[PCA] Native plants and native food systems of Native Americans....

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

This article was excerpted from June 2005 "The Food Chain: The e-Newsletter
of Slow Food USA" - see for full newsletter at:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/press/index.html.

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural
resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

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   Slow Food Planet encounters Bagna Cauda

by Makalé Faber, Project Manager, RAFT Campaign and Ark & Presidia


How do ecology, culture, and tradition come together to form a cuisine? How
do Native Americans living on reservations define their native food system
and negotiate food choices between it and the surrounding regional food
systems? What's in a name and why is place-based food marketing one of the
most viable ways to both support farmers economically and help them
distribute their products in ways that maintain their "beyond-nutritional"
meanings? How can northern Arizona meaningfully participate in the growing
Local Food-Policy Council movement in the U.S?


Thoughtfully posed, enthusiastically responded to, these were the questions
that shaped a three-day regional foods conference in Northern Arizona, May
24-26, 2005. Hosted by the Center for Sustainable Environments (CSE), Slow
Food USA's partner in the three-year Renewing America's Food Traditions
project, the askers and the answerers were a varied cultural group of
academics, restaurateurs, students, growers, ranchers, educators, and
tradition bearers.