Appalachian Heritage Foods Celebrated at Festive Spring Fundraiser
Slow Food Asheville is proud to announce a CAKE WALK!
Fundraiser for the Appalachian Food Storybank. The free event will be held on Sunday, April 29th,
from 1-5 PM, at Carrier Park Picnic Pavilion, 220 Amboy Rd. in Asheville. A traditional Appalachian
cake walk, set to live music, will be one feature of the event. Cake walk tickets are $2 a round and in
each round, someone wins a cake! Cakes come from local bakeries and individuals, some using heirloom
ingredients or recipes.
The fundraiser will also feature heirloom plant vendors, food vendors, demonstrations of traditional
Appalachian tools and methods, and a phenomenal raffle. Prizes include gift certificates to local
restaurants, a class at John C. Campbell Folk School, gift baskets, and more. Zach Phillips of Cultured
Foods will give a Kraut making demo, and Jean Benfield will be present to sign her book, Mountain
Born. Most of all, attendees will enjoy an afternoon in the park with good food and friends.
The Appalachian Food Storybank is an oral history initiative centered on southern Appalachian heritage
foods and foodways. The project works to preserve and collect precious stories of heritage foods and
traditional foodways in Appalachia. A “storybooth” will be in place at the CAKE WALK! event,
presenting an opportunity for attendees to record their stories of history, culture, and heritage.
Sponsors, Vendors, and Raffle Donors include: ASAP, John C. Campbell Folk School, Imladris Farm,
Reems Creek Nursery, Sow True Seed, Tupelo Honey Cafe, Bill Whipple, Buchi, Barbara Swell’s Log
Cabin Cooking, Spinning Spider Creamery, Earth and Spirit Designs, Red Stag Grille, Wildwood Herbal,
Rise Up Rooted Farms, Fifth Season, Eagledove Greenhouses, Gypsy Queen Cuisine, Southern Fryz, the
Potters of Madison County.
Bakeries represented include: Short Street Cakes, West End Bakery, French Broad Chocolate Lounge,
Farm and Sparrow, and the Montford Walk-in Bakery.
ABOUT THE HERITAGE FOODS COMMITTEE
Slow Food Asheville’s Heritage Foods Committee is dedicated to the preservation of regional food
biodiversity through a series of programs. Two are highlighted here:
Ark of Taste
The US Ark of Taste is a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting and
eating Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates. The committee works to
identify and nominate local heritage foods for inclusion.
Appalachian Food Storybank
The Storybank seeks to acknowledge, honor, and archive Appalachian heritage foods and foodways in
order to promote the preservation of diverse local knowledges, natural resources, and food biodiversity.
The Storybank itself will be an archive of stories from individuals, families, and communities about
southern Appalachian foods – from how they are grown or harvested, to ways of preparing and preserving
them, to anecdotes of family or community rituals surrounding food. Our main goal is to provide a way
for folks to record their food stories and histories for their children and their grandchildren. In addition,
the stories we help collect will be used for educational purposes to highlight the unique lifeways, history,
and culture of Appalachia.