ABOUT US

Our goal is to connect artisanal, eco-friendly food producers with a greater audience, starting with foods in the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste.



The passion for food made with love started when first traveling to Europe as a 13-year-old and learning about the local pride around every region's bread, cheese, wine, digestivo and how much better these things tasted when coming fresh from the shops and homes of small producers.

I felt surely a country as fertile as the US must have similar local traditions and reasons to be proud of our food culture. The industrialization of our food industry makes small, passionate food producers hard to find, but when I learned about the US Slow Food Ark of Taste, I found what I was looking for - a catalog of foods and food traditions that are native to the US, delicious, eco-friendly, and are in danger of being lost if not enjoyed and shared. Thus, with my background in online marketing, I pooled my resources and Heirloom Table was born.

We source all our products from producers that embody the ecological and gastronomic integrity of Slow Food - read more about Slow Food and The Ark of Taste below. Every item on this site is also shelf-stabilized, so we can ship it anywhere in the country without compromising its quality or using costly & inefficient refrigerated storage and shipping materials.

Because this is an eCommerce site, we depend heavily on shipping to our customers, but we ensure all shipping materials used are made with post-consumer recycled materials or are fully recyclable and we avoid air shipment as much as possible.

We are continuously working to expand our product line. If you have suggestions for our site or our products, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Enjoy shopping and come back soon!

-Margot

What is Slow Food?

Slow Food is not about "slow-cooked food" per se, it's a movement and a non-profit organization dedicated to helping make our food systems more full of food that is "good, clean, and fair". It's about better taste, better health, better communities, and better care for the environment.

The name "Slow Food" comes from its goal to be the opposite of "fast food" and the organization takes action on the premise that food should be GOOD, CLEAN, and FAIR. Let's break that down:

• GOOD - It has to taste deeeeelicious, otherwise, what's the point? Plus, it has to be nutritious and devoid of harmful preservatives or additives.
• CLEAN - The food must come from farming and production practices that are dedicated to minimizing their impact on the environment and avoiding waste.
• FAIR - The Slow Food organization and the grassroots movement participants are care deeply about making nutritious, delicious, local food available to everyone, throughout the world.

Slow Food originated in Italy in 1989 when Carlo Petrini founded Slow Food International. The inspiration came from fast food joints were popping up everywhere (even near the Vatican!!) and the fear that the high-quality food traditions that bring pride, health, and personal connection were being lost. On top of these fears, Petrini and his supporters pointed out that fast food production greatly increases food waste and damages the environment.

Since 1989 Slow Food has expanded to have national chapters in over 150 countries with more than 100,000 members internationally and growing. Many supporters also include notable food professionals such as Chef Mario Batali, Chef Daniel Boulud, Jean Georges Vongereichten, and Rachel Ray.

What is the Slow Food Ark of Taste?

The Slow Food Ark of Taste is quite similar to an "endangered species watch list' for notable foods. The foods on the Ark of Taste are there because they are extremely delicious, a rich part of local history, and are in danger of being lost due to large-scale industrial farming practices. Foods on the Ark of Taste can be nominated by anyone and submitted to the Slow Food USA Biodiversity Committee, which is made up of Slow Food members from across the country. By learning about and eating these tasty foods we help make American food culture something to be proud of. If you ask me, eating something scrumptious in order to save it for future generations sounds right up my alley!

The food varieties on the Slow Food Ark of Taste are similar in concept to heirloom tomatoes (i.e. breeds like Purple Cherokee, Green Zebra, etc.), but applied to all types of foods. All the foods on the US Slow Food Ark of Taste are considered US heirloom varieties i.e. food traditions that were developed in the US from about eighty to several hundred years ago. There are over 70 other countries that have their own Ark of Taste that you can check out as well. Here are some examples of foods on the US Ark of Taste:

• Meyer Lemons - these made their debut in the US around 1908 when mandarin oranges were brought here by the USDA and crossed with a standard lemon; the result is a lemon that is much juicier and slightly sweeter than your typical lemon
• Mission Olives - a variety introduced to California in the 1700's; it was nearly lost to years of co-mingling with other varieties until several untouched groves were discovered on the grounds of Catholic missions in California
• Colonial Shrub - the Tait Farms family revived what was nearly a dead colonial tradition when they started to make fruit shrubs  (cordials traditionally added to water for a sweet and tart drink) from a combination of fresh fruit-derived vinegar, cane sugar, honey, and spices

So this is all great, but what does it mean for you?

• Give yourself a chance to taste America's gourmet heritage and seek out these products! This is our main focus at Heirloom Table (www.HeirloomTable.com), where you can buy delicious Slow Food Ark of Taste foods at fair prices and have them shipped to your door.
• Find your local Slow Food chapter by going to www.SlowFoodUSA.org and find out which restaurants, stores, and green markets they recommend as places that uphold the values of providing the most flavorful local food, getting involved in the community, and using eco-friendly practices.

Try it! One bite and we think your head, heart, and taste buds will be hooked on the pleasure of good food and a clear conscience.

Information Sources:

The background information in this article was sourced from the Slow Food International and Slow Food USA websites and an article by Miguel A. Altieri, Associate Professor at UC Berkeley, all accessed in September of 2011.

http://www.slowfood.com/

http://slowfoodfoundation.com/.

http://slowfoodusa.org/

Altieri, Miguel A., Ecological impacts and the possibilities for truly sustainable farming. http://nature.berkeley.edu/~agroeco3/modern_agriculture.html