Native Views On Sustainable Food

Paul Hawken, notable environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author once wrote:

“A Native American taught me that the division between ecology and human rights was an artificial one, that the environmental and social justice movements addressed two sides of a larger dilemma. The way we harm the earth affects all people, and how we treat one another is reflected in how we treat the earth ... The movement has three basic roots: environmental activism, social justice initiatives, and indigenous culture's resistance to globalization, all of which have become intertwined."

Our fate will depend on how we understand and treat what is left of the planet's surpluses -- its lands, oceans, species diversity and people. The quiet hub of the new movement -- its heart and soul -- is indigenous culture."

-- Paul Hawken, "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming"

 Hawken tapped into a growing consciousness that America's Native people not only have knowledge to share about sustainability and resilience, but about how these interweave with social justice, the third leg of the sustainable stool that doesn't get nearly as much attention as some of the other so-called green topics. This post by Shawn Termin from the National Museum of the American Indian blog delves into this topic a bit. Termin writes:

"For many New Yorkers, 'Green is the new black,' according to Johanna Gorelick, Head of Education at the NMAI, Heye Center in New York City.  Green markets have popped up in neighborhoods throughout the five NYC boroughs; shoppers use reusable material totes instead of plastic and paper bags; and dedicated, earth-centric citizens of the Big Apple are anxious to learn about the many aspects of the sustainable food movement. This was evidenced by an attendance of approximately 350 museum visitors who flocked to the recent Earth Day program, Native Views on Sustainable Foods, at the NMAI, Heye Center in New York on April 22, 2010. 

Three prominent speakers participated in the programming.  Winona LaDuke (Anishinabe), Executive Director of Honor the Earth; Alex Sando (Jemez Pueblo), representative of Native Seeds/SEARCH; and Kenneth Zontek, author of Buffalo Nation:  American Indian Efforts to Restore the Bison."

Termin goes on to describe what the various speakers discussed, primarily the need for developing grassroots movements in Native communities that will support efforts to reintroduce sustainable, healthy environments through the use of a variety of organic and sustainable food production and practices.

Full post here.

Posted by Shauna Lawyer Struby