Who’d have thought that to help increase the population of some dwindling species, all we have to do is eat them?!

That’s the premise behind Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods, a new book by Gary Paul Nabhan (Chelsea Green Publishing, $35).

The book takes readers on a journey across North America, introducing them to more than 1,000 edible plant and animal species, most of which they probably have never seen on the shelves of the grocery store.

But that’s exactly the point of the book. Because these items aren’t an everyday part of our diets, their numbers have dwindled over the years, as they’re not being cultivated for our consumption.

It’s all about supply and demand.

If there’s a demand for a certain food product, inevitably, a supply will be produced to best meet that demand. Nabhan hopes that his book, filled with cooking tips and recipes, will create a demand for food stuffs that once were part of our American culture. With a new interest in incorporating native foods into the American diet, farmers and ranchers will once again have a reason to cultivate the plant and animal species that have long been forgotten.

So don’t be surprised if sometime soon, you see Makah Ozette potatoes, Ojai Pixie tangerines, or Tennessee Fainting Goat meat on a menu near you! It’s all just a part of the plan to create a resurgence in native North American species.

-Jena Parise, Marketing Coordinator for KIWI Magazine