Cornucopia’s Take: Food Tank has compiled a list of indigenous foods which are culturally important, highly nutritious, and part of a biologically diverse system.
20 Native North American Foods with Stories to Tell
Food Tank
by Niyati Shah
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Indigenous and traditional crops are an important source of food and fiber for people around the globe. Often these crops are resilient to pests and disease or can tolerate high temperatures, drought, or flooding. And while millions of people in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America depend on native crop varieties, North America is also home to many important indigenous crops that need to be protected for future generations.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), since the early 1900s, around 75 percent of the world’s plant genetic diversity has been lost. The erosion of diversity of cultivated and wild crops has also been accompanied by a decline in the nutritional quality of Native American diets and a growing epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Traditional food ways, culinary skills, ecological farming practices, and entire cultures are also at risk.
Many organizations and farmers are realizing that diversity is not just good for human health, but also for the health of the planet. According to Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, “a system that is biologically varied is endowed with the antibodies to counter dangerous organisms and restore its own equilibrium. A system based on a limited number of varieties, on the other hand, is very fragile.”
