VERMILIONAIRE is also the title of arecording by the Lost Bayou Ramblers, aCajun band from Louisiana whose title trackis a traditional song about going down to thebayou to fish, hunt, trap and never die ofhunger. As oil pours beneath the surface ofthe water in the Gulf of Mexico and makesits way to the coast, the families that havelived in close connection to the Gulf’s uniquehabitat continue to be threatened by bothman-made and natural pressures.

All along the coast, from the FloridaKeys to the mouth of the Rio Grande onthe Texas-Mexico border, folks like theVermilionaires have been forced fromtheir homelands as their jobs have beenlost, their lands flooded or contaminatedand their properties ruined. Among them,we find some of the most marginalizedpeoples in the United States: long-termresidents such as the Houma, Cajun, Creole,Seminole, Miccosukee, African, Cuban,“Cracker,” Choctaw and Creek, as well asimmigrants from Sicilian, Vietnamese,Cambodian, Central American and Mexicanethnic enclaves.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in theGulf of Mexico has already been called theworst man-made disaster in the history ofthe United States. But even that label doesnot capture all the dimensions of this tragedy.Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Augustand September of 2005, to the presentattempts to mop up oil covering an areagreater than the size of Connecticut, someof the rural, food-producing counties of theLouisiana’s Gulf Coast have lost half of theirformer residents. They have felt forced toleave the state in search of better, saferopportunities elsewhere. Due to these disas-ters, human lives—as well their traditionalrelationships with their plant and animalneighbors—have changed forever.

Our concern here is twofold: First andforemost, to avoid the loss of livelihoodsfor the culturally diverse food producerswho live near the Gulf of Mexico, who arealready feeling their access to fish, shellfishand waterfowl limited by the spill. Second,to stop the loss of the many wild speciesand domesticated food varieties uponwhich the remaining inhabitants of theGulf Coast nutritionally, economically andecologically depend.

Among the many long-term conse-quences from the oil spill will be a pervasivedisruption of some of the most uniquefarming, fishing, hunting and culinarycommunities left on the planet—not onlyin the Gulf Coast states of the U.S., butalso in Mexico and Cuba as well. Thesecommunities deserve what we might call“environmental and food justice,” since ourgovernment agencies have been both slowand inefficient in protecting their basichuman needs.

Many former Gulf Coast residents whofarmed or gardened have literally left jars oftheir family’s heirloom vegetable seeds insheds and cupboards to rot or slowly die,breaking a chain of agricultural transmis-sion of seeds and knowledge that begancenturies ago. Some of the remaininggardeners and farmers also happen to bepart-time fishermen, oyster harvesters,gator hunters or shrimpers, and they nowsee other perils looming on their horizonas fishing areas are closed and importantspawning grounds are in danger of beingchoked off by the approaching oil.

Working the land and water, thesepeople—with their minds, eyes, handsand backs—have fed much of America forcenturies. The overwhelming majority ofshrimp harvested in the U.S. come fromthe Gulf of Mexico and its adjacent estu-aries and rivers. Well over 120 fish speciesare commercially harvested along theGulf Coast—from drum, flounder andsheepshead, to countless populations ofcrawfish, crabs, oysters and clams—eachwith a distinctive flavor. Over seventy per-cent of all ducks and geese that migratethrough the heartlands of North Americadepend upon stopover sanctuaries in thecoastal wetlands of the Gulf. Many ofAmerica’s most unique foods—fromcrawfish jambalaya, Creole cream cheeseand Gumbo filé, to Apalachicola oysters,Pineywoods beef and Tabasco peppers—are rooted in Gulf Coast traditions.

One key way that you can help thepeople and ecosystems of the Gulf Coastrecover from yet another catastrophe, is byactively purchasing and promoting their foodproducts during this time of uncertainty.Fishermen will not be selling oil-contami-nated or otherwise threatened species. To

by

Gary Paul Nabhan

Leigh Belanger

Regina Fitzsimmons

Vermilionaire:

BIG

STO

CK

3

the contrary, they desperately need incomefrom the remaining foods that they are ableto safely harvest. Poppy Tooker’s rallyingcry of “Eat It To Save It” for neglected (butnot necessarily federally protected) foods,has perhaps never been more fitting. If wewant a diversity of healthy foods on ourtables, we need to support the food produc-ers who have been tenacious in providingthem, or they will turn to other sources ofincome to make ends meet. Farmers willcull the rare varieties out of their orchards

or fields if there is no market for them;fishermen will set sail for the most mar-ketable catch elsewhere if no one values theknowledge and skill they invest in coaxingthe most delicious foods from the watersthey know best.

The following list of edible species andvarieties at risk in the Gulf Coast foodshedincludes both those potentially affected bythe spill on a massive scale (“oil-damaged”),and those that were already of conservationconcern before the April 10, 2010 Macon-dow blow-out, 40 miles southeast of theLouisiana coast. Our list of foods at riskincludes 241 distinctly-named stocks,varieties, species and subspecies found inthe Gulf, and its bayous and surroundingfields, forests, pastures and orchards.

Of those 241 place-based foods, expertsanticipate that access to at least 138 will bedirectly affected by the oil spill. In otherwords, more than half of the distinctivefoods associated with world-famous Creole

• Crescent City Farmers Market (http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org), White Boot Brigade (http://www.whitebootbrigade.org/) and Adopt-a-Mirliton Project (http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org/index.php?page=adopt-a-mirliton)

• Cultural Resource Institute of Acadiana (http://www.criala.org) • Southern Foodways Alliance (http://www.southernfoodways.com)• Catch Shares in Gulf of Mexico/Texas Program of Environmental Defense (http://www.edf.org)• Save Our Wetlands (http://www.saveourwetlands.org)• Southern Seed Legacy (http://www.uga.edu/ebl/ssl/) • Pineywoods Cattle Registry and Breeders Association (http://www.pcrba.org)

To download the PDF of this booklet online and for further information about the RAFT alliance, visit http://www.raftalliance.org. For further information about the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural initiative, visit the UNESCO Gastronomy page: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=36930&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Gary Paul Nabhan is RAFT founder and co-founder of Flavors Without Borders.He has been honored for his work in the collaborative conservation of food diversity with theVavilov Medal and a MacArthur Genius Award. A prolific author, his books and blogs can befound at http://www.garynabhan.com. He raises hell and orchard crops in Patagonia, Arizona.

Regina Fitzsimmons is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona with adegree in Nonfiction Writing and a minor in Crop Production from the agricultural college.Formerly a Slow Food USA intern, she now works with the RAFT alliance and Sabores SinFronteras in Tucson, Arizona. She cooks and gardens and blogs about successes and flops athttp://reginarae.com.

