WEBVTT 00:00:00.632 --> 00:00:05.244 I was living with this Indigenous family in India. 00:00:05.577 --> 00:00:08.046 One afternoon, 00:00:08.046 --> 00:00:10.464 the young son was eating 00:00:10.464 --> 00:00:15.608 and at the sight of me he quickly hid his curry behind his back. 00:00:16.877 --> 00:00:22.209 It took a lot of persuasion to get him to show me what he was eating. 00:00:22.209 --> 00:00:25.195 It turned out to be moth larvae, 00:00:25.528 --> 00:00:29.167 a traditional delicacy with the [?] Indigenous people. 00:00:29.507 --> 00:00:30.741 I cried, 00:00:30.741 --> 00:00:33.176 "Oh my God, you're eating these. 00:00:33.176 --> 00:00:35.901 I hope there's a little left for me." NOTE Paragraph 00:00:36.696 --> 00:00:39.507 I saw disbelief in the boy's eyes. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:39.507 --> 00:00:41.590 "You, eat these?" NOTE Paragraph 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:45.912 "I love these," I replied. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:45.912 --> 00:00:50.964 I could see he did not trust me one bit. 00:00:50.964 --> 00:00:55.269 How could an urban, educated woman like the same food as him? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:56.808 --> 00:01:01.437 Later, I broached the subject with his father, 00:01:01.437 --> 00:01:04.397 and it turned out to be a mighty touchy affair. 00:01:04.397 --> 00:01:07.092 He said things like, 00:01:07.092 --> 00:01:10.884 "Oh, only this son of mine likes to eat it. 00:01:10.884 --> 00:01:13.203 We tell him, 'Give it up. It's bad.' 00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:15.445 He doesn't listen, you see. 00:01:15.445 --> 00:01:18.563 We gave up eating all this ages back." NOTE Paragraph 00:01:19.581 --> 00:01:22.140 "Why?" I asked. 00:01:22.723 --> 00:01:27.362 "This is your traditional food. 00:01:27.362 --> 00:01:29.216 It is available in your environment, 00:01:29.216 --> 00:01:31.086 it is nutritious, 00:01:31.086 --> 00:01:33.104 and I can vouch for it, delicious. 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:36.421 Why is it wrong to eat it?" NOTE Paragraph 00:01:36.768 --> 00:01:39.686 The man fell silent. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:39.686 --> 00:01:41.354 I asked, 00:01:41.354 --> 00:01:45.298 "Have you been told that your food is bad, 00:01:45.298 --> 00:01:48.171 that to eat it is backward, 00:01:48.171 --> 00:01:50.218 not civilized?" NOTE Paragraph 00:01:51.070 --> 00:01:53.872 He nodded silently. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:55.332 --> 00:02:00.852 This was one of the many, many times in my work with Indigenous people in India 00:02:00.852 --> 00:02:04.055 that I witnessed shame around food, 00:02:04.055 --> 00:02:07.965 shame that the food you love to eat, 00:02:07.965 --> 00:02:11.269 the food that has been eaten for generations, 00:02:11.269 --> 00:02:13.536 is somehow inferior, 00:02:13.536 --> 00:02:16.246 even subhuman. 00:02:16.246 --> 00:02:21.413 And this shame is not limited to out-of-the-way icky foods 00:02:21.413 --> 00:02:24.188 like insects or rats, maybe, 00:02:24.188 --> 00:02:27.463 but extends to regular foods: 00:02:27.463 --> 00:02:29.331 white vegetables, 00:02:29.331 --> 00:02:31.617 mushrooms, flowers, 00:02:31.617 --> 00:02:36.061 basically anything that is foraged rather than cultivated. 00:02:37.410 --> 00:02:40.612 In Indigenous India, this shame is omnipresent. 00:02:41.179 --> 00:02:44.298 Anything can trigger it. 00:02:44.515 --> 00:02:48.325 One upper caste vegetarian schoolmaster gets appointed in a school. 00:02:49.410 --> 00:02:53.881 Within weeks, children are telling their parents it's yucky to eat crabs 00:02:53.881 --> 00:02:56.216 or sinful to eat meat. 00:02:56.425 --> 00:03:00.360 A government nutrition program serves fluffy white rice. 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:03.747 Now no one wants to eat red rice or millets. 00:03:04.198 --> 00:03:08.774 A nonprofit reaches this village with an ideal diet chart for pregnant women. 00:03:09.408 --> 00:03:10.826 There you go. 00:03:10.826 --> 00:03:13.245 All the expectant mothers are feeling sad 00:03:13.245 --> 00:03:15.997 that they cannot afford apples and crepes. 00:03:16.247 --> 00:03:20.225 And people just kind of forget the fruits that can be picked 00:03:20.225 --> 00:03:22.611 off the forest floor. 