First Nations Food Issues Archives - World Food Policy Center

E151: MAZON’s support for Indian Food Sovereignty, Puerto Rico, and Quick Response Food Advocacy

December 16, 2021

We’re speaking today with Mia Hubbard, vice president of programs at MAZON, a Jewish response to hunger, which is a national advocacy organization working to end hunger among people of all phase and backgrounds in the United States and in Israel. This is the fifth and final episode in our series partnership with MAZON. This time we will focus on the organization’s work to increase access to nutritious foods in the charitable food network.

E122: Food RX Program Brings Helpful Changes to the Navajo

March 18, 2021

American Indians and Alaska natives face challenging economic, environmental, and political conditions that are in many ways similar to those experienced in developing countries. About 37%, for example, of Navajo or Dine people live in poverty. Access to preventive services such as cancer screening, immunizations, and early detection is often limited. And patients must travel long distances to obtain medical services. The situation is made worse by the lack of access to healthy foods. As a result, the life expectancy for American Indians is about six years shorter than that for the general population. Additionally, American Indians suffer disproportionately high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, and substance abuse. Today, we are speaking with two impressive people working to change that, Dr. Sonya Shin and Kymie Thomas. They run the Navajo Nation Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment or COPE Program. This is a community-based outreach and food security program made possible through a formal collaboration between Brigham and Women’s Health in Boston, Tribal Leadership and Indian Health Services to address health disparities in the Navajo Nation.

Related podcasts: Diet & Nutrition | Equity, Race & Food Justice | First Nations Food Issues | Food Insecurity |

E116: The Origins and Vision for the Native American Agriculture Fund

February 23, 2021

Knowing that Native Americans were our country’s first farmers and have a rich and very special history with the land, one might consider it surprising and of course discouraging that some of the most challenging food and agriculture issues in our country confront Native Americans. Our guest, attorney Janie Simms Hipp is one of the most passionate and thoughtful voices in addressing these issues. Simms Hipp is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and leads the Native American Agriculture Fund, the largest philanthropic organization devoted solely to serving Native American farming and ranching communities. The Native American Agriculture Fund is a charitable trust that provides grants to eligible organizations for business assistance, agricultural education, technical support and the advocacy services to support native farmers and ranchers.

E103: Film Discussion – Sanjay Rawal on GATHER

January 16, 2021

Today, we’re celebrating the power of stories in creating shared understanding. We’re talking with James Beard award-winning filmmaker Sanjay Rawal. The creative force behind a new movie about Native American food ways called “Gather.” Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.

E102: Lyla June on Returning to Native American Agricultural Traditions

December 15, 2020

What if we cultivated our environment instead of intensive crop planting and animal farming, and in turn created an abundance of food to meet our needs? Is this what First Nations people did here in the Americas? This concept is the focus of doctoral research of today’s guest, Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer, Lyla June. June is an Indigenous woman of Dine (Navajo), Tsetsehestahese (Cheyenne) and European lineage. She’s pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. And she’s fascinated by the intersection of Indigenous food systems and Indigenous land management.

E83: Hopi Farming – Agriculture, Culture, and Environment in Balance

July 28, 2020

Today, we’re digging in to the little known origins of regenerative agriculture, a conservation approach to farming and raising animals that focuses on soil health, biodiversity, improving the water cycle, and resilience to climate change. My guest today is Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson, a 450th generation Hopi farmer in the dry lands of Arizona and a research associate with the Native American Agriculture Fund.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | First Nations Food Issues | Regenerative Agriculture |

E82: Rediscovering Navajo Indigenous Agricultural Wisdom

There’s a great deal to learn from the deep connections between regenerative agriculture and the farming traditions of First Nations people. My guest today is James Skeet, a member of the Navajo Nation and the founder of Spirit Farm in New Mexico, a demonstration farm that draws both Native Americans and others to learn more about issues like composting and regenerative farming techniques.

E21: Colby Duren on Challenges to First Nations Food Sovereignty

April 15, 2019

Extreme poverty, the loss of fertile lands, and lack of access to traditional foods have caused many Native Americans to suffer from diet related problems, including food insecurity, obesity and diabetes in stunning numbers. Nearly 16% of Native Americans, for example, live with type two diabetes, more than double the percentage of Caucasians. These are but some of the challenges that occupy our guest, attorney Colby Duren.

Related podcasts: Community & Economic Development | Equity, Race & Food Justice | First Nations Food Issues |

E9: A’dae Romero-Briones on First Nations Food Systems

January 7, 2019

What can food teach us about our community lifeways, past and present? Community food life ways or one way that first nations tribes can regain food sovereignty in the face of federal policies that have diminished native lands, imposed a non-native diet, and made it difficult to retain native languages. This is a core part of the work of today’s guest on the Leading Voices in Food A’dae Romero-Briones.

Podcast Topic: First Nations Food Issues

The Leading Voices in Food

Podcast Topic: First Nations Food Issues

E151: MAZON’s support for Indian Food Sovereignty, Puerto Rico, and Quick Response Food Advocacy

E122: Food RX Program Brings Helpful Changes to the Navajo

E116: The Origins and Vision for the Native American Agriculture Fund

E103: Film Discussion – Sanjay Rawal on GATHER

E102: Lyla June on Returning to Native American Agricultural Traditions

E83: Hopi Farming – Agriculture, Culture, and Environment in Balance

E82: Rediscovering Navajo Indigenous Agricultural Wisdom

E21: Colby Duren on Challenges to First Nations Food Sovereignty

E9: A’dae Romero-Briones on First Nations Food Systems