Leigh Belanger is the Program Director for Chefs Collaborative where she directseducational initiatives aimed at making sustainability second nature for every chef in the U.S.Leigh is currently heading a RAFT initiative that brings chefs and local growers together toproduce and feature heirloom vegetables adapted to their region. She writes about food andrestaurants for the Boston Globe, Edible Boston and other publications. She is pursuing aMasters Degree in Food Studies from Boston University, and is working on a book, BostonHomegrown, about chefs and local foods in the Boston area.

RAFT and its partners neither condone nor endorse consumption of federal or state protectedspecies and highly-depleted stocks. We encourage consumers to support the recovery ofthese species or stocks so that future generations can enjoy sustainable harvests oncerecovery is ensured. We also actively support community and/or tribal food sovereignty,and encourage others to do so as well.

and Cajun cuisines are being put at furtherrisk by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,even though many of them had not yetfully recovered from the effects of Hurri-canes Katrina and Rita.

Aside from investing your buying poweras a consumer in the market recovery offishing and farming in the Gulf Coast, weencourage you to give what donations youcan to some of the organizations listed below.We also urge you to support a new initiativewe are proposing to designate New Orleans a

UNESCO City of Gastronomy, becauseits intangible culinary heritage is now inurgent need of safeguarding. So let’s votewith our mouths, bellies and pocketbooksfor the speedy recovery of the food-produc-ing cultures dependent on the health of theGulf of Mexico, for their culinary traditionsare clearly an irreplaceable component ofour World Heritage. The Vermilionaires arein danger of losing their riches.

BIG

STO

CK

Sara Roahen is a writer and oral historian whose work celebratesthe deep connections between food, memory and place.Active in the Southern Foodways Alliance, she is author ofGumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table.She is based in New Orleans.

4

YES, THERE IS PETTINESS and a bit ofpotential gluttony when we lament the gus-tatory losses resulting from the DeepwaterHorizon oil spill. Eleven workers didn’tsurvive the explosion; many fishermen havelikely lost their livelihoods, as well as thelivelihoods they intended to pass on to theirprogeny. Untold numbers of plants andanimals—not just single lives, but possiblyentire species—are now in danger anddying. And yet, in a world of relativity, anurban New Orleanian like me can’t helpbut also worry for the boiled crabs, speckledtrout amandine, char-grilled oysters and,especially, seafood gumbo. I fear for therecipes, for the dishes and for the uncheckedjoy that hovers over every inch of the GulfCoast as its citizens prepare and eat them.

I know more cooks than professionalfishermen, so when I’m lying awake puttingfaces to our losses, I see many of the oralhistory subjects who have shared theirgumbo stories with me and the SouthernFoodways Alliance (the organization forwhich I collect their histories).

I see Frank Brigtsen, a passionate recre-ational fisherman and the chef-proprietorat Brigtsen’s Restaurant in Uptown NewOrleans. He grew up in the city eating hismama’s Creole gumbo, a dish she cooked-up with a “deep dark brown roux, smokedsausage, shrimp, oysters, crabs and some-times even chicken.” I wonder whetherFrank will ever taste his childhood again,or whether his mama’s gumbo recipe willbe archived on his mind’s palate like other

faraway meals. Moreover, I wonder whatwill happen to Charlie’s Seafood, thebeloved, casual seafood restaurant thatFrank resurrected in his own suburbanneighborhood last year and where, at leastpre-spill, the okra gumbo brimmed withlocal shrimp and oysters.

I see Celestine “Tina” Dunbar, who isstill trying to re-open her restaurant,Dunbar’s Creole Kitchen, which floodedbadly after the levee breaches of 2005. Sheserves her own version of Creole gumboevery Friday in the cafeteria for LoyolaUniversity’s law school, where she’s madea living in the meantime. Along with twodifferent sausages and chicken, Celestine’sgumbo contains dried and fresh shrimp.Each bowl has a crab exoskeleton center-

Sara Roahen

What Will We Cook? What Will We Eat?ST

AR

BLA

CK

BIG

STO

CK

GA

RY N

ABH

AN

5

T = ThreatenedFor wild species, federally listed as threatened or vulnerable—few (11-20) sites, small range,or rapid declines noted in the NatureServe database; for domesticated food varieties,availability known only through 4-6 farmers’ markets, CSAs, seed catalogs, tree nurseries,botanical gardens, community festivals and museums.

E = EndangeredFor wild species, federally listed as endangered or critically imperiled—few (1-10) sites, smallrange, rapid declines in NatureServe database; for domesticated food varieties, availabilityknown only through 1-3 farmers’ markets, CSAs, seed catalogs, tree nurseries, botanicalgardens, community festivals and museums.

OD = Oil DamagedKnown or reliably predicted damage from Deepwater Horizon oil spill, likely to affect survival,reproduction, migration, food quality or abundance in marketplace.

* = on the Ark of Taste, Slow Food USA’s catalog of endangered foods Like the other foods on this list, Ark of Taste foods are at-risk and place-based. Additionally,they have (1) deep historical and/or cultural roots and a tradition of use in the locale/region,(2) unique/superior flavor, appearance or texture and (3) market potential. Anyone cannominate a food to the Ark of Taste. Nominations are vetted by a committee of Slow FoodUSA members. Go to http://www.slowfoodusa.org for more information.

piece, its flavor having melded into thebroth while it cooked. During Lent, Tinaremoves the meat, adds oysters and servesa straight seafood gumbo that her Catholicregulars include in their penances. Herfather taught her how to make gumbo whenshe was six years old. “This is a gumbo city,”she told me.

I see Jim Gossen, a native of Acadiana(a.k.a. Cajun country), who runs a whole-sale seafood business in Houston and makesa hefty seafood gumbo of oysters, crab andshrimp to feed his gigantic family everyChristmas Eve. Jim also has a camp—arefuge on stilts—on Grand Isle, Louisiana,where he seems to maintain brotherly asso-ciations with all the commercial fishermen,and where I once stood in his kitchen eatingwhat felt like gallons of a cool shrimpceviche-like dish. He had bought the shrimpstraight off the docks that morning. Crudeoil began to hit the shores of Grand Isle afew days ago. You can watch it from theliving room of Jim’s camp.

I see myself last Christmas: My in-lawswere here to celebrate, but with a four-month-old baby, a house under constructionand a husband working overnights in BatonRouge, I decided that our usual Christmasfeast wouldn’t fit the mood. A celebrationwas nevertheless in order and I figured thatif the festivities involved only one course,my husband might actually have time toenjoy it with us.

