The online catalog of culture and biodiversity
There's always something new to add to this ever-growing list of food, produce, and ingredients; and it never ceases to amaze people how much this world has to offer, and yet, we overlook or take what we have, for granted. With the accelerating pace of life, we rarely have time to think about the food we eat, about its cultural significance and/or the role it plays in our diets.
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The Ark of Taste, similar to the story of "Noah and the Ark," this replaces the story's animals, with food. And, according to their website, "agricultural biodiversity and small-scale, family-based food production systems are in danger throughout the world due to industrialization, genetic erosion, changing consumption patterns, climate change, the abandonment of rural areas, migration, and conflict."
RHETORIC
From initial speculation, the language, syntax and vernacular used is simple and easy to understand; making their point or argument across easy for the audience to wrap their heads around. From an advertising perspective, the approach is commendable and approachable, which is a method that is used a lot in many campaigns to persuade people to do something; in this case, it's to join this group of people in helping reeducate people about food, the cultures and foods lost and regained through this "Ark of Taste" campaign.
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Despite having said that, it also feels a little to "sales-y" to me. A great way to start a conversation like this, or at least to start people thinking about a topic like this, especially when people normally don't really think about food so much these days, is to start the argument with a story. Perhaps it's a story about the very first cultivated crop in Africa, or Mexico, or Guatemala, or India, or in Denmark, or in Peru; and tell the story of how a people survived hard difficult times because of this crop. The story may end with how years have passed and difficult times have gone and people had forgotten this crop, and because of the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality of people, the crop is endangered. Using a story to shape and give meaning to the argument they're illustrating will be a lot more effective in getting people's attention, in my opinion, at least.
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Another way they could have introduced this argument is to talk about how the foods we eat today have changed throughout the years, i.e., we've been eating pancakes since 30,000 years ago, and the first people to eat them were the Greeks and the Romans; and instead of maple syrup or pancake syrup that we use today, at least in the United States, they used honey, ricotta and lemon as "toppings" or "seasoning" for their pancakes. Using stories or trivia like these can, in some way, shape, or form, be used to attract people to read further into the Ark of Taste website. They might even be a little more inclined to say "yes," and help catalog products that they find endangered or vulnerable in the world.
