Quietly but steadily, the world is running out of farmland. Unless substantial changes are made, this depletion will create severe food shortages over the next 50 years (Farm Journal 2020). Addressing this issue requires building robust, sustainable food systems to ensure a stable food supply despite a growing global population. Central to this transformation is the recognition of Indigenous food systems grounded in traditional ecological knowledge. Unlike dominant, industrialized food systems, Indigenous food systems are holistic and rooted in principles of biodiversity, promoting sustainable land stewardship and ensuring food sovereignty. Thus, this paper argues that to address the dwindling efficacy of current food systems, there must be a paradigm shift toward food systems grounded in Indigenous ecological knowledge.
Publisher
Food-FueledNotes
Food-Fueled is an undergraduate research journal centered around food-related topics as an extension of American University’s RECIPES project. Funded by the National Science Foundation, RECIPES brings together over 40 researchers working at 15 institutions in order to advance the science needed to make our wasteful food system more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. Food-Fueled aims to publish works on food-related issues ranging from policy to food science, to personal narratives about the influence of food, nature, and agriculture.
This work was supported by NSF Grant # 2115405 SRS RN: Multiscale RECIPES (Resilient, Equitable, and Circular Innovations with Partnership and Education Synergies) for Sustainable Food Systems. Findings and conclusions reported within Food-Fueled are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
All journal content can be found at the following website: https://edspace.american.edu/foodfueled/