When there’s room for just one festivedish on the table in New Orleans, the choiceis clear (and especially so if grandparentsare around to entertain the baby while youstir your roux). As Frank Brigtsen put it, agumbo is a special event, a “social event,” acoming-together. A gumbo is style and sub-stance, form and function, sustenance forthe body and for the spirit. Into mine wenttwo pounds of shrimp, two pints of shuckedoysters and a whole mess of crab. There’snever enough crab. Oh, but that’s just afigure of speech, of course; down herewe’ve always had plenty of crab…

Louisianans will continue to cook. Wewill continue to eat. We might even con-tinue to enjoy cooking and eating from theGulf. Still, the question looms: Will we everagain have enough crab—or oysters, orshrimp—for all of our seafood gumbos? !

GA

RY N

ABH

AN

FISH & SHELLFISH

FishGreat barracuda OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGuangache barracuda OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlack sea bass OD AL, FLRock sea bass OD LA, TX, MEXICOGafftopsail catfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, MEXICOHardhead catfish T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, MEXICOCobia/Ling cod OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, MEXICOCusk-eel/Bearded brotula OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICODolphinfish/Dorado/Mahi mahi T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOPompano dolphinfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlack drum OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGranier/Golden croaker OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGulf kingfish/King croaker OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICORedfish/Red drum T, OD FL, LA, TXSouthern kingfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAmerican eel/Conger eel OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBroad flounder OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOFluke flounder OD TXGulf flounder OD AL, FL, MS, LA, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSouthern flounder/Doormat OD AL, FL, MS, LA, MEXICOAlligator gar/Garfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlack driftfish/Barrel grouper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlack grouper T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOComb grouper OD FL, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGag grouper T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGoliath grouper E, OD FL, CUBA, MEXICOMarbled grouper/Slopehead OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOMisty grouper OD FL, LA, MS, CUBA, MEXICONassau grouper/Cherna criolla OD FL, CUBA, MEXICO Red grouper OD AL, FL, CUBA, MEXICOSnowy grouper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOWarsaw grouper T, OD NC, SC, GA, FL, ALYellowedge grouper OD LA, TX, MEXICOYellowfin grouper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOYellowmouth grouper/Caborita OD FL, CUBA, MEXICO

NAME • THREATENED (T) ENDANGERED (E) OIL DAMAGED (OD) • GULF STATES

Foods at Risk in the Gulf Coast Foodshed

Richard McCarthy’s work embodies the phrase, “think globally; actlocally.” After growing up in New Orleans and earning his master’s degreeat the London School of Economics, he co-founded the Crescent CityFarmers Market in 1995. As executive director, he led the organizationfrom a single, weekly farmers market to Market Umbrella, an internationallyrecognized mentor for several markets, community-building and sustainableeconomic development. He remains based in New Orleans.

who began to question our traditions—who even questioned whether red beansand rice should be served again, whetherSt. Joseph’s altars should be constructed,whether mirlitons should be planted onNew Orleans back fences and whetherfishing families should harvest brownshrimp in coastal waters.

From our outdoor market—our “officeof homeland serenity”—we gave refuge andeconomic stability to farming families. Forsome, we simply gave a place to market theorganic satsumas they harvested in once-flooded lands below the city. For others—like the men with guns who patrolled ourbroken city—we gave them fresh food thatthey could get only at our Market. We pro-claimed our markets a “FEMA-free zone,”but we couldn’t turn these men away.Despite our tears and anger, we rememberedthat markets, like dinner tables, help todefine the taste of place.

Soon we began to see the market as ahub for community restoration. Workingwith a team of communications experts,we launched a multifaceted marketingcampaign proclaiming the Market to be

6

WHEN HURRICANES KATRINA andRita slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast andcaused widespread collapse of our infra-structure, we were reminded rather violentlyof the fragility of our lives, our livelihoods,our ecosystem and our foodshed.

The hurricanes destroyed our homesand so we moved into neighboring commu-nities like exiles. And yet, the disaster alsobrought us together: In our makeshifthomes, we rekindled elements of the Cres-cent City Farmers Market and in so doing,we pieced-together the community I hadworked and grown with over the previousdecade. Deputizing a team of farmers, fishersand shoppers, we sent them out into thefield to survey what remained of our dis-persed community. Their findings informedphilanthropic and public policy decisionsas well as our own: when, where and withwhom to restart our Farmers Market.

Ten weeks after Katrina, we restartedthe Market. It was a Tuesday, two daysbefore Thanksgiving in 2005. This eventmarked more than a return of commerceamidst a sea of chaos. It served as a symbolof defiance against the chorus of voices

“The happiest place in New Orleans.”Capturing the voices of farmers, fishers andshoppers speaking for themselves in theirown accents, we broadcasted radio adver-tisements that welcomed people to comehome … to the Market.

Five years later, and in the face of a verydifferent type of disaster—BP DeepwaterHorizon’s industrial spew of oil upon theGulf Coast—much of our region’s food tra-ditions remain intact, if not stronger thanbefore. Maybe our earlier flirt with (cultural)death makes us treasure gumbo des herbesmore during Lent, Creole tomatoes in Juneand backyard shrimp boils in the late spring.

But we can’t help but notice the fragilityof the very same coastal waters that keptthe number of commercial fishers lowprior to the oil spill. Some fishing familiesembraced the hurricane-inflicted chaos byjoining forces as members of the WhiteBoot Brigade, a traveling shrimpers roadshow hell-bent on promoting sustainableharvests, cultural preservation and businessinnovation. Twice, we marched into newmarkets—in Manhattan and San Fran-cisco—leaning heavily upon the appetite

Richard McCarthy

The Happiest Place in New OrleansSH

AW

N E

SCO

FFER

Y

MA

RKET

UM

BREL

LA.O

RG

NAME • THREATENED (T) ENDANGERED (E) OIL DAMAGED (OD) • GULF STATES

7

for our fishers’ unique, sweet water crus-taceans. We rekindled support for ourfishers with help from important allies inSlow Food, Share Our Strength, Williams-Sonoma and the farmers’ market world.Fishers hand-delivered their product tochefs and together, they learned how toadapt these unusually tasting and texturedseafood to new palettes. This campaignbrought fishers hundreds of miles away—geographically and emotionally—fromtheir devastated homes, boats and commu-nities. As a result, fishing families becameboutique shippers and niche market inno-vators. But others—be it dairies, oysteroperations or soft shell crabbers—have yetto find the resources to restart.

