The City that Saved Itself Through Food Innovations, from Seed Libraries to Local Sourcing

Gary P. Nabhan will give an illustrated lecture on the “City of Gastronomy,” a 2015 designation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). From food banks, seed libraries, and farmers’ markets, to community gardens, community kitchens, and literary luminaries writing on food and culture, Tucson is serving as a nursery grounds for new innovations, not merely for preserving its food heritage. Gary Nabhan helped initiate Tucson’s application to the Creative Cities network, a joint effort of the University of Arizona and the City of Tucson, with support from many businesses and nonprofits, including Edible Baja Arizona. The Tucson Basin deserves this honor not only for having some of the oldest continually farmed landscapes in North America, but also for emerging as a global hotbed for ideas on relocalizing food economies and growing food in a hotter, drier climate.