Indigenous Terra Madre 2024 - Abya Yala Peoples : Our ways of life and knowledge are the best incubator for solutions to the global food crisis

●      The ancestral peoples of Abya Yala, children of the Earth, are custodians of 80% of the planet’s biodiversity.

Indigenous Terra Madre 2024 - Abya Yala Peoples took place between March 6 and 10, 2024 in Tenochtitlán, Mexico City. A meeting of more than 100 people from the Aymara, Comachuén, Diaguita, Juruna, Kichwa Kañari, Mapuche, Maya, Matlatzinca, Me’phaa, Miskitu, Mitontic, Nahua, Ñuu savi, Nhathō, Hñahñü’, P’ü’, P’urhépecha, Pasto, Raizal, Tenek, Tseltal, Tsotsil, Tupinikim and Yatoo (Mazahua) nations – ancestral peoples of Abya Yala – and their mestizo companions.

Dalí Nolasco Cruz, from the Nahua indigenous community and a member of the Board of Directors of Slow Food International commented that the indigenous Abya Yala peoples were organizing themselves to defend biodiversity and cultural diversity of their communities, to educate the world about what they want, and to make a political impact. She also extended an invitation to all indigenous peoples and their allies to joint the revolution.

The meeting was organized by the Timo´Patla Intercultural indigenous organization and the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network, with the support of its network in Mexico and Slow Food International. 

The Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network, made up of communities that defend cultural diversity, biodiversity and food systems at risk of disappearing. These communities bring good, clean and fair food to everyone’s tables and protect their cultures and lands. The delegates sent out a clear message to the world: eating is a political act. There is no biodiversity without cultural diversity, there is no future without indigenous peoples and their lands.

For five days, communities and people from Slow Food’s international network shared their knowledge, acknowledging that a different food system is possible, as they are decolonizing their food. During the event, the attendees created a document addressed to the public and stakeholders:

“Our projects are projects of life with which we defend water, the mountains, language, spirituality and celebration. To reclaim a dignified life and good, clean and fair food, we began to question colonial food culture. We invite others not only to be consumers but also to become co-producers, caring for and preserving the systems that feed them. Healthy food is the result of caring for our families, our communities, our lands and the planet.” You can read the document here.

The solutions to food colonization and the climate crisis already exist and are alive. Indigenous peoples account for the greatest biodiversity on the plant, with at least 370 million people, living in more than 90 countries and speaking more than 4000 different languages; our ways of life and knowledge are the best incubator for solutions to the global food crisis:

●      Indigenous peoples have been reduced to 6% of the global population, but we are custodians of 80% of the planet’s biodiversity which is key to adapting food to the climate crisis.

●      Family farming produces 80% of food with nutritional value for human consumption in the world. It is not true that we need agroindustry to feed the planet.

●      Food justice is directly linked to social justice. The movement for good, clean and fair food requires building bridges with those seeking to reclaim land and change inequality.

●      The strength of indigenous food systems lies in their biocultural diversity, an organized community and healthy land. No public policy, concession or law should be implemented without the consent of the communities.

●      Ancestral knowledge and flavors are the historical legacy of our peoples. Beyond intellectual property, any commercialization must fairly involve the people who are heirs to this collective knowledge.

●      Decolonizing food involves changing capitalist colonial practices in the processing and distribution of food.

●      When we speak of reclaiming ancestral knowledge, we are not referring to returning to the past, but to dialog between knowledge, techniques and technologies that allow us to innovate while caring for Mother Earth.

●      The greatest risk to the preservation of our food systems is land dispossession, contamination of water sources, extractive violence and agroindustrial monoculture.

●      Colonial violence is still present among our peoples. Decolonizing food involves individual responsibilities, community organization and global collective actions.

The event was held thanks to the institutions that believed in the project, such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Christensen Fund, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FIDA), Tamalpais Trust, the Los Pinos Cultural Center and Cencalli, Casa del Maíz y la Cultura Alimentaria.

About the organizers

Timo’Patla Intercultural A.C: an entrepreneurial group of Nahua, Totonac and Mixtec women and men, who promote collective processes and leadership from living well with the peoples and communities of Mexico.

Slow Food is a global movement acting to ensure good, clean and fair food for all. We are growing a global network of local communities who defend cultural and biological diversity,, promote food education and advocate for fairer and more equitable food policy. Slow Food has grown to involve millions of people in over 160 countries around the world. Within the movement, the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network is dedicated to preserving, promoting and celebrating the food rights of indigenous peoples on every continent. The network facilitates networking and promotes a collaborative environment for advocates of indigenous peoples’ food systems, making it possible to follow dreams, develop projects, access resources and create valuable networks.

The future tastes like fresh food, local seeds and community

The future tastes like coffee and tortilla, mushrooms and quelites

The future tastes sweet, of hope and resistance

The taste of my land is collective hope