LINKS and RESOURCES

There are lots of historic sites that relate to farming in some way, and lots of farmers and food producers who are using historical breeds/seeds, methods, and knowledge in ways that range from adding value to their products to planning for a post-capitalist, post-carbon world. But there's a much smaller subset of places and projects where the two come together--i.e. where the knowledge that's preserved and produced through historical inquiry and interpretation is linked up with the working agricultural economy.

One of the purposes of this site is to try to gather together as many examples as possible of what seems to be an expanding convergence of the two. The list below is extremely preliminary at this point, so if you know of links that should be added here, please email them to us. Just remember that we're looking for things that go beyond historic farms or heritage breeds--we're interested in the interestingly blurred lines between past and present, for-profit and non-profit, food production and knowledge production.

NOTE:  Thank-you to Marla Miller for research in putting together the initial version of this list.





GENERAL
  • ASSOCIATION OF LIVING HISTORY, FARM, AND AGRICULTURAL MUSEUMS (ALHFAM): Based in Maryland, with chapters around the U.S., Canada, and many other countries. Professional interest groups on farming and foodways.
  • A movement to "decolonize" Native American foodways is taking shape across North America;  the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minneapolis has been at the forefront of these efforts.
  • The worldwide "ecomuseum" movement intersects in many ways with the issues that this blog focuses on.  Ecomuseums generally emphasize human/environmental relationships, often with a goal of fostering sustainable economic development and a sense of local place. 
  • FARM-BASED EDUCATION FOUNDATION (FBAE): Inspires, nutures, and promotes the work of educators and administrators providing public access to their productive working farms, many of which are at or associated with historic sites.
  • The online FOOD MUSEUM, dedicated to discovering, exploring, and promoting food histories and their relevance for today. Associated with the Potato Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico (not to be confused with the Potato Museum in Prince Edward Island), the organization is lobbying for the creation of a National Museum of Food on the Mall in Washington, DC.