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| Photo: Barbara L. Hanson, Flickr. |
Chestnuts were once a mainstay of the Appalachian diet, showing up in stews, sauces and breads. The Cherokee and other native peoples didn't wait until Christmas Day to enjoy their chestnuts roasted: They relied on the nutritious, fat-packed nut to fuel their activities throughout chestnut season. After European settlers shimmied their wagons across the Blue Ridge, they too developed a fondness for chestnuts. Honorary ACF board member and past president Jimmy Carter recalls filling his pockets with chestnuts for snacking.
"People really like them," says foundation spokeswoman Meghan Jordan. Compared to the Chinese and European chestnuts now available, she adds, the American chestnut is "much sweeter and much tastier."
But for the last 50 years, few people have had the chance to test Jordan's contentions. That's because in the early 20th century, blight struck more than 5 billion trees, wiping out a cash crop previously so plentiful that Southerners had little trouble collecting enough nuts to fill northbound railroad cars, destined to sate the cravings of Yuletide-minded city dwellers. "We want to see these trees thriving again," Jordan says.
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