Carly Griffith Hotvedt, executive director of Tribal policy think tank Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, says it’s not much better for Indigenous folks in the U.S.
“A lot of times you get left out,” Hotvedt tells TODAY.com. “That is what has largely happened in the last 200 years of our food systems development within the United States.”
Hotvedt points out that Indigenous people weren’t given any decision-making power when the United States was founded — and they still face legal challenges today in a judicial system that frequently circumvents Native law.
A 2017 NIH study found that from 2000 to 2010, 25% of American Indians and Alaska Natives were consistently food insecure — twice the rate of white Americans.
“The work that we do is for all 574 federally-recognized tribes in the United States, and we really respect all of those tribes’ food sovereignty desires,” Hotvedt says. “What we try to do is take a look at how we can be as inclusive as possible to create paths forward for each of these tribes to recognize their own food sovereignty destinies in a way that fits them best.”
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