The Cultural Conservancy Native Foodways Program

The heart of The Cultural Conservancy’s Native Foodways work lies in connecting Native communities, Native youth, and non-Native allies together in a trailblazing effort to give Native communities equal access, knowledge, and understanding of their foods, traditions, and cultures. In doing so, we focus on health and nutrition through food as an integral step toward improved well-being.

With our unique partnership with the Indian Valley Organic Farm and Garden, mentor and advisor Wendy Johnson, the College of Marin, and the Conservation Corps North Bay, we provide urban Native centers access to fresh organic foods through our Native CSA delivery program. Through the CSA, we provide community and health centers with access to a diversity of Native foods and medicines, including Native crops that we cultivate as a group effort in the ‘3 Sisters Garden’ located at the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden (IVOF&G) in Novato, CA. We also focus on building bridges to educate teachers and youth, and as part of our Native CSA Internship Opportunity, we are underway with an intergenerational learning curriculum to build interest, inspiration, and well-being among youth leaders in the organic farming and Native foodways movements.

We are currently developing an ethnobotany teaching garden at the IVOF&G, and are seeking to hone our methodology of edible education. In all our work, we endeavor to inspire Native youth to continue learning and seeking knowledge about their cultural foodways heritage, while also gaining practical agriculture and farming skills.