World Food Travel Association Launches World Culinary Heritage Day to Help Preserve Endangered Culinary Traditions

The World Food Travel Association (WFTA) has rebranded its long-running World Food Travel Day into World Culinary Heritage Day, held annually on April 18, with a sharper mission: safeguarding endangered food traditions.

Why It Matters
- Global pressures: Industrial standardization, globalization, and shifting consumer habits are accelerating the disappearance of traditional foodways.
- Alarming data: A comparative review across 29 countries shows that about 13% of culinary practices have already vanished or are at extreme risk.
- Invisible guardians: Farmers, fishers, producers, and cooks who preserve these traditions often remain overlooked despite their cultural importance.

Call to Action
- Share a photo or video of a traditional dish, ingredient, or food tradition.
- Tell the story behind it — cultural roots, family meaning, or community significance.
- Recognize the people and communities keeping traditions alive.
- Use the hashtag #CulinaryHeritageDay to join the global movement.

Strategic Positioning
- From travel to heritage: The rebrand shifts focus from culinary tourism to culinary heritage itself, making the observance more accessible to communities and policymakers.
- Taste of Place movement: World Culinary Heritage Day is now the flagship initiative of WFTA’s broader campaign to embed food heritage into cultural identity, sustainable tourism, and local economic resilience.

Erik Wolf, WFTA’s Executive Director, captured the urgency: “These traditions are disappearing faster than we can document them. World Culinary Heritage Day is a global call to recognize their value before it is too late.”