Some of the best eating I’ve done in recent years was in Portland, Maine, so it was not surprise to read of an effort to bring chefs and farmers together to preserve heirloom vegetable varieties. This was an early report in what all parties hope will be a long collaboration, and I wish them well.
“Our goals are to raise awareness of the issues surrounding heirloom vegetables, build markets, and with this pilot project, build a template to do similar things throughout the country.”
I hope they’ll check the names of all the varieties they’re growing; I spotted at least one mistake in the few varieties named in the article. And while it doesn’t talk about the island-reared lamb that Portland is so famous for, Danny at Rurality posted a link to a campaign to save rare breeds of sheep, by eating them.
Use it or lose it applies to Westerners with fat wallets as much as to the rest of the world.