Co-Producers Unite! Indigenous Chefs and Producers of Turtle Island are creating Native Food Connections

14 October 2021, Washington, DC - In observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States, the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day in Canada, and World Food Day 2021, FAO North America hosted, “Co-Producers Unite! Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Food Heritage of Turtle Island.” The webinar was co-hosted in partnership with Slow Food Turtle Island Association, Slow Food USA, and the Intertribal Agriculture Council’s American Indian Foods Program. The online event brought together Indigenous Chefs, Producers and built upon the 2020 World Food Day collaboration between FAO North America, Slow Food USA, and Slow Food Turtle Island by highlighting chefs and recipes from the cookbook: Recipes from Turtle Island.   

Denisa Livingston (Diné Nation), Slow Food International Indigenous Councilor of the Global North, and an Appointed Member of the Champions Network of the United Nations Food Systems Summit, opened the event with Valerie Nuvayestewa (Hopi and Tewa), Knowledge Keeper, offering a Land Acknowledgement and Opening Blessing. As leaders in their communities, the women called upon the collective audience to acknowledge and show respect for the lands, waters, seeds, plants, animals, Indigenous Peoples, their sovereignty, and truths, for past, present and future generations in our work of restoring healthy food systems that sustain communities and ecosystems.  

“Today we honour and celebrate the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous Peoples’ food heritage, we echo our commitment to support Indigenous leadership and collective actions to strengthen and revitalize Indigenous Peoples’ food systems which are central to tribal sovereignty, Indigenous Peoples rights, and global food system transformation,” said Jocelyn Brown Hall, Director of FAO North America, in her opening remarks – acknowledging the confluence of these historic days. Anna Mulé, Executive Director, Slow Food USA, also expressed her deepest thanks to the chefs for sharing the recipes and traditions.

Kari Jo Lawrence, Executive Director of the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC), emphasized the importance of coming together during these difficult times with events to keep up the momentum and continue supporting the Indigenous producers, ranchers, and businesses across the country. Latashia Redhouse, Director of the American Indian Food Program at IAC, expressed her excitement to “be in this unified space to celebrate the continuous growth and dedication of many Native American, Indigenous, Aboriginal producers, partners, organizations trying to strengthen equitable and just food systems all across the globe.”

While the online audience could not taste the delicious creations prepared by the chefs, part of the audience was able to experience foods in the Native Food Connection boxes that were mailed out from the IAC American Indian Foods Program (AIF). Foods in the boxes featured samples of products including chokecherry syrup, canned salmon, acorn bites, blue corn mix, buffalo jerky, chocolate rose petals, herbal teas, and olive oil. Each item was produced by a different Native producer involved with the American Indian Foods Program, a growing network of Indigenous producers across the United States.  

“To the women and men all across the country who are pioneering and bringing back some more traditional foods – it’s really fun to be able to grow the food here on the farm and ship the foods out to them,” explained Spring Alaska Schreiner (Valdez Tribe/Inupiaq), owner and Principal Ecologist- Indigenous Agriculturalist of Sakari Farms/Sakari Botanicals, a tribal education farm and business located in central Oregon.

Chef Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk Nation), Founder of Wild Bearies, shared an example of how the squash she shared with Spring Alaska Schreiner is now being grown in Oregon, Wisconsin and Michigan. “I think we all know that with agriculture it’s not about if it’s going to happen [climate change impacts], it’s about when it’s going to happen,” stated Chef Terry, adding that because of her relationships with other producers across the country, she is able to work with producers to slowly diversify crops and become more resilient to environmental factors.

Simon Martinez, Operations Manager of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm and Ranch Enterprise and  Bow and Arrow Brand LLC, shared his expertise from sustainably growing, milling and selling the non-GMO flint corns, they grow on the tribe’s 7,700-acre farm on the Ute Mountain Reservation. Martinez explained in his 30 years there, this is the most extreme drought in the Southwest region he has seen, they received ten percent of their usual water allotment from the reservoir 40 miles away. Collectively, they decided to produce corn to keep the mill running and in turn be able to assist the Farm and Ranch Enterprise through the driest months.    

Chef Rich Francis (Gwich’in and Mohawk), Founder of Seventh Fire Hospitality Group and Host of TV Series Red Chef Revival, shared his crafted dish creation of moose nose steak and urged everyone to remove their colonial thinking in relation to Indigenous Peoples’ foodways. “I am on a mission to change the way people think, feel, and behave toward Indigenous food by removing the colonial thumbprint that has been in the way for over 150 years,” stated Chef Rich Francis.

Chef Nephi Craig, Coordinator and Executive Chef at Rainbow Treatment Center and Café Gozhóó, shared similar sentiments and gratitude for Indigenous foodways. “By following Indigenous foodways, it has provided some of the most profound experiences and life-changing moments,” he said, going on to share images of the incredible dishes that he created with the tomahawk bison steak, with sautéd mushrooms, spinach and braised butternut squash with chokecherry syrup, chocolate sauce and popped amaranth.

Alfredo Oropeza, Chef, Author and Executive Producer, added a unique touch to the webinar by preparing a fresh salad with the ingredients sent to him from AIF, including wild rice, wheat berries, chokecherry syrup, olive oil, combined with fresh berries and avocado. 

“I am very glad to see many young people taking up and revitalizing Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems in the North America region,” said Yon Fernandez, Head of the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ Unit, in his concluding remarks. Jessica Vega Ortega, Co-Chair of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, added, “For Indigenous Peoples, talking about the food system is talking about identities and cultural relevance – it is important to revalue the knowledge and decolonize the process.”

This webinar honored the network of strong relationships and work being led by Indigenous chefs, producers, communities, and leaders across North America, and brought into focus the shared priorities to advance culturally aligned cuisine, business, production, and education to continue strengthening Indigenous Peoples’ food systems regionally and internationally. 

Useful Resources 

Recording: https://bit.ly/Co-ProducersUnite
Agenda https://bit.ly/Oct14Agenda
Speaker Bios: https://bit.ly/Oct14Bios

Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC): https://www.indianag.org/
IAC American Indian Foods Program: https://www.indianag.org/americanindianfoods
IAC Native Food Connection: https://www.indianag.org/nativefoodconnections
Slow Food USA: https://slowfoodusa.org/ | https://slowfoodusa.org/co-producers-unite/
Slow Food Turtle Island Association: https://www.facebook.com/Slowfoodturtleisland/
“Recipes from Turtle Island” Recipe booklet: https://slowfoodusa.org/recipes-from-turtle-island/
Bow & Arrow Brand LLC: https://bowandarrowbrand.com/
Sakari Farms & Sakari Botanicals: www.sakarifarms.weebly.com
Chef Elena Terry: Wild Bearies: https://wildbearies.org/board-members
Chef Rich Francis: Seventh Fire Hospitality Group @rfcuisine @wildgametv @redchefrevival @seventhfire76 www.wildgametv.ca
Chef Nephi Craig: Café Gozhóó & Rainbow Treatment Center: http://cafegozhoo.com/ @nephi_craig @cafe_gozhoo
Chef Alfredo Oropeza: https://cheforopeza.com.mx/ @chef_oropeza

Link to twitter livestream https://bit.ly/3AHYNCN
Resources list – Educate Yourself: Native Media https://bit.ly/3lK5u3d