Instructions: Slow Food USA has selected these foods as "passengers" on ARK U.S.A., a project that aims to protect endangered foods from extinction.

ARK U.S.A. is interested in food that reflects the history and culture of a region and in food that is endangered by industrial and agricultural standardization. Slow Food gives priority to foods that are produced organically, on a small scale.

1. Sun Crest peach: Unique fruit with excellent taste. High risk because of fragility and difficulty in shipping.

2. Red abalone: Protected mollusk now cultivated by aquaculturists.

3. Green Mountain potato: Hybrid potato developed in mid-19 th century. Once was most sought-after baking potato.

4. Bleinheim apricot: Unique fruit with excellent taste. High risk because of fragility and difficulty in shipping.

5. White oak cider: Made with rare apple varieties. An unpasteurized product, it risks elimination if FDA requires pasteurization of all ciders.

6. Chimayo chili: This variety of chili is found principally in northern New Mexico, although flavors and heat vary from place to place. Generally not available as a commercial product; difficult to grow.

7. Creole cream cheese: The resurgence of this cheese in home kitchens might spur new commercial interest. A New Orleans specialty, it has the texture of very thick sour cream and slightly more tart flavor.

8. Non-flavored traditional black tea: An intriguing product that captures an historic tradition in South Carolina.

9. Wild rice: Naturally grown, hand-harvested and hand-processed

10. Monster Ale: Brooklyn Brewery makes limited quantities of this high-quality ale, available only in late January. It has a unique sherry-like flavor.

11. Dry Monterey Jack Cheese. Manufactured by one of Americas oldest cheesemakers, Vella Cheese of Sonoma (see www.vellacheese.com)

12. Love Tree Farms Trade Lake Cedar Cheese: A highly regarded aged raw milk sheep cheese from Wisconsin, it is made from specially bred animals.

13. Delaware Bay Oyster: Valued for its mild taste and firm texture, this oyster has been in steady decline because of changes in water circulation and natural factors. Currently only five producers remain.

14. Heritage Clone Zinfandel: Zinfandel vines have been growing in Northern California since the 1870s. Originally planted in small family vineyards by Italian immigrants, Heritage vines were abandoned in favor of a super-clone Zinfandel, developed in the 1970s, that could tolerate the hot interior valleys of California.

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