A Reason Why – San Marzano Tomatoes

In a conversation with a rather astute associate of mine about the idea of Vanishing Feast, the devil's advocate appeared, and asked me "So why is this important? A tomato is just a tomato." It was a great question. The challenge was meant so I could think through why this would be important for someone who doesn't have a vested interest in this project. It forced me to practice the principle of detachment, which to me in communications, is a important part of the process.

To survive the shark infested waters of corporate America, I learned detachment as a survival mechanism. When the devil advocate played his role mentioned above, I wasn't aware of the story of San Marzano tomatoes. Had I been, I would've been prepared. Now I am, and this story will be the featured response should that question come up again.

I woke up one morning with the words San Marzano in my head. I couldn't imagine what theses Italian plum tomatoes had to do with anything but a delcious tomato sauce. So I asked my good friend Google to search the words San Marzano. Lo and behold I found a fascinating story at sanmarzanotomatoes.org. From the site;

Royalty, emmigration, 70 years of glory, gradual neglect, forsaken, replaced, threat of extinction, rescue, redemption, prosperity, politics, public relations, protectionism, DNA testing, and the most ironic outcome of all: - this is the story of the San Marzano Tomato that few people in America know about.

Take a trip over there and read the whole story. It's a fun and fascinating read. I'll leave you with this tidbit, the moral of San Marzano story is what Vanishing Feast is all about.

I hope to get to Campania, Italy this year to video some of the lore of this scrappy heirloom hero.

Preparing the Soil, Planting the Seeds

As any gardener knows, to get a good start on anything you plant, you have to prepare the soil to plant the seeds. Despite the fact that I am an excellent gardener, I jumped headfirst into the Pepsi Refresh Grant projet. As  it turns out that I didn't get the grant, but it did open up a new section of the garden of my creativity. When I started the Magic Hat Stories (MHS) blog, I had no idead where it would lead. That is part of what the blog is about. The focus of the blog is about changing the world one story at a time. The people or organizations that I write about have taken the step to do something they believe in will benefit society in a positive way. There's a certain magic that occurs in this or any process really. It undefined at the start, but people who are visionaries are open to possibilities in the many guises that they come in.

In the course of writing stories for MHS, I found the seed that will grow into Vanishing Feast. There are many heirloom varities of food that are endangered. They can vanish forever. The focus of Vanishing Feast will be to alert people to this, and provide them with things they can do to prevent it.

Much like grandmom's jewelry, which is a family heirloom, her choice of flowers and vegetables for her garden are a reflection of her soul, but in a natural way. The aromas, textures, colors, and tastes that tickle and feed the senses of the person who choses them for their garden, make a powerful statement of who that person is. Why not raise this to the level of a family heirloom to honor and preserve your heritiage on the micro, and on the macro, help keep plants or food sources from vanishing from this earth forever. It a winning situation all around.

In the interim from my attempt to win a grant to pursue this topic, I have created the storyboards, a rough script that is more of an outline of the topics and who and what I want to feature. I have acquired an digital slr which will shoot HD quality video in 3 different speeds, and allows me to record stereo sound with an external mic. There is still some eqiuptment to get, but that I am in the process of doing that.

I started out as fine art photographer as an artist. I somehow how found my way to become a storytelling milliner from there. Now that's a pitch fork in the road less travelled. And now here I am out of the weeds and into a garden patch where all the tilling, composting and fertilizing has been complete.

I will be writing more about this since spring planting in just around the corner, and it will help flesh the idea out even more.

You can check out my photography here.

Hello and Welcome Pepsi Refresh Visitors!

My name is Jeff Quattrone, and here's my bio. I'm thrilled that I am in the running for a Pepsi Refresh Grant. The idea for Vanishing Feast started out organically, appropriately enough. I started a blog called Magic Hat Stories and in the course of writing about people, organizations, etc. that do something that changes the world in a positive direction, I came across SlowFoods USA's Arc 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.

Since I love storytelling, a lot of my writing on the blog was to encourage adults to see their lives as ongoing stories that they write everyday. By focusing on the actions of people who were doing something positive, I wanted to inspire people to emulate that in what they do on their own. When I came across the Arc of Tatse and the stories behind the food sources, I became fascinated (aka obsessed), which inspires my creativity.

Sometime around the middle of March 2010, I happened to be a counter having breakfast. The local paper was there. In it was a story about a community garden program at my local county college. I was stoked as they say. I haven't had access to a plot of ground to grow vegetables for a very long time. I realized that I had the opportunity to walk my talk, so I signed up.

As the saying goes, life happens and the blogging fell off for a while. That's because there's a bigger purpose for what I should be doing, and that is how the idea for Vanishing Feast sprouted. I started storyboarding some ideas, and the creative process started. My father taught me about organic gardening in the 60's. I won a Honorable Mention at the Salem County Fair for a 7lb canteloupe I grew. I studied photography and film making in college. I have extensive experience designing communications across a broad spectrum of media and audiences. And I wrote this post, My Heirloom Garden Follows the Journey of My Family. which I see now is where the seed was planted. Also, there is a heirloom in my family that is a plant, and that story will be featured in the video.

While I was writing Magic Hat Stories I would refer to the magic that happens when people take action. Little did I realize that the magic would happen to me in the process.

I will blog about the process here. Thank you for stopping by and considering to vote for me. I assure you that I take my creativity seriously, and if I win this grant, I promise that it will story of inspiration along with tools that will take that inspiration into action.

Some other blog posts that are related to this subject.

New Year's Resolution - Renew Your Region's Culinary Traditions With Endangered Fruits and Vegetables 

An Heirloom Garden, A Family Quilt by Another Name, Part 1

An Heirloom Garden, A Family Quilt by Another Name, Part 2

Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout Thanks to the Oyster Restoration Project

Turning The Big Apple Into The Big Green Apple