Ten Years Across Half the Globe to Document Vanishing Foods

Foodthink Says

“Stories about food are the best stories we can tell.” This is what Dan Saladino, a senior BBC correspondent, said in an interview with Foodthink at the Third International Congress on Agricultural Biodiversity this past May.

Saladino specialises in food and agriculture journalism. Over the past decade, he has travelled to more than 30 countries and regions, chronicling the stories of 40 endangered foods. Compiled and published in 2021 as *Vanishing Foods*, the collection sparked considerable interest. The Chinese edition has been translated and introduced by Be Ye Publishing.

Exploring endangered foods is not an exercise in nostalgia; rather, it invites us to reassess the relationship between humanity and nature, as well as between agriculture and food. Saladino urges us to deepen our understanding of food diversity and the global food system, drawing connections between what we eat every day and the ecosystems that sustain us. Only by safeguarding this diversity can the planet and its people secure more options for the future. This piece draws on Foodthink’s interview with Saladino, and we hope it will serve as a helpful guide for readers.

This Wednesday (2 July) at 7.30pm, Foodthink will team up with Be Ye Publishing for the first online discussion of *Vanishing Foods*. Please register for the live session. You can also visit Foodthink’s Weidian store to purchase the book and help support more outstanding titles on food and agriculture.

◉ Dan Saladino with the English original of *The Last Harvest*. Image source: Internet

As a food journalist, how did you come to focus on the topic of agricultural biodiversity?

Saladino: As a journalist and storyteller, I believe it’s essential first and foremost to uncover the full narrative behind food. While writing this book, I became deeply fascinated by the origins of our food and the history of Homo sapiens. Consider that just ten thousand years ago, humanity shifted from hunter-gatherers to agricultural settlers, and wild grasses were domesticated into rice and wheat.

To me, this is the most monumental story in human history; it fundamentally transformed the planet. These stories belong in school textbooks. The more we learn, the more we will care about diversity. My radio programmes, my books, and the work Foodthink is doing all aim to prompt people to reconsider their relationship with food.

Even from a purely self-interested standpoint, food is inextricably linked to our health. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that a varied diet is overwhelmingly beneficial.

In China, the burden of safeguarding agricultural diversity appears to rest heavily on farmers—a vulnerable group—which strikes me as profoundly unjust. Within the distribution chain, produce traders predominantly buy commercial varieties, sidelining traditional ones.

Saladino: The Sichuan farmer mentioned in the book, Sun Wenxiang, is the only one in the area still growing Red Mouth Glutinous Rice. I initially wondered: can he actually make a living cultivating it? Sun then showed me his phone chats with consumers. I was surprised to learn he could sell the rice directly to buyers straight through his phone.

It demonstrates that bypassing conventional supply chains to build alternative ones is entirely feasible, and that digital technology can be harnessed to share their stories.

◉Sun Wenxiang at the Chengdu Farmers’ Market. On 19 July, he will also meet readers for a book-sharing session on *Disappearing Foods* at the Chengdu Lifestyle Market. For further details, please watch for upcoming updates from Foodthink. Photo courtesy of the Chengdu Lifestyle Market.

Saladino: The book’s afterword is titled *Thinking Like the Hadza*, and the book itself opens with a story about the Hadza people. By the age of six, Hadza children already know where to find food. Try to understand the diversity of food around you, much as the Hadza do. This is not a call to return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but rather an encouragement to take a more proactive interest in food, and to consider how, within our means, we can support farmers and producers.

For consumers, recognising the existence of these niche foods is vital. Yet most people still draw their daily sustenance from industrialised systems. We recently published an article exploring how imported Brazilian meat impacts pastoralists, as industrialised food production remains one of the key drivers behind this sharp decline in diversity.

Salardino: Precisely. Most consumers are highly price-sensitive. Brazil is home to the world’s largest poultry producers, with a highly consolidated, export-driven supply chain that efficiently distributes cheap meat globally. This brings us to True Cost Accounting. What does consuming imported Brazilian meat mean for pastoralists? Where are the environmental impacts of these meat products truly accounted for? These questions are highly complex, which is exactly why we must tell the stories behind our food.

Currently, many regions and cities are exploring how to secure local food supplies whilst supporting nearby farmers. Scientists, chefs, and urban consumers can also help rural communities safeguard this diversity. Restaurants can showcase these lesser-known crops, channeling the profits back into the community, while chefs can share the narratives of food diversity with city diners.

Even if such modest initiatives cannot transform the entire food system, they play a crucial role in sustaining the vitality of these rural communities.

◉ Click the image to buy the book and discover global innovations in preserving food diversity.

You mentioned in your introduction that when you attended the UN Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019, global food giants were also discussing food diversity. How do you view the way these major corporations have shaped the global food system? Are they genuinely willing to change the status quo?

