What Does Community Practice

Tell Us About Resilience?

2013 CAIR ConferenceCissimarie Juan

Tohono O’odham Community Action

Since 1996, TOCA has been dedicated to creating a healthy, culturally vital and sustainable community on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

“Wisdom from the past creating solutions for the future”

“ I like the garden because I like to grow watermelon and carrots. You get to play, too. You never need cops or ambulances to come here. I like the whole garden and I love the people.” Age 8

“If we don’t have anything for food, we can come here and get food”Age 6

“Together we believe we can create a food movement that is focused on creating fresh, sustainable, and culturally vital ingredients from our own community. Come see how we do it.” - Amy Juan

Tohono O’odham Nation

• The Tohono O’odham Nation, the “People of the Desert” (which is how “Tohono O’odham” translates into English) is located in Southwestern Arizona.

• 4,600 square miles and approximately 70 miles across. Approximately 22,000 of the tribe’s 28,000 members live on the Tohono O’odham Reservation in southern Arizona.

• 37.7% of the nations population is under the age 18 years old.

• 1.6 million pounds of tepary beans annually in 1930. Less than 150 pounds in 2000.

• 20,000 acres of traditional crops in 1936. Fewer than 2 acres in 2000.

A Map of TOCA's Evolving Food System Work

The New Generation of O’odham Farmers Apprenticeship

• December 2012- 5 of the 6 Apprentices graduated into full time TOCA farmers.

• Specific jobs were created for each graduate. Farmers are now learning about business planning and structuring.

• 2012 establishment of a community farmers market selling fresh produce from local farmers on the Tohono O’odham Nation every tribal payday (2-3 times a month).

• Access has expanded for raw, packaged and cooked foods. Such as, processed squash.

• 2012-2013 Focusing on The Alexander Pancho Memorial Farm & Learning Center in the Cowlic Community. Expansion of farm (Started as a 4 acre plot, currently 8 acres and expanding) working with “non”-traditional winter crops and focusing on community learning center.

• Members of the Tohono O’odham Farm and Food Working Group. Collaborative creation of Youth Agriculture Day.

• Local traditional foods available for purchase in Bashas’ (grocery chain).

• Building/creating traditional food seed bank

Project Oidag“Project Oidag was never supposed to happen”

Established in 2011

• Since 2012 P.O. has hired 12 new summer interns and promoted 5 to full time interns.

• 2012-2013 Every Wednesday of the school year P.O. led classroom work sessions and school garden days with Baboquivari Alternative High School.

• Learning to build a useful structure used in establishing school & community gardens

• Producing Traditional and “Non”-Traditional Crops along with making their products available to the community. Also sharing cooking recipes for all crops.

• Peer to peer learning, education, hands on demonstrations, organizing/host of community events, and teaching of traditional games.

• Next step: The current Interns are highly encouraged to apply for The New Generation Of O’odham Farmers Apprenticeship.

Our mission is to empower O'odham Youth to learn from our elders the traditional methods of O'odham farming, share and create community spaces for learning how to garden/farm, support and work within our communities to revitalize community and family gardens, grow good food for our people and influence positive change to our food systems. The main and most important part of our mission is to have fun and live a s-wa:gima (industrious) lifestyle, working under the sun!

School Food & Fitness Program

• Continuing to strengthen working relationship with students and staff of the Baboquivari Unified School District along with school food service provider, SODEXO

• Established school gardens in the Indian Oasis Primary School and Baboquivari Middle School. Both gardens growing winter and summer crops. (sugar cane, squash, white and brown tepary beans, watermelon, verities of lettuce, cucumbers, beets, broccoli, tomatoes and wild flowers )

• 2013 Garden to cafeteria. Produce grown from the Elementary school Oidag (radish, beets, squash pancakes, squash muffins, ) served in the school lunch.

• After school organized planting days, watering sessions, cooking demonstrations, traditional games and art projects in the school Oidag (garden)

• Continuing education through out traditional school food lunch meals every Tuesday and Thursday of every month. Educating K-12 using traditional cartoon characters, word puzzles, stories, songs, games and food tastings.

