Vision

Since time immemorial, humanity has evolved alongside the earth, harnessing and tailoring it’s powers to feed and nourish our survival. We, as a species, have transformed from hunters and gatherers to breeders and cultivators. We have learned how to choose the foods that nourish us best and propagate those foods to feed billions.

In the meantime, we have developed and perfected methods of making and preserving foods. Each and every artisanal food product and recipe has become a symbol of its culture, its land, and people; embodying thousands of years of tradition, history, and knowledge.

About 100 years ago, the rate of human consumption was projected to supersede the rate of food production. Instead of turning to nutrition and focusing on the quality and diversity of the food we ought to produce and consume, we turned to quantity. Food, thereafter, became another necessity on an itemized list of daily needs rather than a symbol of our culture and the focal point of our survival. Since this global change in mentality, the quality and societal reverence of food within a culture have diminished. As a consequence, our food traditions have begun to vanish. Today, many culinary traditions and artisanal products are on the brink of extinction.

Through our work, we hope to help shape the future of food culture on a global scale by inspiring individuals to make positive and sustainable changes in the way they grow, make, cook and share food. By providing our contemporaries with a platform of education in the “old ways” of cooking, we hope to challenge others to critically think about the way their consumption affects their health and the health of the planet. We believe that by sharing this information, we will be positively contributing to the world’s food system.

MISSION

We are traveling around the world in search of traditional recipes and the stories behind the people who maintain their culinary heritage. In an attempt to forge new relationships with people involved in traditional food making, we volunteer on homesteads and small-scale, organic farms. There, we work alongside locals as we learn about the region's terroir and seasonal produce. We practice the local language, introduce ourselves to neighbors, and visit other local farms, farmers' markets, family-run shops, artisan bakeries, and street vendors.

We have found that making friends with locals, not only deepens our feelings towards the culture and place we are living in but also helps us find locals who still make traditional recipes and endangered ingredients. Upon finding out that we are in search of traditional recipes, our new friends usually go above and beyond to connect us with their friends and families. Once we find someone special who cooks traditional food with passion, experience, and love, we record the entire process with photography, video, and writing.

We've documented the harvesting of grapes on the Ribeira Sacra, forgaing for percebes along the rocky coast of Galicia, fertilizing date trees in an oasis with an ancient civilization in Egypt, baking bread for a village with a great-grandmother in Cyprus, harvesting olives to make olive oil in Cyprus and Italy, cultivated cabbage to make kimchi with grandmothers in Korea, and making homemade tofu in Vietnam. Each and every volunteer experience is an opportunity to give back to the community we are living in and to partake in the day-to-day lifestyle of that given culture. Using food as a medium, we overcome barriers of religion, race, creed, and ethnicity, to provide our growing Community with a unique perspective of the lifestyles and situations that people live in.

WHAT WE BELIEVE IN

make positive change in your own local community and do it through food

critical consumption

local - seasonal - responsible

We see what is happening around the food industry; from the use of harmful pesticides on our crops, to the genetic manipulation of seeds to maintain monocultures, to the preventative use of antibiotics on maltreated animals, to the inefficiency in distribution of food to third world countries, and to the rise in obesity, diabetes, autism, autoimmune disorders, and cancers in people. We think the global population needs to be more aware of the long-term risks we are causing by placing little-to-no value in our food system and thereby putting ourselves and the planet we live in at risk. What can we do limit this risk? We can be more critical about the food we consume by making conscious decisions each and every time we make a food purchase. Read the ingredients, understand where your food comes from and how it was produced, and become acquainted with the seasonality of produce in your region.

AGRICULTURAL CONNECTION

support local farmers & grow your own food

The disconnection between farmers and the average consumer is expanding at an exponential rate, the amount of farmers is decreasing, and the knowledge of growing food, having a home garden and home cooking is at an all-time low. Culinary heritage is based upon the cooking and preservation of local ingredients. Through our research of traditional culinary recipes and customs, we aim to inspire our community to value personal agriculture and to make food growing a part of their daily lives. Just think about how much land is wasted with the front yards and backyards in our suburbs. We want to create a community that makes positive use of their land and treats it as a personal asset. Join our community as a full-time farmer, a seasonal grower, a home gardener, a rooftop potter, or a supporter of a local farmer or farmer's market.

COOKING & SHARING

homemade meals with family and friends

We envision front lawns abounding with escarole, basil, parsley, tomatoes, and spinach. We envision a community of friends and neighbors sharing homegrown ingredients to make a community-made meal. Become part of our open, honest, and sharing community whose main interest is to maintain the dining room table as the centerpiece for friends and families.

CONTACT US

We'd love to hear from you!

Do you know someone that cooks something that is a symbol of your culture? Do you know someone that continues to practice food traditions?