Food Quality and Availability: Diversity in a Tribal Food System

Abstract

Diversity relates to the audiences reached through Extension outreach and teaching, but also applies to program approach and focus. Our work with the Fond du Lac Band addresses the critical issue of food quality and availability through an inclusive understanding of a tribal food system and an approach that features numerous and different strategies. The Ojibwe term “gitigaan” translates as garden but encompasses both food procurement and production, through gathering and cultivation. The Thirteen Moons program focuses on seasonal natural resource activities such as maple sugaring, wild edible greens and fruits, wild rice, hunting, and trapping. The Ojibwe Garden program centers upon a working demonstration garden that features Ojibwe cultivars and production systems, as well as contemporary food crops. In 2011, these programs came together to support the first Tribal Master Gardener cohort. This cohort links to a third food production effort, a youth garden developed under the 4-H Tribal Youth Mentoring program. The term diversity captures much of the collective strength of these interrelated efforts: a partnership with an underserved community, a multifaceted understanding of food systems that goes beyond conventional crops, and a diverse set of approaches that targets different knowledge systems, generations, cultural practices, and skills. The importance of such an approach is underscored by the erratic and sometimes catastrophic weather events of the current year – including an early winter to spring transition, flooding, and drought – and, in particular, the negative impacts of these events on various food sources.