TOCA & FoodCorps. • The two FoodCorps. Service members work

close with School Food & Fitness Coordinator pushing for more traditional foods in the school lunches. This includes monthly meetings with SODEXO introducing new menu ideas using what is grown in the school oidag.

• 2012-2013 TOCA was invited to take part in after school education within the Indian Oasis Primary School, “Extended Day Program” for children K-5th grade. The service members created a curriculum using the original idea of TOCA’s K-12th grade school curriculum.

• Working within the Baboquivari High School Vocational Agriculture class on Food Justice week, cooking demonstrations of pizza using traditional cholla buds and wild bore sausage, squash pancakes and chia fruit salad.

• FoodCorps. and TOCA staff is currently working on creating a food justice week for the community coming this summer.

• Expanding traditional and “non”-traditional education in gardening and cooking.

• Promoting for Tohono O’odham community members to apply and work within the O’odham community.

Desert Rain Cafe• Creating access to traditional foods made in

traditional and contemporary styles at affordable prices.

• In the process, the cafe is supporting economic development, both in direct employment of the staff and by purchasing traditional foods from tribal farmers and forragers. 

• Fresh produce from TOCA farms available at DRC.

• 2012-2013 Guest Chef Program. Once a month hosting chefs within the region who have created a dinner menu using traditional foods.

• 2012-2013 providing snacks for the Indian Oasis Primary School Extended Day program.

• Desert Rain Cafe has been used as a “Restaurant Experience” for the nations Early Childhood program.

• Catering and providing food demonstrations throughout the Tohono O’odham Nation and within the city of Tucson.

• Currently creating a dinner menu for evening food service hours.

The next step for TOCA?

Native Foodways Magazine

•   Tells the stories of Native farmers & gardeners... fishers & hunters... foragers & wildcrafters... chefs & home cooks.

• Shares the inspiring community efforts to preserve traditional foods & vibrant cultural food traditions.

• Explores beautiful artistic expression related to food.

• Provides recipes and resources for cooking healthy & tasty meals.

• Documents the impact of national & global food policies on Native communities.

• Showcases the fiction & poetry of food as a cultural expression.

• Promotes Native food sovereignty.

•  

• Our Premiere Issue Is available now.

• www.nativefoodways.org

Celebration of Basketry and Native Foods Festival

December 7-8, 2013

• Hosting native basket weavers and native chefs from across native country

• Weekend of basketry presentations, film showcase, cooking demonstrations, basketry market place & traditional singing and dancing.

More information and registration at

www.tocaonline.org

Desert Rain Food Service

TOCA is now launching Desert Rain Food Services, a social enterprise dedicated to...

Supporting healthy, traditional and scratch cooking in the schools

Integrating school food service with curriculum, gardens and educational programs.

Work with participating schools to conduct an assessment of their school food service....

What is working? What are

your challenges? What would you like to see?

Develop reports and recommendations for each school, as well as for the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Work with selected schools to implement recommended changes in school food services and other programs.

Begin providing food services for schools, ranging from providing raw traditional foods for schools to prepare.... to prepared “heat and serve” meals.... to full-service school meal operations.

Work with schools, public health programs and others to secure tribal support for improved school foods.

Challenges

• Drought

• Introducing new vegetables to the community.

• In depth education about health issues, food sovereignty/food justice.

• Learning how to teach children.

• Building/strengthening relationships with school board, school administration, principals & teachers

• Strengthening working relationship with SODEXO School Food Service.

• Parent involvement in school gardens

• Creating better working structures and communication within our own organization

TOCA’s work is only one example of community resilience

•Find what works in your community

•Everyone within a community posses the power to create healing and positive change

•Always include the new generation of young people in your work

•Knowledge is everywhere.

•HAVE FUN!!

2012 Project Oidag Summer Interns“Junk Food Zombie”

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