In this last half-decade of turmoil, wehave lost many dear friends, happily madenew ones and through it all, we have mar-veled at the intense waves of new passionfor local foods expressed by nameless homecooks and famous restaurant chefs. Asuncertainty continues to wreak havoc uponour fragile food system, we celebrate pokesalat, wild ramps and the wild Bell Rivercrawfish. You can find and celebrate them,too, three days per week, year-round, rain orshine at the Crescent City Farmers Market.

The Crescent City Farmers Market willcelebrate its fifteenth anniversary inOctober 2010. It is the flagship project ofhttp://www.marketumbrella.org.

For more details about the restarting of theCrescent City Farmers Market, profiles ofinnovative fishers and the White Boot Brigade,visit the organization’s YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/marketumbrella. !

MA

RKET

UM

BREL

LA.O

RG

Red hind OD FL, CUBA, MEXICORock hind OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSpeckled hind T, OD AL, FL, CUBA, MEXICOPigfish/Orange grunt OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX White/Key West grunt OD FL, CUBA, MEXICOAfrican pompano OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOFlorida pompano T, OD AL, FL, CUBAPermit/Round pompano OD FL, CUBAAlmaco jack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBluntnose jack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGreater amberjack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOLesser amberjack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICORainbow runner/Spanish jack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOYellow jack OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOCero mackerel OD AL, FL, CUBASpanish mackerel OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlue marlin T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOWhite marlin E, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSailfish/Spindlebeak billfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOMountain mullet OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, MEXICOStriped mullet/Lisa OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOWhite mullet OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOJolthead porgy OD AL, FL, LA, MS Knobbed/Key West porgy OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA Spinycheek scorpionfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICORed porgy/Sea bream OD AL, FL, LA, MS, CUBA, MEXICOGraysby/Sea bass OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSand seatrout OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSilver seatrout OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAlabama shad T, OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MSAtlantic sharpnose shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlacktip shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBignose shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBonnethead/Hammerhead shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBull shark OD AL, FL, LA, MO, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICODusky shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGreat hammerhead shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOLarge-tooth sawfish/Carpenter shark T TX, CUBA, MEXICOLemon shark T, OD FLLongfin mako shark OD FL, CUBA Sand tiger shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOScalloped hammerhead shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOShortfin mako shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSilky shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSmalltooth sawfish/Carpenter shark E, OD FL, CUBA, MEXICOSpinner shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSpiny dogfish shark E, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOThresher shark OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOTiger shark T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlackfin snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOCreole fish/Rose snapper OD LA, TX, MEXICOCubera snapper T, OD FL, TX, CUBA, MEXICODog snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, CUBAGrey/Black/Mangrove snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOHogfish/Hog snapper OD AL, FL, CUBALane snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOMahoghany snapper OD FL, CUBAMutton snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOQueen snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICORed snapper OD AL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSchoolmaster/Barred snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSilk snapper OD AL, FL, TX, CUBA, MEXICOVermillion snapper T, OD TX, LA, MS, AL, FL

Fish continued

8

“GET IT NOW because it won’t last long.”When it comes to Louisiana seafood, that’sthe bottom line many seem to assume fromthe recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. How-ever, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

In the wake of the oil spill, more thanseventy percent of Louisiana’s waters haveremained open to seafood harvesting. Anyclosures made at this point are solelyprecautionary. While offshore waters doproduce large quantities of seafood, inlandlakes produce a fair share as well. As longas the leaking oil is stopped, most of theseinland waters will never be affected. What’smore, even if traces of oil make it into theseareas, there is still hope.

Shrimp, as you may know, are a trulyrenewable resource. A new crop hatcheseach year. Harvesting openings revolvearound their growth stages to ensure thatthe crops can survive. At the time of the oilspill, most of the inland waters—includingLake Pontchartrain—were not open toshrimp harvesting because the shrimp werenot mature enough. As long as the larvaein the marshes can continue their life cycle,the shrimp stock is solid.

The “gloom and doom” that much of themedia has emphasized since the spill is perhapsmore dangerous to the seafood industry thanthe oil spill itself. Society at large needs toknow now, more than ever, that Louisianaseafood is safe and available. Sure, somefishermen have chosen to work with theoilrigs and some fear that even temporaryclosures may put them out of business, butthe majority is still working hard to supplythe market.

Like with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,those whom are able to harvest will. Theirfavorite and traditional harvesting locationsmay not be as accessible, but there is stillplenty seafood to be caught and fishermenstill need to provide for their families. Thisis where all of you readers can help.

NAME • THREATENED (T) ENDANGERED (E) OIL DAMAGED (OD) • GULF STATES

Fish continued

Yellowtail snapper OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSpadefish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAlabama sturgeon E AL, MSAtlantic sturgeon T AL, LA, MS, FLGulf sturgeon T AL, FL, LA, MS, TXPallid sturgeon E MT, ND, SD, MN, IA, IL, MO, AR, MSSwordfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAnchor tilefish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlackline tilefish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlueline tilefish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGoldfaced tilefish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOGrey triggerfish OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOQueen triggerfish OD FL, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAlbacore tuna OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAtlantic bonito OD AL, FL, MS, LA, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBigeye tuna OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOEscolar/White tuna OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOLittle tunny OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSkipjack tuna OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOWahoo OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOOilfish OD AL, FL, MS, CUBA, MEXICO

ShellfishBlack clam OD TX, MEXICOHelmet clam/Almeja casco OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICORooster clam/Almeja gallo OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOSouthern quahog/Hard clam OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOAtlantic queen conch E FL, CUBA, MEXICOCalico scallop T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOEastern Gulf bay scallop/

Pine Island Sound bay scallop T AL, FLEastern Gulf bay scallop/

Chandeleur Islands or Delta bay scallop E LA

Eastern Gulf bay scallop/Tampa bay scallop T FL

Western Gulf bay scallop/ Laguna Madre bay scallop T TX, MEXICO

Blue crab OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, MEXICOApalachicola oyster OD FLGalveston Bay oyster T, OD TXLouisiana oyster OD LABrown shrimp OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOMississippi River freshwater shrimp T IL, IN, OH, LA, MO, MS Pink shrimp OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICO

WILD FOODSWild PlantsAmerican chestnut X chinquapin* E AL, GAChickasaw plum, selected varieties T AL, GA, LA, MS, TN Fragrant prickly apple cactus E FLMiccosukee gooseberry E FLOkeechobee gourd E FL, MEXICOOkeechobee pond apple T FLPrice’s potato-bean/Groundnut/

Traveler’s delight T AL, MSPurple passionflower/

Maypop selected varieties T AL, GA, LA, MSScrub plum E FL

Wild FowlAmerican coot/Mudhen OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICO American woodcock OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TX

Surviving the Spill

Christina Gerica is involved in food marketing andpreserving the heritage and livelihood of commercialfishermen, while pursuing a writing career. She hasworked with her family's business, Pete and Clara'sSeafood, at the Crescent City Farmers Market forthe last ten years and her dad's organization, LakePontchartrain Fishermen's Association, nearly all ofher life. After the hurricane blew her house apart,she and her family found themselves perched in atree in nearly twelve feet of water for seven hours.Since the storm, she and her family have continuedto work with local markets and have fought torestore and preserve the fishing industry.

