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‘We’re running out of time’: Dan Saladino on why the loss of diversity in our foods matters
His new book explores wild and endangered foods and explains how we lost so much in the blink of an evolutionary eye
Dan Saladino is a journalist and presenter of the weekly Food Programme on BBC Radio 4 where he’s been reporting on food and agriculture for the past 15 years. It’s a great career for someone who loves food and culture – and it has shown him how important – and precarious diversity is. His new book explores stories of wild and endangered foods through the people and the land they come from, and the traditions and cultural identities they represent. From Tanzania, Syria and Turkey to the Faroe Islands, Scotland and Denmark, Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them, is a voyage through the ingenious ways our ancestors learnt to farm and prepare lentils, rice, chicken, honey, oranges and cheese over thousands of years. Each food, and each community, helps explain how in the blink of an evolutionary eye we lost so much diversity in our diets – and why it matters.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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