Indigenous Food Sovereignty
The annual Food and Seed Conference was held in Espanola, New Mexico this past weekend, sponsored by the Pueblo of Tesuque and serveral other organizations. The conference highlights local initiatives to revitalize the agricultural traditions of the Pueblo tribes, and serve as a model for indigenous agriculture, and indeed, all agriculture, everywhere. It's a big mission for the small group of conference attendees, but the concept is so powerful and such a no-brainer, that our shared optimism might not be misplaced.
The conference message was sustainable agriculture has to be based on core cultural values of respect for the Earth. Winnona LaDuke gave the keynote address on Friday. She has been one of my heroes ever since she ran for Vice President (with Ralph Nader) in the 2000 election. That campaign gave her name recognition which she has applied to service for her Ojibway tribe in northern Minnesota, inspiring a values-based model of green economic development throughout North America. Her organization, Honor the Earth, grew our of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, an initiative she started in 1989 to help her tribe recover some of its land base through creative conservancy donations and strategic purchases. Now that there is a bit more land for the tribe, she can turn her focus on developing that land (and water) in sustainable and culturally authentic ways. She takes a pragmatic approach to the many little compromises she accepts for larger gains: "You cannot be an island of political correctness unto yourself," she noted. Her approach has brought results, which is compiled in a source book on Sustainable Tribal Economies (free download from the website).
The reason that Tesuque Pueblo, a community of only 1000 tribal members, could organize the Food conference is the dynamism of their Bolivian agriculture director, Emigdio Ballon. For the past 15 years, Emigdio has applied agricultural principles drawn from his Quechua heritage, as well as his training in agronomy, biodynamics and Permaculture to revive the agricultural traditions of his adopted Tesuque tribe. Emigdio and his Mohawk partner, Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, organized the conference and provided the conceptual framework linking traditional food and agriculture with sustainable living. Their organization, the Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute is dedicated to inspiring local initiatives to reclaim indigenous food and farming knowledge and practice. Emigdio has developed his approach through his work at Tesuque Pueblo and has become a magnet for visitors seeking a reconnection to their food traditions.
Arty Mangan, the Food and Farming Director for Bioneers, presented the Dreaming New Mexico project which has been three years in the making. Ideas of "foodsheds" and the multiplier effect of local value chains (keeping money circulating at the local level) are key elements of the dream, and so is sustainable water use. See the section on Secure Agrifood Water for an overview map of all the dams on New Mexico's rivers and suggestions for different ways of thinking about water geography (ecoregions, aquifers, rainfall patterns).
I had the opportunity to follow Arty and talk about re-framing agriculture away from the mono-vision of economics to a multifunctional perspective of agriculture that reconizes ecosystem services, cultural identity, health and nutrition, community benefits and lots of other categories of "value" . When you consider all those values circulating locally and multiplying those multifunctional benefits, it's hard to even imagine buyng another shopping cart of conventional food!
The bottom line of the food soverignty concept is local self-determination, or local democracy. Food, along with water, are the fundamentals for life, and they are also fundamental to cultural interpretations of how life ought to be lived. When the current approach to food (conventional agriculture) is so obviously unsustainable, the diverse food systems of local cultural traditions become all the more critical to our quest for a durable economy.
Winona LaDuke speaking at the Food and Seed Conference
Two views of Tesuque Creek last summer
The conference message was sustainable agriculture has to be based on core cultural values of respect for the Earth. Winnona LaDuke gave the keynote address on Friday. She has been one of my heroes ever since she ran for Vice President (with Ralph Nader) in the 2000 election. That campaign gave her name recognition which she has applied to service for her Ojibway tribe in northern Minnesota, inspiring a values-based model of green economic development throughout North America. Her organization, Honor the Earth, grew our of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, an initiative she started in 1989 to help her tribe recover some of its land base through creative conservancy donations and strategic purchases. Now that there is a bit more land for the tribe, she can turn her focus on developing that land (and water) in sustainable and culturally authentic ways. She takes a pragmatic approach to the many little compromises she accepts for larger gains: "You cannot be an island of political correctness unto yourself," she noted. Her approach has brought results, which is compiled in a source book on Sustainable Tribal Economies (free download from the website).
The reason that Tesuque Pueblo, a community of only 1000 tribal members, could organize the Food conference is the dynamism of their Bolivian agriculture director, Emigdio Ballon. For the past 15 years, Emigdio has applied agricultural principles drawn from his Quechua heritage, as well as his training in agronomy, biodynamics and Permaculture to revive the agricultural traditions of his adopted Tesuque tribe. Emigdio and his Mohawk partner, Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, organized the conference and provided the conceptual framework linking traditional food and agriculture with sustainable living. Their organization, the Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute is dedicated to inspiring local initiatives to reclaim indigenous food and farming knowledge and practice. Emigdio has developed his approach through his work at Tesuque Pueblo and has become a magnet for visitors seeking a reconnection to their food traditions.
Arty Mangan, the Food and Farming Director for Bioneers, presented the Dreaming New Mexico project which has been three years in the making. Ideas of "foodsheds" and the multiplier effect of local value chains (keeping money circulating at the local level) are key elements of the dream, and so is sustainable water use. See the section on Secure Agrifood Water for an overview map of all the dams on New Mexico's rivers and suggestions for different ways of thinking about water geography (ecoregions, aquifers, rainfall patterns).
I had the opportunity to follow Arty and talk about re-framing agriculture away from the mono-vision of economics to a multifunctional perspective of agriculture that reconizes ecosystem services, cultural identity, health and nutrition, community benefits and lots of other categories of "value" . When you consider all those values circulating locally and multiplying those multifunctional benefits, it's hard to even imagine buyng another shopping cart of conventional food!
The bottom line of the food soverignty concept is local self-determination, or local democracy. Food, along with water, are the fundamentals for life, and they are also fundamental to cultural interpretations of how life ought to be lived. When the current approach to food (conventional agriculture) is so obviously unsustainable, the diverse food systems of local cultural traditions become all the more critical to our quest for a durable economy.
Winona LaDuke speaking at the Food and Seed Conference
Two views of Tesuque Creek last summer
Posted by Dave Groenfeldt at 7 Nov 2010, 6:02 AM 
Categories: Food, Multifunctionality, Agriculture
Tags: Honor the Earth Winona LaDuke Emigdio Ballon Tesuque Pueblo Dreaming New Mexico Food and Seed Conference
Categories: Food, Multifunctionality, Agriculture
Tags: Honor the Earth Winona LaDuke Emigdio Ballon Tesuque Pueblo Dreaming New Mexico Food and Seed Conference
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