At the end of the day, yes, we all needto keep close eyes on the effects of the oilspill. The spill needs to be contained andcleaned up. All of the oil that has alreadyleaked into the Gulf needs to be dealt withproperly. But Louisiana seafood is not goinganywhere. Commercial fishermen are, forthe most part, a very resilient kind—we’reused to handling whatever Mother Naturethrows our way. The Gulf Coast communityof seafood harvesters will weather yetanother storm, so long as everyone doestheir part from harvesting to processing,from marketing to purchasing. !

9

To claim that the oil spill is moredevastating than the hurricanes is com-pletely ludicrous. While seafood wasreadily available in the wake of the2005 hurricanes, the industry was inshambles. Many of us fishing familieslost everything—boats and homes, youname it. Buying docks were destroyedand, in some cases, could not berebuilt. Even those who were fortunateenough to be spared direct damagefrom the storms still felt its repercus-sions. Restaurants closed and tourismbecame nearly non-existent.

Christina Gerica

CH

RIST

INA

GER

ICA

CH

RIST

INA

GER

ICA

CH

RIST

INA

GER

ICA

PABL

EAU

XJO

HN

SON

MY EARLIEST MEMORIES of eatingboiled seafood date back to my highchair. My grandfather always sat next tome, perfectly cracking crab claws beforeplacing them on my tray alongside succu-lent, peeled boiled shrimp.

By the age of seven, I was spendingsummers on Grand Isle with my bestfriend, Susan. The Steiner’s camp was situ-ated just across Highway One from thebeach and their fishing boat was alwaysmoored in the harbor. We trout fished inCamanada Bay in the morning and giggedfor flounder with lanterns on the beach atnight. The shrimp boats bought fuel andice and sold their catch at the dock on thefar end of the island—a five-minute drivefrom the camp. Huge bins of just-caughtshrimp were iced in layers and availablefor sale for a song.

Twenty-five years ago I began going tothe Keegan’s camp in Bay Ronquille at FourBayou Pass with my husband, Nicky. Situ-ated on its own island, complete with cisternand generator, the fishing there never quit.

Originally, in the late 1940s, the housewas built to shelter an oysterman and hisfamily, who ran an oyster fishing businessfrom the island. At that time, the house wassurrounded by oyster beds. Even in themid-1980s when I started staying at thecamp, at low tide, you could still see theoysters everywhere, spitting as they dinedfrom the fertile waters.

Casting a net from the dock, you couldcatch live shrimp and bait a double linewith two shrimp at a time! In May youcould catch speckled trout two at a timewith live shrimp bait until you reachedyour limit or just wore out.

Then the real fun began: We’d fillet thetrout and stuff the fish frames into crabtraps that we’d throw out into the bay withfloats. In a couple of hours we’d havedozens of crabs to boil. We’d sit on theporch of the camp, picking and eating andthrowing the “bayou degradable” shellsback into the water.

With trout, crab and shrimp at mydisposal, I could combine the three for oneof the best stuffed-trout dinners imaginable.We’d grill redfish, scales on, skin-sidedown on the fire in a way we called “onthe half shell.”

Somehow, the camp survived HurricaneKatrina with just some roofing and wallrepair. It was the only functioning campremaining in Four Bayou Pass after Hurri-cane Rita followed Katrina. The erosion ofthe marshland was startling. The camp issituated on piers and after the storms, solittle of the island remained that waterflowed under the camp at high or lowtide—but the fishing only got better. Wecould actually hook fish from the secondfloor balcony, just outside the kitchen door.

10

Poppy Tooker, a chef, food folklorist and storyteller, is founder of Slow FoodNew Orleans, former chair of Slow Food's Ark of Taste Committee and hostof Louisiana Eats which broadcasts weekly on the National Public Radioaffiliate, WWNO 89.9 FM. In her cooking classes, and as author of theaward-winning Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook, she has intro-duced tens of thousands of eaters to the uniqueness of Gulf Coast cuisines.Her battle cry “Eat It To Save It” has now been heard around the world.

Poppy Tooker

Eat It To Remember It

PHO

TOS

FOR

THIS

ESS

AY A

RE B

Y P

OPP

Y T

OO

KER

11

Each spring after the hurricanesripped up the barrier island, we’d takefive-minute boat rides over to the rookerywhere brown pelicans, snowy egrets andpinkish roseate spoon bills laid their eggsand hatched their young. On “Bird Island,”as we called it, the birds nested closetogether at the water’s edge, almost likeManhattan Island for waterfowl.

But the oil rupture in April 2010brought death—first to the eleven menwho didn’t survive the rig explosion. Theoil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, dump-ing untold barrels of “sweet Louisianacrude,” that killed all marine life in itspath. As it moved inland to the marshland,the marsh itself died. On “Bird Island,”the unhatched eggs were coated with oil.Mother pelicans swam exhaustively tryingto clean the oil from their feathers untilthey were too tired and weak to get backto their nests. Raccoons, nutria and manyother critters became oil-coated andexpired. Coastal erosion will inevitablyaccelerate when the dead marsh grasseswash away, and carry with it bits of landfrom which the grass was once attached.

When I was a little girl, my great-grand-mother would ask me to finish my meal bysaying “Poppy, eat it to save it.” For the lastdecade, that request has resonated as a battlecry in my food preservation and recoverywork. But since the disaster, every time I’vebeen able to purchase and eat fresh, Gulfseafood I’ve wondered, is this “Eat It ToRemember It?” !

