Savor, Celebrate & Preserve
Heritage Foods
A Living Catalog of Distinctive & Endangered Midwest Flavors
Join our Chicago community to document regional varieties, upload harvest profiles, and support edible biodiversity across the Great Lakes bioregion.
“To defend biodiversity is not only to defend species, but to defend knowledge, traditions, landscapes, and culture.”
— Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Founder
Rooted in Four Core Principles
Each accent color reflects an essential pillar of our culinary biodiversity mission.
Biodiversity
Cataloging plant and animal varieties at risk of extinction to protect food diversity.
Artisanal Craft
Supporting producers who honor time-tested cultural practices and regional heritage.
Soil & Season
Advancing agro-ecological practices that replenish soils and protect pollinators.
Stewardship
Uniting Chicago food advocates, seed savers, urban growers, and culinary educators.
Featured Endangered Species & Heirlooms
Pawpaw Fruit
North America’s largest indigenous edible fruit, boasting sweet custard flavors with banana and mango notes.
Sheboygan Tomato
An exceptional pink paste tomato brought to Wisconsin by Lithuanian immigrants in the early 1900s.
Northern Wild Rice (Manoomin)
Naturally harvested aquatic grass sacred to the Anishinaabe peoples of the Great Lakes region.
Arikara Yellow Bean
Drought-tolerant heirloom pole bean cultivated by the Arikara Nation of the upper Missouri river.