Our Own Foods as a Healing

The Role of Health in the Native American Food Sovereignty Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID5949049
AuthorsElizabeth Hoover (0000-0002-6215-2830)
Year2021
Volume24
Issue2
Pages89-97
Publication date2021-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Anthropology of North America (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2475-5389 • E-ISSN: 2475-5389
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/nad.12154
OpenAlexW4206992758
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

A wealth of literature has emerged over the past two decades exploring the need for food sovereignty activism to relocalize food production power, promote economic justice, and support more environmentally friendly means of producing food and getting it on the table. What has been less explored is the role of health in the desire to promote food sovereignty. First laying out the history of colonization on Native North American food systems, and then tracing the disease patterns that have emerged from this history, this essay ultimately explores how notions of health motivate and drive Native chefs and farmers who describe themselves as working toward food sovereignty for their communities. Drawing on interviews with members of Native American community-based farming, gardening, and seed-saving projects, Native chefs, as well as participation in food sovereignty summits, conferences, and cooking events, this essay illustrates the ways in which actors in the Native American food sovereignty movement are revitalizing, reclaiming, restoring, and perpetuating traditional food systems to promote good physical, cultural, and spiritual health

Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability

Tools

Open DOI