Saladino: That’s a crucial question. Throughout the 20th century, these multinational food giants shaped our food system. They controlled food production and trade, driving diets across the globe to become increasingly homogenised.

Turning back to the summit discussed in the book. At the time, Danone’s CEO Emmanuel Faber pointed out that 99% of cows in the dairy sector were Holsteins, and they acknowledged the need to restore original breed diversity — he spoke very frankly about it. Rather tellingly, he lost his job eighteen months later.

◉Following his speech at the summit, the media interviewed Faber to find out why major food companies were also actively “embracing the food revolution”. Image source: Screenshot from the European Supermarket Magazine website

Saladino: Over the past couple of years, numerous food companies have begun discussing “regenerative agriculture”. Some practices certainly help restore biodiversity and improve soil health, such as intercropping. Yet from what I have observed, few people believe these corporate innovations will bring about any fundamental shift. These initiatives are destined to remain on the fringes; they could never possibly replace their core business models.

At present, public funds continue to subsidise unsustainable food and farming systems, as we heard numerous examples of at the Third International Agricultural Biodiversity Congress. And when these systems trigger public health crises or environmental degradation, it is still public money that is left to clean up the mess. This is precisely our moment to return to grassroots networks and farmers.

We must hold the line to prevent local food systems, which safeguard this diversity, from collapsing. Conversely, these local systems can also spark further innovation. The complexity they exhibit has never been replicated by large food corporations, nor could it ever be.

You frequently take part in international discussions and food movements concerning climate change and biodiversity. What positive impact do you think these conversations have had on the farmers protecting endangered crops?

Saladino: As a journalist, these so-called “broad concepts” are part of how I tell stories. Attending international conferences allows me to access cutting-edge science and various international collaborations. I weave this material together with my field observations through specific, concrete examples.

The heart of these stories is not academic. Rather, they are deeply grassroots—much like *Disappearing Foods*, which is inextricably linked to the Slow Food movement’s “Ark of Taste” project. It is precisely because others have catalogued various endangered crops in the Ark of Taste that I have been able to follow the trail to tell the story of food diversity. I reach out to these individuals, and if I am fortunate, I even get to visit them on the ground. These grassroots elements are the starting point of my storytelling, while international discussions form the broader narrative backdrop.

◉ Salardino speaking at the Third Conference on Agricultural Biodiversity. Image credit: Biodiversity International

Salardino: When I was writing this book, I knew little of the international dialogues on climate change and biodiversity. I was simply drawn to these stories, and in that sense, you could certainly call me naive. I cared deeply about them, and I wanted more people to encounter them. I suspect the scientists and representatives from international bodies who organised those conferences found me rather unconventional, too. My approach to storytelling stood in sharp contrast to the scientific mainstream.

Ultimately, I believe storytelling is vital. People have an innate love for telling and hearing stories, and stories about food are the best ones we have.

How might government policy safeguard food diversity? Are there any positive examples you could share? In China, driving such policy reform appears particularly difficult, given the common refrain that organic produce is simply too costly for the average consumer.

Saladino: Governments can begin by leveraging their own procurement to drive up demand and set an example. *Vanishing Foods* also highlights several public procurement initiatives. In Copenhagen, Denmark, public funding has been used to require schools to buy locally grown, diverse fruit varieties. Back in 2009, the Brazilian government stipulated that 30% of the allocations from the National Education Development Foundation to public schools must be spent on sourcing ingredients from family farms.

I completely understand the arguments you’ve made. However, I believe we need to adopt the concept of “true cost accounting”. We have already invested billions in public funding into the conventional food system, while the public health and environmental damage it causes places an additional burden on public finances. In the long term, we need to understand the true costs behind cheap food.

Chinese readers often joke about Britain’s “dark cuisine” and dismiss the UK as a “food desert”. At the same time, we’ve heard that the local food and farming movement here is thriving. Are there any stories you could share with us?

Saladino: It’s hardly surprising that people hold this view. After all, we were the first country to undergo industrialisation, which meant many farmers left their rural roots to find work in the cities. During the imperial era, Britain imported food from across the globe. Then, we went through two world wars.

Quite frankly, Britain’s native food culture has all but vanished—countless orchards and apple varieties have disappeared, crop diversity has plummeted, and we need to rebuild a new food culture.

In my book, I write about a farmhouse cheese from Nottinghamshire: Stilton. From the post-war era through the 1970s, most British farmhouse cheese varieties disappeared. Consumers could only buy factory-made cheese, with cheddar completely dominating the market. As dairy farming for cheese-making declined, many sheep and goat breeds were pushed to the brink of extinction, and traditional cheesemaking skills were lost.

