Emerge Food at the Edges: Shared food, shared land

November 19 2022, starts at 12:30 pm

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storytellers

12:30 - 1:30 pm Shanon Reina and Melissa Rave - Olas Pilkan (Wheat Berry) and Soam Bav (Brown tepary beans) - O'odham ancestral foods - Announcement: Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency Shannon Reina and Melissa Rave, will not be able to attend, however you are welcome to come to their allocated timeslot to learn about our facilitators experiences of bringing their foods to this land.

Sisters Shannon Reina and Melissa Rave are the enrolled members of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community.

Shannon has been a School Nutrition Professional for 14 years. She is currently the Food Service Manager for Salt River Schools and working towards creating culturally inclusive menus for the Salt River Schools District, She believes food service professionals can make a huge impact on the world by teaching children the children the importance of a healthy diet.

Melissa Rave (O’Odham and Ho-Chunk of Winnebago) has been an advocate for food change through the local school systems. Inspired by her grandparents, she aspires to expand awareness of indigenous food ways throughout her personal and professional life. She has been involved in program development, grant writing, evaluation, and implementation of programs related to extended knowledge to families and community.

Olas Pilkan (wheat berry) and the Soam bav (brown tepary bean) are ancestral foods of the O’odham people, both have sustained and support the O’odham for generations. These high protein, high carbohydrate foods were once staples in the O’odham diet.

3:00-4:30 pm Maria Parra Cano - Medicinal foods: Healing through Food

Maria Del Carmen Parra Cano is a co-founder & Executive Director of the Cihuapactli Collective. Maria is a Xicana Indigena born in Phoenix, Arizona with her lineages stemming from the Mexica People from Texcoco, Mexico & Raramuri People from Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua. Maria was raised in Barrio Garfield, along with her 7 siblings. Maria is a community organizer and activist at heart. Maria has experience in program development, grant writing, finance, evaluation, and implementation of social service programs for over 25 years. Maria received her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University in Non-Profit Administration & Sociology, her MBA with an emphasis in Finance from Grand Canyon University, and a culinary arts degree from Scottsdale Culinary Institute - Le Cordon Bleu. She has been married to Brian Cano for the past 9 years and has birthed social entrepreneurship wings while also birthing 4 little ones - Yolehua Luna, Quizani Texcohtli, Tonaliztli Mitohtiani, and a son - Ayocoyani who is in the spirit world. Maria is a mother, wife, sister, aunt, community organizer, danzante y mujer de ceremonia starting with the Calpoalli Nahuacalco, learning with other ceremonial circles throughout the continent over the past 21 years and recently holding space for families at the direction of elders among the Calpoalli Tlacahuatzin & Mitohtiliztli Huehuetlalli. Maria is an Ancestral Foods Chef, Indigenous Lactation Educator, birth & postpartum CoMadrita/birth worker, flower essence specialist, and traditional babywearing & rebozo use educator with Indigena. Born in the Sonoran Desert, Maria has deep connections with plant relatives from the territory and has been working with local community groups to expand their knowledge of ancestral/traditional foods by providing community cooking classes, demos, and workshops. Maria is grateful for the teachings and trust she has received from Elders, Comadres, and relationships with Indigenous Peoples from around the globe.

Sana Sana's Indigenous Farmacy & Food Pantry

Ancestral Foods Chef

featured on CNN!

5:00 - 6:30 pm Subash Yadav - Making Momas

Subash Yadav: “I wanted to use my love of Nepali cooking to create a healthy and exciting alternative to this fast food world. I believe in eating to feel good – you don’t have to compromise flavor!”

Mr. Momo

facilitators

Sara El-Sayed [left] & Arina Melkozernova. Sara El-Sayed has a joint position as the Co-Director of the Biomimicry Center and Assistant Research Professor at the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems. El-Sayed has a doctorate in food system sustainability, specifically on regenerative food practices in arid regions, and a master's in Biomimicry both from ASU. She also has a Biomimicry Professional Certificate from Biomimicry 3.8. She held a postdoctoral position at the School for Future innovation and Society, in Public Interest Technology. Her research interests include exploring ways to have more regenerative and net-positive local food systems, she is currently involved in the local Arizona food space. Previously she worked as a researcher in Biomimicry and microbial geographies. She is the co-founder of several enterprises in Egypt. Nawaya is a social enterprise working as a catalyst to transition small-scale farmer communities into more sustainable ones through education and research. Dayma an LLC responsible for outdoor Environmental Education, teaching young adults about Biomimicry and local Egyptian communities. Clayola is an LLC producing low-tech irrigation systems. She is an avid traveler, nature lover, and enjoys tasting foods, cooking and interacting with people through food experiences. Sara is on the board of Slow Food, an international movement that started in Italy aiming to safeguard local food cultures and traditions and does so by promoting Good, Clean, and Fair food for all. Arina Melkozernova is an instructional professional and PhD Candidate at the Comparative Culture and Language program, SILC, ASU. Arina has a multidisciplinary background in art (intermedia), science (biology), environmental humanities, educational technology and an instructional design. Her area of concentration is digital humanities. As a researcher, Arina collaborates with communities to restore their “place‐embodied” narrative. She contributes to building new research pathways within academia with criteria for inclusivity, data transparency and epistemological flexibility. As a teacher, Arina applies theories and methodologies from environmental humanities, biosemiotics, science and indigenous ecology to discuss tensions between Western science and non-Western knowledge systems that exemplify the traditional cultural practices. Arina Melkozernova was recently named the recipient of the 2021 Future Steward Excellence Award from the National Digital Stewardship Alliance in recognition of her work in partnership with several Indigenous communities. Arina participated in the collaborative digital archiving project “Making History Accessible” with the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Heritage Department. She is currently involved in a partnership with the MOWA Choctaw Tribal Band of Alabama about documenting their traditional foodways. She had participated in the Emerge festival in 2011 (Artists + Scientists Redesign the Future event (the Seeing Beyond Ourselves workshop) in collaboration with the School of Sustainability & School of Art).

Appreciate

Credits:

Sara Aly El Sayed