto
Slow Fish & Slow Cheese
University of Gastronomic Sciences
1000 Gardens in Africa
Earth Markets
Slow Food USA Domestic Programs

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US Ark of Taste
US Presidia
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American Raw Milk Cheese, Cape May Salt Oyster, Makah Ozette Potato, NavajoChurro Sheep, Sebastopol Gravenstein Apple, Wild Rice - Anishinaabeg Manoomin
Slow Food on Campus
US Terra Madre Network
Children and Food
Regional Biodiversity
Slow Food WiSE: Local Programs
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Regional Biodiversity: Milwaukee Apple Project,
Ark of Taste Grow Out, Beaver Dam Pepper
Celebration
Food & Taste Education: Farm Tours, Slow Soup,
Slow Socials, Tabling, Cooking Classes, Community
Cooks, School Gardens
Networks: SE WI Farm Fresh Atlas, Milwaukee Food
Council, Eat Local MKE
Ark of Taste-saving cherished foods, one product at a time
http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/ark
Find Ark
Products
All Over
the
World!!!

More than 1000
Ark Of Taste
The Ark of Taste in the US is
a catalog of over 200
delicious foods in danger of
extinction. By promoting and
eating Ark products we help
ensure they remain in
production and on our
plates.
“Eat it to Save it.” –Poppy
Tooker
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/files/files/ark-oftaste-nomination-form2.pdf
Ark of Taste
Local Examples (Upper Midwest)
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Beaver Dam Pepper (SFW
Grow Out)
Amish Paste Tomato (SFW
Grow Out)
Sheboygan Tomato
Red Wattle Pig (@ Bolzano’s,
Bavette)
Shagbark Hickory Nuts
Manoomin
American Plains Bison
National Examples
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Amish Deer Tongue lettuce (SFW
Grow Out)
Fish pepper
Sheepnose pimiento (SFW Grow
Out)
Aunt Molly’s Husk Tomato (SFW
Grow Out)
Hidatsa Shield Figure bean
Cape May Salt Oyster
Bourbon Red Turkey
Reef Net Salmon Fishing
Miriliton
Shrub, American Rye
Ark Of Taste

SFW Grow Out:
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6-packs for home gardeners
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Beaver Dam Pepper
Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry
Jimmey Nardellos Sweet Italian Frying Pepper
Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomato
Amish Paste Tomato
Djena Lees Golden Girl Tomato
AOT Harvest Celebration/September
 Local Farm Grow Outs>Supply Restaurants
Ark highlighted at SFW events
Ark Of Taste

Milwaukee Apple
 Good
example of a
local candidate for
the Ark of Taste
 Led to MKE Apple
Project
Ark Of Taste

Milwaukee Apple Project
 Partnering
with orchardists, chefs, conservationists, food
activists and eaters alike to bring antique apples back to
our tables
 Community
grow-outs
 Promotion of local orchards carrying antique apples, and the
chefs & producers featuring them
 Building the Milwaukee Apple orchard - a permanent public
interactive space for enjoying and learning about biodiversity.
 Celebrating & education via tastings and MKE Apple Fest
Ark of Taste
Carlo Petrini to Slow Food Network:
“…Reinvigorate the catalog of all at-risk local
products, varieties and native breeds until we reach
10,000 products.”
Because, even with > 1000 products on the Ark of
Taste, plant species, breeds, traditional foods
remain at risk—1 disappears every 3 hours.
Ark of Taste
Q: How can you help?
__________________________
A1: Seek out and enjoy AOT
foods!
A2: Help us find local products to
nominate to the Ark!
Ark of Taste
Anyone can nominate!
 Start by talking to local farmers, chefs,
gardeners, canners, wildcrafters, producers,
food experts in our region…
 Ark selects a product, not individual producers

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste
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Taste
Product History
Endangered, At Risk, or Underappreciated
Sustainable Harvest or Production
Available in Limited Quantities
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste: Criteria
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste: Criteria
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste: Criteria
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste: Criteria
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste: Criteria
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
Ark of Taste

Completed nomination form goes to Regional
Midwest Ark Committee, Slow Food USA, and
International Ark Commission. SFW will help!
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste
:get involved
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Biodiversity Volunteer Opportunities:
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Ark of Taste “detective”
MKE Apple Tree Corps
Ark Grow Out
Events—Ark of Taste Celebration, MKE Apple Fest
SFWiSE Contact: [email protected]
SF Midwest Regional Contact: [email protected]
SFUSA Contact: [email protected]
For more about SFW and all of our leaders:
www.slowfoodwise.org