Foods disappearing across the U.S.

Walletpop (it’s like an edgier Reader’s Digest) is running a list of 25 things that are vanishing from America. Some don’t have to do with food — Catholic schools, playing in alleys, land-line telephones — but many do. And I’m inclined to agree with some of them.

Take charcoal. When I was a child, you wouldn’t think about having a backyard barbecue without Kingsford and enough lighter fluid to start a war. Now, most people turn to propane, and serious enthusiasts use wood. Charcoal gets a bad rap for being difficult to cook on, but it also makes the meat tasty and smoky. Still, that whole “can cause cancer” thing means that charcoal is guaranteed be a no-go item in the future.

On a more serious note, the list includes like wild salmon. Salmon is in no danger of going extinct, thanks to hundreds of fish farms, but the schools of wild salmon actually making trips upstream are getting smaller and smaller each year — in 2002, the run of wild Chinook was 800,000 fish, but by last year it was only 80,000. California has banned salmon fishing, but some wonder if it’s too late.

And what about maple syrup? The last couple of years have been terrible for syrup makers. Canada’s reserves are dry, and prices are close to $100 per gallon. Producers insist that they are in a great position to boost supplies in coming years, but maple-syrup makers are mostly family businesses, another thing that is vanishing (as are family-run butcher shops and farms). If supply doesn’t increase, many syrup producers will be out of luck.

Many other items on the list, like the milkman, have all but vanished already. The list contains 50 items that will one day baffle your grandkids.