00:03:22.611 --> 00:03:25.245 Health workers, 00:03:25.245 --> 00:03:27.388 religious missionaries, 00:03:27.388 --> 00:03:29.740 random government employees, 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:32.927 and even their own educated children 00:03:32.927 --> 00:03:35.763 are literally shouting it down 00:03:35.763 --> 00:03:37.721 at the Indigenous people 00:03:37.721 --> 00:03:40.444 that their food is not good enough, 00:03:40.690 --> 00:03:42.342 not civilized enough. 00:03:43.695 --> 00:03:46.536 And so food keeps disappearing, 00:03:46.536 --> 00:03:48.939 a little bit at a time. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:49.405 --> 00:03:54.259 I am wondering if you all have ever considered 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:58.187 whether your communities would have a similar history around food. 00:03:58.904 --> 00:04:03.842 If you were to talk to your 90-year old grandmother, 00:04:03.842 --> 00:04:07.986 would she talk about foods that you have never seen or heard of? 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:12.039 Are you aware how much of your community's food 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.225 is no longer available to you? NOTE Paragraph 00:04:14.875 --> 00:04:16.734 Local experts tell me 00:04:16.734 --> 00:04:22.822 that the South African food economy is now entirely based on imported foods. 00:04:22.822 --> 00:04:25.909 Corn has become the staple, 00:04:25.909 --> 00:04:32.622 while the local sorghum, millets, bulbs and tubers are all gone. 00:04:32.622 --> 00:04:35.693 So are the wild legumes and vegetables, 00:04:35.693 --> 00:04:39.102 while people eat potatoes and onions, cabbages and carrots. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:40.136 --> 00:04:41.954 In my country, 00:04:41.954 --> 00:04:44.757 this loss of food is colossal. 00:04:45.307 --> 00:04:48.099 Modern India is stuck with rice, 00:04:48.099 --> 00:04:51.352 wheat and diabetes. 00:04:52.220 --> 00:04:57.132 And we have totally forgotten foods like huge varieties of tubers, 00:04:57.132 --> 00:05:00.784 tree saps, fish, shellfish, 00:05:01.284 --> 00:05:02.736 oil seeds, 00:05:02.736 --> 00:05:06.830 mollusks, mushrooms, insects, 00:05:07.548 --> 00:05:10.667 small, non-endangered animal meats, 00:05:10.667 --> 00:05:15.021 all of which used to be available right within our surroundings. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:16.122 --> 00:05:18.281 So where has this food gone? 00:05:18.765 --> 00:05:21.634 Why are our modern food baskets so narrow? 00:05:23.118 --> 00:05:29.047 We could talk about the complex political economic and ecological reasons, 00:05:29.047 --> 00:05:33.368 but I am here to talk about this more human phenomenon of shame, 00:05:33.951 --> 00:05:37.212 because shame is the crucial point 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:42.799 at which food actually disappears off your plate. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:43.651 --> 00:05:45.519 What does shame do? 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.745 Shame makes you feel small, 00:05:48.745 --> 00:05:50.230 sad, 00:05:50.230 --> 00:05:51.615 not worthy, 00:05:51.615 --> 00:05:53.168 subhuman. 00:05:53.734 --> 00:05:57.243 Shame creates a cognitive dissonance. 00:05:58.227 --> 00:06:00.963 It distorts food stories. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:00.963 --> 00:06:03.382 Let us take this example. 00:06:03.382 --> 00:06:09.516 How do you like to have a wonderful versatile staple 00:06:09.516 --> 00:06:12.646 that is available abundantly in your environment? 00:06:13.073 --> 00:06:15.667 All you have to do is gather it, 00:06:15.667 --> 00:06:17.935 dry it, store it, 00:06:17.935 --> 00:06:20.354 and you have it for your whole year 00:06:20.354 --> 00:06:24.282 to cook as many different kinds of dishes as you want with it? 00:06:24.948 --> 00:06:28.786 India had just such a food called mahua, 00:06:28.786 --> 00:06:30.937 this flower over there. 00:06:30.937 --> 00:06:35.699 And I have been researching this food for the past three years now. 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:38.335 It is known to be highly nutritious 00:06:38.335 --> 00:06:42.311 in Indigenous tradition and in scientific knowledge. 00:06:43.297 --> 00:06:46.181 For the Indigenous, 00:06:46.181 --> 00:06:50.419 it used to be a staple for four to six months a year. 00:06:50.419 --> 00:06:54.463 In many ways, it is very similar to your local ??, 00:06:54.713 --> 00:06:58.150 except that it is a flower, not a fruit. 