Edible Education: Recentering 100 Years of Collecting, Preserving, and Interpreting Food

A large history museum complex began pursuing Edible Education as a cross-institutional initiative in 2021. The result has revitalized agriculture and environment content and broadened the relevance of historical resources to new audiences seeking information on food culture, environmental sustainability, and regenerative practice. The museum’s historical resources provide a solid foundation for the initiative which also prompted careful review and proactive planning. To that end, a grant supported increased access to agriculture and environment artifacts, and a comprehensive collections assessment involved all curatorial staff and resulted in a collection development plan to build more inclusive food culture collections.