The sun rises quickly in the Sonoran desert. By 6 a.m., the air is already scorched and smoky, infused with mesquite from a baker’s wood-fired oven. The loaves rise slowly, made from heritage wheat first planted here centuries ago. Tearing open the crust, its nutty sweetness carries both flavor and memory. Each grain remembers a long line of farmers, floods, and hands that refused to let it disappear. This is Tucson—the first American city to earn UNESCO’s title of City of Gastronomy.

This title has been bestowed to only 56 cities in the world, special places which celebrate how people grow, share, and sustain food, proving that food heritage is just as vital as language or architecture.

UNESCO’s City of Gastronomy title recognizes how a city feeds its soul. To earn it, a place must prov

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