◉ In the 1990s, the UK government introduced food safety legislation requiring Stilton cheese to be made exclusively from pasteurised milk. To avoid penalties, cheesemakers renamed their traditionally made Stilton to Stichelton, a blue-veined cheese. Image source: Cheese Atlas

Saladino: The 1970s marked a decade of revival for biodiversity in the UK. The Rare Breed Survival Trust reintroduced endangered livestock breeds to help revive farmhouse cheesemaking. From just a handful of varieties to over 1,000 today, we have reclaimed the traditional knowledge of how to craft and store cheese.

Another example is the perry pear. Perry is often likened to Britain’s champagne. The fruit itself isn’t suited to eating fresh, but ferments well into cider. In the 18th century, perry pear trees were widely cultivated across Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire. However, during the 19th and 20th centuries, local farmers switched to cereal cropping, which fundamentally altered the orchard landscape.

Enthusiasts have since scoured the British countryside, hunting down surviving heritage trees to restore the brewing tradition. Through these efforts, the perry pear has made a comeback. Just fifteen years ago, the variety was virtually unknown; today, we can finally raise a glass to perry once more.

◉ Perry maker Tom Oliver with heritage pear varieties used for perry. Image source: Internet

Sardinello: The UK is also home to the Oxford Real Farming Movement, which has rallied a passionate cohort of young people keen to pursue organic farming and explore alternative food production systems. For them, the greatest barrier to returning to agriculture remains land access.

Given the UK’s relatively small size and the high concentration of land ownership, finding a plot to practise regenerative agriculture, agroecology, or diversified cropping is no easy feat. Some are experimenting with new cooperative models that allow young farmers to lease portions of larger holdings.

◉ Held annually in early spring, the Oxford Real Farming Conference is one of the world’s largest gatherings on agroecology. Farm management, food and agriculture policy, food justice, farmers’ rights, and land access are among the key topics discussed. Image source: ORFC official website

Saladino: When it comes to staple foods, there’s also the “bread revival”. Some bakers are using endangered British grain varieties to make bread, and a number of highly popular London bakeries (such as e5 Bakery) work directly with farmers—some even run their own farms. These stories of proactive efforts to protect biodiversity give me reason to remain optimistic about the future.

Vanishing Foods was published four years ago. What changes have you seen in the disappearing foods you documented since then?

Saladino: The book features over 40 stories, and each one has taken a slightly different path. Some foods have gained more attention, coffee being a prime example.

In the chapter on wild forest coffee, I highlighted our heavy reliance on just two coffee bean varieties: Arabica and Robusta. Since the book came out, I’ve witnessed the revival of several disappearing varieties. I was at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London just last week, meeting with many frontline scientists researching coffee diversity. Thanks to the collaboration between scientists and farmers, the “Coffea stenophylla” I mentioned in the book is now being cultivated again.

I also had “Excelsa coffee” (a rare variety discovered in Chad, West Africa, in the 20th century) at Kew—the very one I referenced in my recent talk at the Third Conference on Agricultural Biodiversity.

◉ Plants of Coffea stenophylla and Excelsa coffee. Source: Daily Coffee News & Perfect Daily Grind

Saladino: I feel there’s a growing awareness of the importance of agricultural biodiversity and endangered foods, alongside more innovation in local food systems. These innovations can both integrate into local economies and be woven into broader markets and digital supply chains.

Additionally, research into endangered crops such as tubers and grains has increased. There’s considerable interest in their nutritional value, particularly given their ability to withstand drought and extreme temperatures.

There are plenty of positive stories like this, but there is bad news too. For instance, wild Atlantic salmon populations continue to decline and appear to be genuinely on the brink of extinction.

◉ In 2022, the wild Atlantic salmon was listed as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, indicating a high risk of extinction in the wild. Source: IUCN official website

Saladino: I really wish I had more time to revisit and update the status of these crop varieties. Recently, I was invited to Northeast India to film a 20-minute documentary telling the story of Indian citrus.

My next book will take a different approach, exploring the interactions between humans and foodscapes across various ecosystems such as forests, mountains, and grasslands. I see these endangered species as connection points between us and the ecosystem; they reflect how humans, as part of nature, either collaborate with it or take the lead and reshape it.

One final, more personal question. How do you usually eat? Do you cook at home yourself?

Saladino: Absolutely. I cook for my family when I’m at home. I tend to make Italian dishes, but I don’t follow recipes—I cook by instinct. I like to blend different ingredients together.

Every week, my household subscribes to a veg box from an organic farm, and I’m likely to do the same for fish (a fish box) in the future. Rather than settling for the standard supermarket offerings, I actively seek out alternative supply chains. I’d say I’m living proof of that approach.

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Are there any foods in your hometown or current city that were once common but are now hard to find? What do you think caused them to disappear?

Leave a comment below to share your story. We’ll select one excellent entry to receive a copy of *Vanishing Foods*.

Written and compiled by: Zeen, Tianle

Zhou Chen also contributed to this article