The Texas Indigenous Food Project
Mission Statement
Celebrate Indigenous Foods of Texas and the Americas
Who We Are
The Texas Indigenous Food Project is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation.
–We are a group of friends, chefs, food scholars, activists, business leaders, and foodies dedicated to sharing, discovering, and celebrating the native foods of the First Peoples of Texas and the Americas.
We shine a light on the crisis of food insecurity and resulting health inequities in our communities.
We honor the agency of women and LGBTQ+ ancestors, who history shows us were the creators of the culinary techniques, practices, and flavors that nourish us and brighten our lives today.
We recognize cooking as a powerful cultural practice that throughout our history has:
- strengthened our resilience in the face of colonizaation and attempted erasure;
- sustained our collective historical memory;
- affirmed our identity
- kept our communities strong
- nurtured our ethical connections to Mother Earth
- fostered reconciliation and peace
–The Native foodways of Texas and the Americas
offer paths and practices that
heal all,
nurture all,
and bind all:
every tree, mountain, river, human, animal, being
who shares Earth as our common, living home.
Board of Directors
Patricia S. Castillo, L.M.S.W.
Virginia Diaz-Laughlin
Adán Medrano
Mario Montaño, PhD
Christine Ortega
Florencia Velasco Fortner
Program
The Texas Indigenous Food Project promotes the understanding of Texas native food history and culture, so that by recapturing ancestral knowledge, communities in Texas and throughout the Americas will be better grounded in solidarity and sustainability and will heighten their enjoyment of good food and good health.
Activities we undertake:
- Produce and distribute documentaries, television programs, podcasts and other digital media.
- Produce and distribute written materials.
- Organize seminars and public conferences.
- Promote academic research.
- Promote cooking laboratories.
- Organize indigenous and contemporary dining experiences.
- Organize indigenous and contemporary cultural and educational events and experiences.