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As seen in: Issue 51

Bringing Back The Foods Of Yesterday

Growing Heirlooms: Bringing Endangered Foods Into Today’s Home Gardens

Once upon a time, the Marshall strawberry [1] thrived in the temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest. In the mid-20th century, it accounted for 90% of strawberry production in Washington and Oregon.  

Unprocessed Marshalls were good for only a few hours after ripening. The fruit was so delicate it couldn’t be shipped without processing, freezing, packing in sugar, or cooking into jams and jellies. But this was overlooked because it was said to have been the sweetest and juiciest strawberry ever grown. Wiped out by disease in the 1960s, only small pockets of this delicious fruit remain. Stronger, hardier varieties better suited to long-distance transport have replaced it. 

Around the world, fruits and vegetables continue to disappear, some never to return. 

Mass Extinction

Dr. Lenore Newman, Canadian Research Chair of Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, says that although climate change plays a part in food extinction, the biggest challenge in the past century has been the shift from local food production to global food trade. As specific cultivars dominate globally, adapted fruits and vegetables have vanished. Those lost fruits and vegetables carry DNA that could be valuable to breeders and enhance the biodiversity of current homogenized stocks, making them more survivable. 

A perfect example is the Ansault pear [2]. First bred in France in 1863, it was sweet and aromatic with a smooth, buttery texture. However, when the pear was introduced commercially in the late 19th century, its fate was already sealed. The shift from locally produced food to global imports had begun, and mass-produced pears like Bartlett, Bosc, and Anjou flooded the marketplace.  

Misshapen and irregular in size, the Ansault pear tree didn’t fit into the homogenous orchard of perfectly coiffed trees. Moreover, it required more attention than growers interested in profit and high-yielding crops could offer. Eventually, growers stopped planting the Ansault. It faded out of existence, and its DNA, which might have been able to produce similarly tasting varieties, was lost forever. 

food extinction

Increasing Biodiversity: The Ark of Taste

Marie Fiore, Board Chair for Slow Food Seattle, says foods are going extinct because we’ve put our eggs in one basket. Before the globalization of food, we relied on local farms to feed a region. When a particular food was in season, such as strawberries, you enjoyed it and preserved some for the winter months. Now, the consumer is spoiled, expecting to see strawberries, avocados, bell peppers, and tomatoes on store shelves year-round. This sense of entitlement encourages producers to breed greenhouse or field crops that can withstand long-distance travel, pushing local growers out of the market. There’s no fallback when supply chains are disrupted or other disasters strike. When did you last see a local farm tomato in a big-name grocery store? 

Slow Food International [3] is a non-profit global organization working to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions. This group believes agricultural biodiversity and small-scale family-based food production are in danger due to the economic push for profit and climate change. The Ark of Taste [4], under the auspices of Slow Food, promotes biodiversity and draws awareness to foods at risk. Since 1996, more than 3,500 products from over 150 countries have been added to the Ark’s international catalog. 

To be included in the catalog, the food must meet the following criteria: 

  • Have limited production.
  • Be in danger of disappearing within one or two generations unless immediate action is taken.
  • Have cultural and/or regional significance. 
  • Contribute to the planet’s biodiversity. 
  • Have once been economically viable. 

Only foods that anyone can produce, share or sell are accepted by the Ark. After a particular food is nominated, the Ark’s Commission assesses it. If it qualifies, a Presidium is often assigned to help growers establish quality, authenticity, and production standards for the product while promoting local consumption. 

sustainable food consumption

History Lost And Found

Fiore believes that when food is lost, a part of a region’s history is lost, too, which almost happened with Canada’s Red Fife wheat.  

Credited with opening up the Prairie provinces, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta to commercialize wheat production in the 19th century, Red Fife is the oldest and highest-yielding wheat to ever grow in Canada [5]. Arriving from Scotland in 1840, it set Canadian wheat standards for over 40 years (1860-1900). Its seed was used for breeding new strains of wheat resistant to fungal disease and pests, which made the original Red Fife obsolete but not forgotten. Even today, all bread wheat produced in Canada can trace its lineage back to Red Fife, making it historically and economically significant, not just as a food source, but as the livelihood of generations of farmers. 

An Ark of Taste Presidium [6] was created in the early 2000s to relaunch the original Red Fife commercially. Introducing it to artisan bakeries, it became a popular choice for baking, spurring further marketability and increased production. As a result, red Fife wheat is again growing on farms across Canada. 

endangered foods

Preservation In Action

The numbers are staggering: The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation notes that since the 1900s, 75% of crops have been lost, spiking a decline in plant variety and putting agrobiodiversity at risk [7]. 

According to Dr Newman, documenting food sources, such as old orchards, are critical in preserving rare cultivars and, in some cases, showing they aren’t extinct. For example, Vancouver’s Canadian Heritage Orchard at VanDusen Botanical Gardens [8] is preservation in action. An authentic 19th-century southern British Columbia domestic apple orchard contains 16 varieties of trees dating back to the 1500s. The trees were propagated from cuttings donated by John and Josephine Riley from their 100-year-old orchard on Bowen Island, British Columbia. Among them is the Keswick Codlin apple [9]. 

First discovered in Lancashire in 1793, this apple was ideal for cooking and eating, becoming one of Victorian England’s most popular apple varieties. Tree grafts and seeds were carried around the world. But the Keswick Codlin was challenging to store for long periods and, by the 1930s, waned in popularity, replaced by longer-lasting apple varieties. 

Variety is essential in the food system, perhaps more than once believed. Dr Newman believes the hobby gardener is a crucial player in ensuring rare varieties of fruits and vegetables continue to be grown. With more time to cultivate and nurture the plants, gardeners like us can help preserve yesterday’s food for tomorrow’s dinner tables. 

Footnotes: 

  1. Marshall Strawberry – Arca del Gusto – Slow Food Foundation (fondazioneslowfood.com)
  2. The Celebrated Pear That’s Been Lost To History (tastingtable.com)
  3. Good, Clean, Fair and Sustainable Food for All • Slow Food USA (slowfoodusa.org)
  4. Ark of Taste • Slow Food USA
  5. Red Fife Wheat | The Canadian Encyclopedia
  6. Red Fife Wheat – Presìdi Slow Food – Slow Food Foundation (fondazioneslowfood.com)
  7. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | AGROVOC (fao.org)
  8. VanDusen Botanical Garden | Canadian Heritage Orchard at VanDusen Botanical Garden (vandusengarden.org)

Keswick Codlin apple – Slow Food in the UK (slowfood.org.uk)

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Author

Invited by the Canadian Garden Council to be an ambassador for the Year of the Garden 2022, Jennifer is a garden enthusiast, writer, and alumni of Simon Fraser University. Her bylines have appeared in the opinion section of the Toronto Star, and her portfolio includes articles for Chatelaine online, Reader’s Digest, Canada’s History Magazine, and Modern Farmer magazine, among other newspapers, magazines, and websites across Canada. When not writing, you can find her visiting local garden centers or puttering, planting, and nourishing her urban garden oasis in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.