NAME • THREATENED (T) ENDANGERED (E) OIL DAMAGED (OD) • GULF STATES

Black-crowned night heron/Quawk T, OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlue-winged teal OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOBlack rail T, OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TXMangrove clapper rail OD FLSora rail T, OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TXVirginia rail OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TXCommon snipe OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TXGreater scaup OD AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICONorthern bobwhite quail T TX

Wild GameLouisiana black bear T LA, MS, TXKey Vaca raccoon T, OD FLKey West raccoon T, OD FL

Wild ReptilesAmerican alligator E FL, CUBA, MEXICOAmerican crocodile E FL, NC, SC, AL, MS, GA, TX, OK(Atlantic) Green sea turtle T NY, NJ, DE, MD, AL, FL, GA, MS, LA,

TX, CUBA, MEXICODiamond-backed terrapin T, OD AL, FL, LA, MS, TX Hawksbill sea turtle E AL, FL, MS, LA, TX, CUBA, MEXICOKemp’s Ridley sea turtle E AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOLeatherback sea turtle E AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICOLoggerhead sea turtle T AL, FL, LA, MS, TX, CUBA, MEXICO

DOMESTICATED ANIMALSHeritage Livestock BreedsFlorida cracker cattle* E FLPineywoods cattle* E AL, GA, MSGuinea pig E FL, GA, MSRed wattle hog* E TX, LAGulf Coast sheep E FL, GA, LA, TXSt. Croix sheep T VI, WA, OR, CA

Heritage Poultry BreedsCubalaya chicken T FL, CUBACotton patch goose* E AR, MS, LARoyal palm turkey T FL

DOMESTICATED FOOD CROPSHeritage Fruit & NutsCauley apple E MS, LACentennial pecan E LA, MSHawkworth apple E ALTexas star banana E TXDuncan grapefruit E FL, CAHamlin orange E FLKey lime/West Indies lime T FLMarsh seedless grapefruit T FLPonderosa lemon T FLAbbeville jujube E LAFitzgerald jujube E GASherwood jujube T LA, MSLouisiana pecher peach X LALouisiana white peach X LAGolden boy pear E FLFlatwoods plum E NC, SC, FL, GA, MS, LANorth Carolina seedling pomegranate E NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA

BerriesGulfcoast highbush blueberry E FL, GALiberty grape E FLT.O. Warren’s opaca hawthorne E FL

Wild Fowl continued

Oysters a la Apalachicola

I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUTTHE OYSTERS.

My first taste of them came when I wastwenty, fresh away from the insularity andisolation of rural, southern Georgia. I leftto study in the Panhandle of Florida. At thetime, I had no idea what a “raw bar” wasor what “on the half-shell” meant.

Soon after my move, I found myself inone of these raw joints, with friends whowere ordering these creatures with a swash-buckling zealotry. Did I like oysters? theyasked. I admitted that I did not know if Idid or didn’t.

The first taste had marshes in it. It hadthe sun, coquina, fiddler crabs. I rememberthe very moment: the precursory tang oflemon, the memory-rich familiarity of horse-radish sauce and finally, the earthy, fleshy,volcanic madcap of wild oyster itself, fol-lowed by a salty and gritty aftertaste of sea.

The Gulf of Mexico was the territoryin which I came of age. There, I first sawplovers nesting on beach-sand. I saw afreshwater spring bubbling from the saltydepths of the Gulf. I experienced wildfire.I made my first bird list and added Oyster-catcher to it. I retrieved my first scallop.

I had colossal good fortune that Iarrived in Florida and became the womanthat I am, underneath the Panhandle sun,in its shallow, estuarine refuges, in itsvoluptuous bounty. How glad I am thatthe first raw oyster I tasted was a wild onefrom Apalachicola.

Apalachicola Bay is legendary. It is therecipient of river waters that begin in theGeorgia mountains, where erosions havedeposited ivory-white sand along thefamous beaches of the Gulf, hauling sea-ward the detritus and nutrients necessaryfor richness.

The land is not called the Panhandle fornaught. Whatever the handle, the Bay is the

pan—an iron skillet—and in it we aresearing scallops, flounder, grouper, shrimp,shark, blue crab and oyster. For millenniathe smoky pan has overflowed—this estu-ary was one of the most productive in thenorthern hemisphere.

Apalachicola Bay is the mother lode ofoysters. For thousands of years the bivalvehas sated people along the Gulf of Mexico.The staggering evidence of that yield canbe found in swales of head-high Nativemiddens constructed solely of bone-whiteshells. We buy them by the burlap bag androast them, standing around autumn fires,oyster knives in hand.

Although only five percent of the baybottom is embedded with the architectureof the bivalve, four to six million pounds ofmeat are harvested there each year, a tenthof all oysters consumed in the U.S. Sixtyto eight-five percent of the residents ofFranklin County, Florida make their livingfrom the seafood industry.

To survive, oysters need fresh water.Drought and dams (brought to nationalattention by the Water Wars of Florida,Georgia and Alabama) have starved thesystem of fresh water and the nutrients itcarries. Hurricanes have taken their toll,through siltation and contamination.

What will happen to the oysters in theaftermath of British Petroleum’s DeepwaterHorizon oil spill, in the toxicity of the oilsand record amounts of dispersants? Whileoysters are filter feeders, designed to handlepollution, they certainly cannot defendagainst pollution of this magnitude.

In late May, scientists discovered a sec-ond plume of invisible hydrocarbons in theGulf, twenty-two miles long and six mileswide, made of oil particles broken apart bydispersants. It was moving inland.

How will oysters, which have provided somany feasts for so many centuries, survive? !

Janisse Ray is a poet, essayist and conservation activist who grew uparound Baxley, Georgia, not far from the Gulf Coast. Her first book,Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, won an American Book Award and shehas authored two other books of literary nonfiction. She spends much ofher time defending and restoring the longleaf pine ecosystem to itsrightful place in America. She is co-editor of UnspOILed: Writers Speakfor Florida’s Coast, out this summer, from the Red Hills Writers Project.

12

Janisse RayRA

VEN

WAT

ERS

BIG

STO

CK

PABL

EAU

XJO

HN

SON

THE RURAL POPULATIONS of Louisiana’sGulf Coast are some of the most diverseand unique in the country, yet their self-reliant lifestyle is more endangered thanever before. Our mission at the CulturalResearch Institute of Acadiana (CRIA) isto save the seeds and knowledge of ourmany cultures. This pursuit has beenmade ever more urgent by the displace-ment of many community members afterthe hurricanes of 2005, which forcedfamilies to leave behind generations offood traditions and seeds. While the GulfCoast once offered a bountiful harvest ofshrimp, oysters, fish and game, now com-munities of Cajuns, Native Americans andmany other persistent peoples have beenforced to search further inland for a stablehome and livelihood.

