The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Inc. (NASFT) is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with a comprehensive online exhibit that features the products, people and pioneers responsible for changing American food.
The exhibit, “A Visual Feast,” looks at the U.S. food culture from the early 1950s, when Brie and Swiss chocolate were considered exotic, to the culinary reaches of molecular gastronomy and today’s passionate embrace of locally sourced, artisanal products from farmers and food manufacturers who care.
Product categories such as cheese, pasta and charcuterie that have changed and matured are among 60 elements presented with photos and commentary. Also highlighted are specialty food pioneers, including Chuck Williams and Alice Waters; the culinary landscape such as the rise in home entertaining and food on TV; and NASFT’s history.
The online exhibit is a companion to a museum-quality presentation that will be featured at the Winter Fancy Food Show, Jan. 20-22, 2013, in San Francisco. It was unveiled at last month’s Summer Fancy Food Show in Washington, D.C.
“By looking back to our beginnings, it is clear that the specialty food industry has always been fueled by innovation, whether in products, flavors, ingredients or at retail,” said Ann Daw, president of NASFT. “Today, our industry is flourishing amid unmatched interest and enthusiasm for new foods, new personalities and new desires to produce outstanding products that will delight consumers.”
The NASFT was established in 1952 when a small group of food importers joined together to protest tariffs on luxury imported goods. The organization presented its first Fancy Food Show in 1955 at the Hotel Astor in New York with 82 booths. Today, the NASFT has 2,900 members in the United States and abroad.
