Eat It To Save It

Voracious / W. W. Norton & Company

In our increasingly fast-paced world, traditional foods and foodways often have trouble competing with speed and convenience. But never fear. All over the planet there are people working to save the superior flavor, nutrition, and cultural significance of heritage foods. On this week's show, we introduce you to some of our greatest heritage food warriors.

We begin with Sarah Lohman, author of Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods, who recounts her adventure researching some of the country's rarest ingredients and the often extraordinary efforts to preserve them.

Next, we meet a trio of folks from an organization at the center of this movement, Slow Food USA. They discuss their book, The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States, which provides an in-depth look at some of the stories behind these disappearing flavors.

Finally, we speak with classically trained chef and food anthropologist Casey Corn. She hosts Magnolia Network's Recipe Lost and Found, a show that helps families recover their long-lost recipes and the memories that go with them.