La conservation des plantes cultivées et la gastronomie, une histoire mêlée

Abstract

Examples such as the white bean known as the ‘lingot du Nord’ or the espelette pepper give some idea of the importance of the connections that exist between plants that are cultivated as foodstuffs and the regional culinary heritage of French gastronomy. The key point in both fields is the way savoir-faire is transmitted. Gastronomy, like other cultural phenomena, is witnessing dramatic changes where patterns of consumption and the tastes of consumers are concerned. In response to these changes, gastronomy can take inspiration from the French ‘terroir’, the particular soils and products of its local territories. Considering the diversity of plants cultivated as food, there is tremendous potential for diversification and reinvention. In order to better organise the conservation of the country’s plant genetic resources, including plants cultivated as food, the French State, in 2016, set up a national coordinating body which aims at guaranteeing the sustainability of these resources which are of considerable importance for the country. Many of the pants identified are particularly significant for a region or its history. This article gives a brief account of the coordinating body’s activities: the assembling of important resources in a national collection, its contribution to a multilateral system under the terms of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and its various schemes for saving so-called orphaned varieties, such as the bean…

Keywords

• conservation
• diversity of cultivated plants
• agricultural heritage
• national collection
• recognition of managers