Page 10 - the NOISE June 2013

from SouthweSt Seed to SouthweSt table:
the future of food Security through Native foodS
by Sarah iraNi
illuS mariScummiNgS
first there was organic, then there was non-GMO, and now everybody’s wild about local foods, but there’s an even more intimate step, bringing us closer to our re- gion and closer to the land. That step is na- tive foods: foods that are indigenous to the region, to the land we live on. Native foods take “eating local” to a whole new level.
Here in Arizona, we have a rich heritage of dryland agriculture, with tepary beans grown by the Tohono O’odham in the south, to rainbow corn grown by the Hopi in the north, and many other localized foods grown by a multitude of native peoples in between.
The sad truth is that Arizona imports about 98% of its food. This is not a recipe for food security. And even what has been locally grown comes almost completely from non-native seed stock — meaning, seeds that have been adapted to grow in other environments, very different from our unique Southwestern climate.
Although there are many native regional foods, such as mesquite pods and prickly pear fruit, the bulk of cultivated native foods are made up of corn, beans, and squash, otherwise known as the Three Sisters. For generations, these crops, and other dryland plants such as chilies and sunflowers, have been adapted to our region’s heat, aridity, and alkaline desert soil. Eating local is all good and well, but think for a minute: is let- tuce and radish native to our region? That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with eat- ing delicate leafy greens grown in our mod- erate winters, but it’s good to be aware of the extra nutritional power that comes from growing the foods that are actually meant to grow on our land. This is the power of native foods.
Among the greatest supporters of foods native to our region are Bill McDorman and Belle Starr, Executive and Deputy Directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH (NativeSeeds.org). A husband/wife team, together they have been integral in the local seed-saving com- munity. First creating and running the much beloved seed company Seeds Trust out of Cornville, they sold that business in 2011 in order to head up Native Seeds/SEARCH (SEARCH is an acronym for Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resources Clearing House). Mr. McDorman was on the orga- nization’s board, and when leadership got shaky, he decided to step up, bringing with him his combination of managerial skills, his vast social and professional network, and his admired ability for passionate public speak- ing. He has been Executive Director since March 2011.
The story has it that NS/S was born when, over 25 years ago, founders Gary Nabhan and Mahina Drees were working with To- hono O’odham elders to establish communi- ty gardens, and, upon presenting the elders with broccoli and radish seeds, were struck by the apt and obvious response: “What we are really looking for are the seeds for the foods our grandparents used to grow.” And from that telling moment, new purpose was established.
Some of the seeds that can be purchased from the NS/S website shop are: Chimayo melons, chiltepin peppers, Apache red corn, Aztec white beans, marbled amaranth, and sacaton aboriginal cotton, to name a few. There are literally hundreds of seed varieties to choose from. It’s worth a browse for any dryland farmer!
Now, Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S), heads
up a nationwide movement of organiza- tions spearheading not only the slow and local food movements, but the native foods moments. The main mission of NS/S is to collect, preserve, and distribute seeds of edible and utilitarian plants of the dryland Southwestern region. They run a seed bank, a retail store, Seed School, and various other programs to help further this vast and es- sential mission. Seed School was an inde- pendent creation of Mr. McDorman and Ms. Starr, inaugurated back when they were still running Seeds Trust, but they have brought the Seed School structure and curriculum into NS/S, with much success. Seed School is an intensive, hands-on program, teaching students all about seed saving, seed genet- ics, and how to manage a seed bank or seed library. Though it does not focus specifically on native seeds, people with this kind of knowledge are essential to any community wishing to have its own food security.
“Every region must have their own seed security if they’re going to have any secu- rity,” states Mr. McDorman. “You don’t have a sustainable food system unless you have access to your seeds.” And in this case, not just any seeds, but truly native seeds from our unique and challenging desert ecosys- tem. “Everybody’s gonna have to do it their own way,” Mr. McDorman explains, referring to similar localized organizations through- out the country, “but we’re a nonprofit that’s here to help. We need this everywhere.”
Though our regional climate is challenging, to say the least, what with high summer tem- peratures, searing sun, and poor soils, there is a blessing to what our local difficulties rep- resent: our native dryland agriculture can
help other farmers worldwide who are currently facing the harsh realities of cli- mate change. “We’re starting to incorporate the idea of climate change into our conser- vation work,” states Chris Schmidt of NS/S. “I think it’s gonna yield some dividends as we continue discovering which crops are more adaptable, which have the most nutritional diversity, and which are more productive un- der low-input conditions.”
There are many factors involved in grow- ing native foods, including cultivation and harvest, market distribution, and even the chefs learning how to prepare what are sometimes unusual foods to our modern palate. But it all starts with the seeds. Ms. Starr responds: “If we’re schlepping our seeds from 1000 miles away, it’s not sustainable, and those seeds are not regionally adapt- ed.” What are some examples of regionally adapted foods, and why is this so important?
Melissa Cruz, an archaeology and anthro- pology specialist on the staff of NS/S, ex- plains: “Traditional varieties are more effi- cient about how they use nutrients in the soil and put them towards production of the grain, versus all the biomass and leaves and things. In nutrient deficient environments, and even under water stress, traditional va- rieties will still produce just as much grain, they’ll just put less energy into creating leaves. Since they are better at getting nu- trients from the soil, the food will have more nutrients inside of it.”
A recent two-year grant from the USDA has enabled NS/S to bring back the South- west’s heirloom grains. They have focused on Chapalote corn, the oldest strain grown in Arizona, and White Sonora wheat, which,
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