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2-22-07 Iowa Arts Council Folklife Coordinator Riki Saltzman has developed a web site about place-based Iowa foods – highly differentiated food products with strong ties to where and how they are grown or processed. Visit the site, which includes audio, photographs, and downloadable documents, at www.iowaartscouncil.org/programs/folk-and-traditional-arts/place_based_foods/index.htm. “Place-based foods have a unique taste that often has to do with an ecological niche and/or the ethnic or regional heritage of their producers,” Saltzman said. “These are the foods that we seek out to eat locally when we visit a particular place, purchase as souvenirs or gifts, or hunt down in specialty shops. Food is not just about sustenance. We want foods that have a story.” Saltzman developed the web site with the support of a $10,000 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which also funded her initial research, the Iowa Foodways Project: Taste of Place. The project began in 2005 when Saltzman started surveying the state to identify a variety of foods and the people who produce them. The goal is to document foods that can be distinguished as uniquely Iowan by their historical, ethnic, ecological or geographic heritage. “Local, regional and global politics make defining ‘place-based foods’ not easy to put into words, even though identifying a food as ‘place-based’ may be as deceptively simple and as inherently complex as ‘you know it when you see it,’” Saltzman said. “I interviewed producers and others to identify foods in Iowa that meet at least two of three criteria as place-based foods: an ecological and geographical niche, a heritage basis and a narrative that explains those connections to Iowa.” Foods that met all three criteria include Maytag Blue Cheese, Maasdam’s Sorghum, Amana rhubarb wine, K&K Tiny but Mighty Popcorn, western Iowa mettwurst, and black walnuts and pawpaws from southeastern Iowa. Muscatine melons, also researched for the Leopold Center by Sue Futrell and Craig Chase, can be considered place-based foods, too. In addition, Saltzman documented several other foods that meet two of the criteria, such as lefse, flour tortillas, corn tortillas, Dutch letters, pork tenderloins and kringle. "Successful place-based foods developed in rural Iowa offer the potential for more of those dollars staying in rural communities," said Rich Pirog, who directs the Leopold Center's Marketing and Food Systems Initiative. "This research also is important because of potential new markets for the farmers and processors who produce place-based foods." Saltzman’s research and that from other Leopold-funded projects take on a particular importance for Iowa, in part due to the rise of a national interest in culinary tourism. “Culinary tourism creates ways for people to ‘visit’ different cultures – via restaurants, food markets, food magazines and cookbooks, Web sites, films and ‘The Food Network’,” Saltzman said. “Eating, like listening to music or going to museums, provides a window into other cultures. But with food, we aren’t restricted to just listening or seeing. We can use all of our senses, and even bring home a souvenir such as a special jam, a bag of pastries, or a cookbook.” This trend has paralleled interest in locally produced foods, nostalgia about foods from childhood, and the ongoing production of ethnic and regional foods for ethnic and regional markets. In Iowa, culinary tourism can be seen in the increasing popularity of cultural food fairs and regional dining experiences at places like the Amana Colonies, where home-cooked German meals are served with fresh-baked breads, pies, rhubarb wine and potato dumplings. On the Iowa Place-Based Food web site, the stories behind those foods come to life in the words of the people who produce them. For example, viewers can listen to Gary Schoening of Glenwood describe his family's way of making German mettwurst. Members of the Maasdam family talk about the distinctive syrup their family has made for the past 80 years from the sweet sorghum grown on their farm. In addition to written transcripts of each food story, the web site offers a list of locations where the food item can be purchased. The web site also has Saltzman's final research report to the Leopold Center and links to related sites. The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and works to enrich the quality of life and learning in Iowa communities by encouraging excellence in the arts through leadership, grants and technical assistance. Funding for the Iowa Arts Council and its programs is provided by the State of Iowa and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Leopold Center, located at Iowa State University, is a research and education center with statewide programs to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources.
Dr. Rachelle “Riki” Saltzman has been the IAC folklife coordinator since
1995. She works with communities and individuals to provide assistance with
multicultural and diversity issues, project development, event planning and
implementation, presentation of traditional arts and artists, grant writing and
curriculum content. For more information, contact:
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