Weaving Together Multi-Cultural Food Systems

1. Weaving Together Multi-Cultural Food Systems Success Stories from the Working Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau Restoring & Re-Storying Our Sense of Place & Taste

2. A Place of Unparalleled Food Diversity: “[These peoples of America are] much inclinedTo cultivate the earth and steward the same. They harvest beans, corn, and squashes,Melons and rich sloes of Castile, And grapes in quantity throughout their landscape…They harvest the red wheat and garden fareSuch as lettuce and cabbage, green beans and peas,Cilantro, carrots, turnips, garlic, Onions, artichokes, radishes and cucumbers.They have pleasing herds of turkeysIn abundance and fowl of Castile, too, Beside sheep and cattle and goats.” ~Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá, 1598

3. A Regional Heritage Undergoing Dramatic Agricultural Renewal -Oldest agricultural history in the U.S. -Greatest native crop diversity in Americas north of Tropic of Cancer -Greatest agro-habitat diversity in one region (sea level to 8500 ft.) -Exciting restoration of springs, terraces, ak-chin fields, orchards & food rituals now in process among at least 10 cultures -.

4. Reviving rare livestock breeds and ranching traditions • Key sites for revival of heritage turkeys • Oldest sheep breed in U.S. (Navajo-Churro) SUBJECT OF Slow Food’s first Presidia revitalization • Oldest cattle breed (Criollo Corriente) now recovered • Key stage for conservation collaborations among ranchers and conservation biologists

5. Pressures Mount, Perils Persist! Endangerment • Since WWII, Sunbelt has had most rapid urbanization/conversion of working landscapes in American history • Fragmentation of ranch- and farmlands • Usurpment of water by cities • 60% of native crop varieties lost from North America,1492-2002. • Loss of traditional knowledge about food biodiversity = • > avg. loss of farmers • breaking of ancient traditions

6. Farm Economies, US Southwest

7. Health consequences of losing land access & food biodiversity Impacts • Loss of many protective phytochemicals (eg., capsaicin, inulins) in traditional diet that sustained health • Loss of freshness, diversity and equitable access to safe food • Highest incidence of adult-onset diabetes in world, major cause of death and disability

8. Nutrient-depleted convenience foods replaced traditional crops and wild foods • Government surplus commodity “hand-outs” were richer in fat & sugar, poorer in minerals & protein than native crops they replaced • Hand-outs served as disincentives for “growing your own,” resulting in less fresh, vitamin-rich vegetables • Use of wild foods from gardens declined as well

9. Reversing the Downward Spiral • SAVING THE PIECES! Revitalization of uniquely American food resources and the traditional cultural knowledge associated connected with these foods. Rescuing, documenting, restoring: • Native American and Hispanic vegetable crops • Regionally-adapted heirloom grains • Spanish-introduced fruit and nut trees • Wild native plant foods • Regionally-adapted livestock breeds • Ranching traditions

10. Sowing Solar-Powered Sustainable Agriculture • Breaking addictions to fossil fuel, returning to solar-powered strategies on the land • Breaking addictions to irrigation water imported from other watersheds or geological strata • Rebuilding distribution networks that combine local with fairly-traded extra-local • Combining traditional knowledge with agro-ecological science

11. Re-weaving the Regional Food Network in the Southwest • Southwest Community Food and Agriculture Outpost • Traditional Native American Farmers Association • Southwest Direct Marketing Network • Northern Arizona Food and Agriculture Council’s Canyon Country Fresh Network • Quivira Coalition • Native Seeds/SEARCH • Community Food Connections • Saving the Wide Open Spaces Forum • Slow Food Southwest Convivia (8)

12. Shared Goals:Cultural • Rescuing traditional agro-ecological knowledge • Re-discovering the region’s culinary history • Sustaining communities of farmers, ranchers and foragers • Reviving traditional food festivals, ceremonies, & seed exchanges

13. Shared Goals:Health & Nutrition • Reviving wild foods that once prevented diabetes: prickly pear, chia, mesquite, acorns, Navajo tea • Reviving traditional crops that prevented diabetes: tepary and lima beans, Jerusalem artichokes, cultivated cacti and agaves • Introducing fresh greens year-round • Fostering local processing w/o sugar and fat

14. Making Sure That Working Landscapes Aren’t Squashed Designating National Heritage AreasDesignating American Viticultural AreasPioneering Rural Planning DistrictsPromoting County or Watershed-Wide Protection Plans

15. Making the most enduring rural traditions economically & ecologically viable again: 100s of Velarde NM grassroots entrepeneurs

16. Linking a sense of place to a sense of taste to keep rural communities viable Linking the identities of consumers & producers as “co-producers”

17. Re-storying Success:Navajo-Churro Sheep • Oldest extant sheep breed in North America • Historic neglect & intentional flock reductions imperiled its’ survival—less than 5,000 left by 1970 • Recent revival thanks to direct marketing of wool and lamb by Dine Be’iina, Navajo Churro Sheep Association, Black Mesa Weavers Guild, and Canyon Country Fresh. • First Slow Food USA Presidia initiated, May 2005

18. Survey shows consumer support for place-based heritage foods 57% of those likely to purchase traditional, local foods are willing to pay 10% more for them. Survey conducted March 2005 by the Social Research Laboratory at NAU.

19. The key to place-based niche-marketing:Telling the stories of colorful foods with unique flavors and their role in our culture and destiny.

20. Current Needs in Region Building multi-cultural partnerships to ensure equity and continuity in working landscapes Assessing current disincentives to landscape-level conservation & viability of rural communities Attracting diversified funding support to a region with few economic resources (incl. foundations) Building “food system” management capacity at the local and regional levels Encouraging residents to fully tell their stories of the land

21. Thanks to our donor and to our community elders, both of whom guide and inspire us • For more information on Canyon Country Fresh and Renewing America’s Food Traditions, see www.environment.nau.edu/food/