Raft Alliance: Renewing America's Food Traditions

The RAFT Alliance brings local farmers, chefs, fishers, agricultural historians, ranchers, nurserymen and conservation activists together to exchange information, tell the stories of regional foods and food producers, and create publications. Through RAFT, these communities of food producers publish lists of traditional regional foods, telling readers the stories and threats to these foods, and where seeds, nursery stock, or seafood and livestock hatchlings can be purchased to aid in their recovery. The result is the growth of food-concerned communities that are reestablishing healthy local economies. This year, RAFT is focusing its documentation work on the unique and endangered foods of New England and the Great Lakes. To download and help expand RAFT's regional publications listing foods at risk, visit the Resources page.

In 2008, the RAFT Alliance published the first book that addresses the current state of the culinary treasures unique to the North American continent. Renewing America's Food Traditions: Savoring and Saving the Continent's Most Endangered Foods was edited by Gary Paul Nabhan and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. To learn more about this book (and buy it), visit the RAFT Resources page.