From Past to Plate
The Southern Heritage Crops Project works to revive heritage crops once central to Southern farms and food traditions, helping small and mid-sized farmers tap into growing demand for local, regionally distinctive foods. By identifying high-value niche crops and the market pathways to support them, the project creates new opportunities for farm diversification, profitability, and cultural preservation.
What is a Southern Heritage Crop?
Southern Heritage Crops are a subset of the broader category of heirloom crops, but with a definite regional orientation (the southern United States) and connection to that region’s identity. Prior to the 1960s, Southern Heritage Crops defined much of agriculture throughout the Southern U.S. states. These traditional row crops, garden vegetables, fruits, and grains shaped the region’s culinary heritage and culture, but fell out of favor as new higher yielding crops were developed, better adapted to longer supply chain food systems, and better able to resist a wide variety of pest and disease pressures.
