Indigenous Strength at Food and Society

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation hosted its Food and Society conference once again this past week, from April 21-23 in San Jose. In showcasing many inspiring projects across the country, participants both learned from presentations in traditional panels and keynotes, as well as from a very rich day of open space sessions, where attendees proposed topics and held small group discussions.

Many groups in attendance were working for sustainability and better relationship with their lands, including:
Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative

New Mexico Acequias Association

Tohono O’odham Community Action












One open space session focused on identifying the solutions that we're missing from 10,000 years of place-based living and understanding of right relationship to our lands. The thoughts that came up included: understanding and documenting our history; use of permaculture techniques like observation of the patterns of sun, wind, and water across a landscape; and using story to communicate concepts and values. We hope to further highlight the outcomes of that session in a future post.