TUCSON ARIZONA “WORLD CITY OF GASTRONOMY”

[quote]From Jonathan Rothschild
Mayor of Tucson, AZ.[/quote]

In December, the City of Tucson became the first and only city in the United States to be designated a World City of Gastronomy by UNESCO, the educational, scientific and cultural agency of the United Nations – quite an honor, and yet, well deserved. The designation looks at Tucson’s entire food system from farm to table, including issues such as food security.

Now, Tucson joins UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network – 116 cities worldwide that use creativity to help drive “sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy.”

UNESCO offers seven different Creative Cities designations: crafts and folk arts, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music. In the United States, there are just six UNESCO Creative Cities designees: Austin, Texas for Media Arts; Detroit, Michigan for Design, Iowa City, Iowa for Literature and Paducah, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico for Crafts and Folk Arts.

This is a wonderful recognition for Tucson to receive, acknowledging not only our great restaurants, but our rich agricultural heritage as well. It is a living heritage, with many Tucsonans directly involved in food production, some using native and desert-adapted seeds and farming techniques that have been in use in the Santa Cruz River Valley for hundreds – even thousands – of years. And, no matter how fancy the restaurant, you’re bound to find native plants on the menu, from cholla buds to mesquite flour to prickly pear juice.

Applying for this recognition required a great deal of work – some from my staff, but by far most of it from our community partners, which include the University of Arizona College of Social & Behavioral Sciences’ Southwest Center, Edible Baja Arizona, City of Tucson staff, and many others. The application can be found online at this website:

www.tucsonaz.gov/gastronomy
My Commission on Food Security, Heritage and Economy will act as the advisory body for this designation. While being named a World City of Gastronomy provides our tourism bureau, Visit Tucson, with another great selling point for our region (who doesn’t love great food, and Tucson has that in abundance) the Commission’s focus will be on increasing food security for Tucsonans through a variety of approaches.
So, as we sit down to enjoy festive meals this holiday season with family and friends, let’s keep in mind the needs of many in our community for better access to sufficient, healthy food. In fact, there are things we can do to help. We can give to the Community Food Bank, or we can share our gardening knowledge (and produce) with neighbors.
However you choose to help, I want to wish you and your family a happy and healthy New Year!