To offer an example, the Pointe-aux-Chiens Indians of the larger Houma tribeplay a critical role in preserving the CajunFrench language by speaking and sharingit with younger generations. Some of theelder tribal members solely speak this lyri-cal tongue and in so doing, keep alive thenames of many species in the flora andfauna of coastal Louisiana that were inher-ited from historic native languages.

Just as Cajun French has become anendangered language, traditional seeds offood plants of the Gulf Coast face a similarfate. This region carries an abundance ofseed varieties that have been passed downfor hundreds of years within the GulfCoast community. Many of these seedstocksare extremely difficult, if not impossible,to obtain by means other than directexchange with a local community such asthe Casse-Banane de Bresil or the ZydecoBarré-Violet. While CRIA has succeededin obtaining quantities of some of thesevarieties to preserve in our Acadiana SeedBank, many more have yet to be collected.

While we are continuing efforts to seekout the keepers of these imperiled foodresources, the crude oil leaking into theGulf of Mexico is likely to make this time-sensitive task even more difficult. The oilspill directly affects these communities byseverely impacting their ability to continueto farm or garden on coastal lands andmake a living off of the once sustainable,but now endangered, seafood industry.

Some small-scale, coastal farmers sur-vived the hurricane flooding, but theyreturned home to find a damaged harvestof produce, waterlogged seeds and“salinized” soils that would make futuregrow-outs even tougher. After suffering somuch loss from hurricanes Katrina andRita, their perseverance is a testament totheir ability to recover from disasters. Butnow these resilient farmers are up againsta new catastrophe—one that is not onlyman-made, but also of a scale neverbefore experienced in our fragile, wetlandecosystem.

Preserving Gulf Coast food traditionsis now of unparalleled importance. Theagricultural and fishing practices andaccompanying recipes of these communi-ties are the glue that bonds Louisiana'sindigenous cultures to its land and waters.Fishing and farming have been the lifelinesfor generations in Acadiana. Our commu-nities have always been rich in spirit andrich in song—so much so that both arecelebrated and honored locally and inter-nationally. These communities harborhomegrown experts on sustainable land usewho are transmitters of local knowledgeand traditions that have amassed over hun-dreds and thousands of years—traditionsnow in danger of being lost in a matter ofdecades. Volumes of undocumentedknowledge are now in danger of slippingthrough our hands—from fishing and

Louis Michot is the celebrated fiddler and lead singerof the Grammy-nominated Lost Bayou Ramblers, aroots Cajun band with a kick. He is also deeplyinvolved in rescuing the seeds and folklore of Cajunculture through the Cultural Research Institute ofAcadiana (CRIA). Louis lives in Prairie des Femmeswith his wife Ashlee and son Julien, and can often beheard on the air at KRVS Radio Acadie in Lafayette, LA.

13

Reclaiming Louisiana's Coastal Treasures

hunting craft, to medicinal uses of localplants, to farming techniques.

The current situation is such that no oneknows if or for how long the remainingmembers of these communities will be ableto survive before they, too, are forced torelocate to inland regions and make dowith what arable land is still available. Theurgency that accompanies the environmen-tal cleanup from the Deepwater Horizon oilspill needs to go beyond the endangeredplants and animals; if the Gulf Coast is tocome out of this disaster with the seeds andknowledge to continue our cultural andsustainable legacy, we need to immediatelyprotect our role as cultural stewards. !

LUC

IOU

S FO

NTE

NO

T

LOU

IS M

ICH

OT

Louis Michot

LOU

IS M

ICH

OT

Beyond the Beaches: Oil, Mirlitons and Community Bonds

MISS VIVIAN SELLS MIRLITONS on thehonor system at a vegetable stand on High-way 308 in Cut-Off, Louisiana. The Horizonoil spill may soon render that practice afaded memory. But I am getting ahead ofmyself. First, what in the world is a mirliton?

Known as “chayote” in most of thewestern hemisphere and Sechium edule tobotanists, the pear-shaped, green squash is astaple in Louisiana cuisine. It has the uniquedistinction of being the only perennialvegetable grown in the United States. Theprolific squash with its French name proba-bly made its way to Louisiana from Haitiafter the 1804 Slave Revolt that resulted inthe migration of approximately five thou-sand free people of color to Louisiana.Mirliton has many pronunciations, but theFrench-inflected pronunciation tends to be“mel-lee-tawn.”

Over the decades, growers developedLouisiana varieties that were resistant to

disease and native pests. There was a timewhen every fisherman on the bayou had amirliton vine that grew over sheds andbushes and high into treetops. The alluvialsoil of the bayous and the sub-tropicalclimate of South Louisiana provided aperfect home for mirlitons. Shrimp andmirlitons seemed destined for an eternalunion in Louisiana cuisine, with classicdishes like stuffed mirlitons, shrimp stewand mirliton casserole.

The mirliton became a backyard staplein New Orleans. Not long ago there wassomeone on nearly every block who had amirliton vine on the back fence. For a cul-ture that prizes revelry, the mirliton is theperfect vegetable: it needs no weeding, nopruning and if you sit under the vine longenough, a mirliton will eventually drop outof the tree into your lap.

The mirliton proves the theory thatabundance is the midwife of altruism and

generosity. While a person might have toguard their solitary watermelon from nightforays by neighbors, a single mirliton vinecan produce hundreds of fruit—all in aperiod of a few weeks. Soon comes theknock on the door and there stands a neigh-bor with whom you have never exchanged aword. They offer you a big bag of mirlitons.Mirlitons make friends out of strangers.

But something was lost in mirlitongrowing in recent years. Imported mirlitonsbecame available in stores year-round andsoon the backyard mirliton began to fall bythe wayside. Occasionally someone wouldattempt to plant an imported mirliton, butthey soon discovered that these hybridswere not adapted to our climate.

Then Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit.Mirlitons don’t like wind and water—saltwater in particular. Forty-eight hours undersalt water and the vine is dead. Overnight,the few locally grown mirlitons seemed todisappear. To remedy this problem, theAdopt-A-Mirliton project that I work withtraveled throughout Louisiana to discovertraditional varieties. We found several,mainly in the rural countryside. Theseseed-mirlitons were distributed by thehundreds to growers committed to sharingtheir crop and reviving the tradition ofbackyard mirliton growing. People weregoing to get to know their neighbors again.

