Happy October friends and happy almost Indigenous People’s Day!! What better way to celebrate than to talk about American Indian foods! You know we LOVE all things food around here, and there is nothing I love more than Native food!! From the nostalgia of making and eating foods with my family to heading to my favorite reservation flea market. Native food is one way I always stay connected to my culture no matter where I live.
Today I’ll be sharing an American Indian Foods (AIF) Native Food Connection box I received after participating in the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) Southwest Virtual Summit last month. It’s filled with 4 native made/produced foods that I’m excited to use in my daily cooking and I’m sure you will love them too!
I first heard of IAC, through a Facebook event earlier this year showcasing an online summit around Indigenous foods. Throughout the summit I learned so much and it was amazing to see all these Native food produces/makers, chefs, and gardeners all come together. My favorite part was learning about Native foods that I could buy online. I immediately placed orders for Native made Séka Hills olive oil and Ziibimijwang maple sugar. So, when IAC asked me to do a food demonstration at their virtual Southwest Summit, I of course said YES!!
For the virtual Southwest summit, I was asked to demonstrate two of my recipes for Fancy Navajo Blue Corn Pumpkin Pancakes and Fancy Navajo Blue Corn Cookies. It was so much fun and I was able to incorporate Native produced items in my recipes that I learned about through IAC such as Bow & Arrow Brand Blue Cornmeal and Dynamite Hill Farms Maple Syrup. If you were able to catch both of those online, thank you!! However, if you missed you can watch the Blue Corn Pumpkin Pancake demonstration on my YouTube channel here.
If some of you may remember. One of my goals this year was to incorporate and use more indigenous foods in my daily cooking and recipe creation. So, I was so happy when IAC and their American Indian Food Program reached out to me. They are doing some incredible work to provide resources and assistance to Native American and Alaskan Native agribusiness owners and entrepreneurs seeking new markets or export expansion. One of my favorite programs is their Native Food Connection program which expands public awareness of Native food producers across the United States.
If I were to ask you to name 5 native food producers and where to buy their products, could you?
Prior to this year, I probably could only name a few and most were probably found at local flea markets near home on the reservation. However, with the pandemic and local markets being shut down. How do you find access and resources to Native owned food businesses?
The IAC- American Indian Foods Program creates domestic market opportunities for Native American and Alaskan Native agribusiness! One way they do this is through their ‘Made/Produced by American Indians’ Trademark. The Intertribal Agriculture Council’s trademark certifies a product is 100% made or produced by a federally recognized Tribal entity or individual. How awesome is that?! They also have a producer directory where you can find Native made/produced in your area. I’ll link it here if you want to check it out here! I can’t wait to try more Native made/produced foods.
So now onto the fun part…
What was inside my Native Food Connection box???
- Sakara Botanicals Healing Tea – a blend of chamomile (Bend), red clover (Bend), and elderberries (Deschutes River). Yum!! Aesthetically it’s such a pretty looking tea and I can’t wait to try it!
- Ute Bison Pepper Steak Strips – I love beef jerky and I can’t wait to try bison jerky. I’ve never had it before.
- Séka Hills Extra Virgin California Olive Oil – I’ve tried their Arbequina olive oil before and it is now a staple in my pantry!!!
- Red Feathers Red Chile Powder – I grew up in New Mexico so red chile is a must! I can’t wait to make red chile stew with this
I absolutely love everything and I cannot wait to incorporate all of these ingredients into my daily cooking. Have you tried any of these before? If so let me know which ones?
A huge thank you to American Indian Foods (AIF) for sponsoring this post. Make sure to check out their websites and social media. Also, please reach out to them for more information about purchasing your own Native Food Connection box!
Website: https://www.indianagfoods.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanIndianFoods
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanindianfoods/
Email: aif@indianag.org
And if you aren’t already, make sure to follow me on my social media channels:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFancyNavajoblog/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCKCtfv3DmUxWezPiUyp8nw
Blog: https://thefancynavajo.com/
Want to learn how to make blue cornmeal cookies? Then head here https://thefancynavajo.com/2020/02/12/fancy-navajo-blue-corn-cookies/
Hi is there a way (link) to buy the box? Or was that just for the conference? I briefly looked at the site too. Will check them out more later. Always ready to buy more Native products!!!
I LOVE all of your emails/posts. You do great work and it’s so much fun trying your recipes etc.
Thank you so much!