But a new catastrophe has arrived at ourdoorstep: the Gulf Coast oil spill. In the greatscheme of things, the mirliton is a minorvictim of this manmade disaster. There hasbeen loss of human life, damage to aquaticspecies, depletion of the wetlands and dam-age to the seafood-related businesses. But theimpact on the mirliton demonstrates thecomplex relationships between technology,food, culture and community: The dearth of

Lance Hill, Ph.D. is a historian and Executive Director of the Southern Institutefor Education and Research at Tulane University, where he has been engagedin social and interracial justice work for decades. He is also a crop conserva-tionist, a food folklorist and volunteer director of the Adopt-a-Mirliton Project(http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org/index.php?page=adopt-a-mirliton),which is co-sponsored with Market Umbrella.

Lance Hill

LAN

CE

HIL

L

JEN

NIF

ER Z

DO

N

15

shrimp will help put the mirliton out ofbusiness. The loss of coastal land will reducethe available land for commercial growers.The decline of the bayou life, where fishingand mirliton-growing went hand-in-hand,will diminish as well. Neighbors willbecome strangers again.

•••I found the mirliton farm of Vivian Arce-neaux Danos in Cut-Off, Louisiana, aboutthirty miles south of New Orleans. MissVivian is the eighty-two-year-old matriarchof a Cajun family that annually grows thou-sands of mirlitons. She generously donatedfifty of her seed mirlitons to our project.We give the varieties names and her familyagreed to name one variety “Papa Sylvest,”in honor of Miss Vivian’s father who startedthe vines sixty years ago.

Miss Vivian told me that when the cropcomes in every fall, she places the mirlitonsin baskets by the side of the road in a littlevegetable stand with a sign that reads“Mirlitons $3 a dozen.” No one works atthe stand; instead, she leaves an “honor box”where the customers can put their payment.Sometimes the customers have the money,sometimes they don’t. They take the mirli-tons just the same and sometimes, in themiddle of winter, Miss Vivian will find a fewdollar bills left by someone making good ontheir word. There are no strangers onHighway 308 in Cut-Off, Louisiana.

One day I was visiting with the men ofher family and a few of their neighbors. Iasked if anyone had ever taken moneyfrom the box. That got a big laugh. “Man,no way that gonna happen,” said one of herneighbors with a twinkle in his eye. “Theymight steal from the church box, but theywon’t steal mirliton money.”

Amen. Perhaps someday we will learnto treat the earth with the same trust andhonor—taking from it only in proportionto what we give back. We have a lot tolearn from mirlitons. !

NAME • THREATENED (T) ENDANGERED (E) OIL DAMAGED (OD) • GULF STATES

LAN

CE

HIL

L

Western mayhaw hawthorne E TXDaybreak strawberry* E LAHeadliner strawberry* E LAKlondike strawberry* E LA Tangi strawberry* E LA

GrainsHasting’s prolific corn X MS, LAHoney drip sorghum E TX, LA, GA, SCOrange top sorghum E IATexas long sweet sorghum E TX, LA

Vegetable CropsBEANBig frosty bean E MSCHAYOTETraditional Louisiana mirliton E LA, MSCHICORYMagdeburg (Louisiana) coffee T LACOLLARDFlorida collard X FLGeorgia blue stem collard E GAGeorgia green collard E GAGeorgia long standing collard X GA, LA, MSCOWPEABlue goose cowpea/Gray crowder E GABrown crowder E MSCalico crowder E VAClay/Wonderful cowpea E GA, VAMississippi brown crowder T MSPigott family heirloom cowpea T LAPurple hull pink eye cowpea* E GA, NC, SCRouge et noir crowder* E LARunning conch cowpea* E ALSuzanne cream cowpea T GAWhippoorwill T GA, AR, LA, MSMUSTARDLouisiana green velvet T LA, MSOKRA Benoist blunt T MSLouisiana red T LA, MSONIONLouisiana shallot T LA, MSPEANUTPre-Civil War T LA, MSPEPPERDatil pepper T FL, CUBALouisiana Arledge hot pepper T LARooster spur pepper T LAShort yellow tabasco E LATabasco? T LAPUMPKIN/SQUASHChoctaw sweet potato squash* E AL, GA, TNCreole butternut squash E LAGeorgia roaster squash E GAPaydon heirloom acorn squash E LA, ILSeminole pumpkin E FL(Tennessee) Sweet potato cushaw* E TN, LA, AR, MSSWEET POTATO AND YAMSouthern delight sweet potato E LA, MS, ONSouthern queen yam/

White triumph sweet potato T TN, MS, LA

Berries continued

AcknowledgementsThis publication and the workshops that preceded itwere made possible by continuing RAFT support fromthe Cedar Tree Foundation, Ceres Foundation, ChelseaGreen Publishing, Lilian Goldman Charitable Trustand the Haury Fund. It was compiled and edited byGary Nabhan and Regina Fitzsimmons with the FlavorsWithout Borders/Sabores Sin Fronteras FoodwaysAlliance, based at the University of Arizona SouthwestCenter. Joan Carstensen Design designed and formattedit for downloading of websites:

http://www.raftalliance.org http://www.garynabhan.com

Arizona Lithographers did the printing. We thank the25 farmers, fishermen, chefs, food historians, folkloristsand conservation biologists who joined us at an Oxford,Mississippi workshop in fall 2006 about Gulf Coastfoods, which was organized by Makale Faber-Cullen,with generous collaboration from John T. Edge andhis staff at the Southern Foodways Alliance. Photosincluded are from Pableaux Johnson, Gary Nabhan,Poppy Tooker, Lance Hill, Louis Michot, Christina Gerica,Star Black, Shawn Escoffery, Jennifer Zdon, RavenWaters and Lucious Fontenot.

Front Cover : Shrimp Gumbo, BIGSTOCK

BIG

STO

CK

SATE

LLIT

E IM

AG

E O

N M

AP

PRO

VID

ED B

Y N

ASA

EA

RTH

OBS

ERVA

TORY

Renewing America’s Food Traditions is an alliance of food, farming,conservation and culinary advocates who have joined together toensure that the diverse foods and traditions unique to North Americareach our tables by means that make our families and communitieshealthier and our food system more diverse: ecologically, culturallyand structurally. We focus on clusters of foods at risk that we feelwe have a capacity to recover, using models of discovery, recoveryand sustainability that may inspire others to do similar work. Go tohttp://www.raftalliance.org for more information about the alliance’scurrent initiatives.

Founding RAFT partners: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy,Chefs Collaborative, Cultural Conservancy, Native Seeds/SEARCH,Seed Savers Exchange and Slow Food USA. RAFT Founder/Facilitator:Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan.

MA

P PR

OV

IDED

BY

DRE

AM

STIM

E