00:06:58.150 --> 00:07:00.018 Where the forests are rich, 00:07:00.018 --> 00:07:03.712 people can still get enough to eat for the whole year 00:07:03.712 --> 00:07:06.214 and enough spare to sell. 00:07:06.514 --> 00:07:11.486 I found 35 different dishes with mahua 00:07:11.486 --> 00:07:14.395 that no one cooks anymore. 00:07:15.463 --> 00:07:19.917 This food is no longer even recognized as a food, 00:07:19.917 --> 00:07:22.392 but as raw material for liquor. 00:07:23.393 --> 00:07:26.696 You could be arrested for having it in your house. 00:07:26.696 --> 00:07:28.681 Reason? Shame. 00:07:29.465 --> 00:07:32.208 I talked to Indigenous people 00:07:32.208 --> 00:07:33.329 all over India 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:35.894 about why mahua is no longer eaten, 00:07:35.894 --> 00:07:39.064 and I got the exact same answer. 00:07:39.064 --> 00:07:42.508 "Oh, we used to eat it when we were dirt poor and starving. 00:07:42.508 --> 00:07:47.595 Why should we eat it now? We have rice, or wheat." 00:07:48.813 --> 00:07:51.131 And almost in the same breath, 00:07:51.131 --> 00:07:54.258 people also tell me how nutritious mahua is. 00:07:55.042 --> 00:07:59.263 There are always stories of elders who used to eat mahua. 00:07:59.263 --> 00:08:01.321 "This grandmother of ours, 00:08:01.321 --> 00:08:02.973 she had 10 children 00:08:02.973 --> 00:08:07.543 and still she used to work so hard, never tired, never sick." 00:08:08.762 --> 00:08:13.373 The exact same dual narrative every single where. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:14.690 --> 00:08:16.442 How come? 00:08:16.442 --> 00:08:18.911 How does the same food 00:08:18.911 --> 00:08:23.788 get to be seen as very nutritious and a poverty food 00:08:23.788 --> 00:08:27.108 almost in the same sentence. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:27.108 --> 00:08:29.693 Same goes for other forest foods. 00:08:29.693 --> 00:08:32.826 I have heard story after heartrending story 00:08:32.826 --> 00:08:35.456 of famine and starvation, 00:08:35.456 --> 00:08:40.261 of people surviving on trash foraged out of the forest 00:08:40.261 --> 00:08:42.836 because there was no food. 00:08:42.836 --> 00:08:45.355 If I dig a little deeper, 00:08:45.355 --> 00:08:49.108 it turns out the lack was not of food per se 00:08:49.108 --> 00:08:52.352 but of something respectable like rice. 00:08:52.352 --> 00:08:54.004 I asked them, 00:08:54.004 --> 00:08:59.141 "How did you learn that your so-called trash is edible? 00:08:59.141 --> 00:09:03.585 Who told you that certain bitter tubers can be sweetened 00:09:03.585 --> 00:09:06.605 by leaving them in a stream overnight? 00:09:07.339 --> 00:09:10.692 Or how to take the meat out of a snail shell? 00:09:10.692 --> 00:09:13.334 Or how to set a trap for a wild rat?" 00:09:14.085 --> 00:09:17.505 That is when they start scratching their heads, 00:09:17.505 --> 00:09:21.458 and they realize that they learned it from their own elders, 00:09:21.458 --> 00:09:26.120 that their ancestors had lived and thrived on these foods 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:29.807 for centuries before rice came their way, 00:09:29.807 --> 00:09:33.083 and were way healthier than their own generation. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:33.950 --> 00:09:37.037 So this is how food works, 00:09:37.037 --> 00:09:39.789 how shame works, 00:09:39.789 --> 00:09:43.731 making food and food traditions disappear 00:09:43.731 --> 00:09:45.700 from people's lives and memories 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:48.070 without their even realizing it. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:49.638 --> 00:09:52.581 So how do we undo this trend? 00:09:54.117 --> 00:09:59.922 How do we reclaim our beautiful and complex systems of natural food, 00:10:00.730 --> 00:10:05.818 food given to us lovingly by Mother Earth according to her own rhythm, 00:10:06.718 --> 00:10:10.779 food prepared by our foremothers with joy 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:15.040 and are eaten by our forefathers with gratitude, 00:10:15.040 --> 00:10:19.450 food that is healthy, local, natural, 00:10:19.450 --> 00:10:22.633 varied, delicious, 00:10:22.633 --> 00:10:25.237 not requiring cultivation, 00:10:25.741 --> 00:10:27.676 not damaging our ecology, 00:10:27.676 --> 00:10:29.700 not costing a thing? 00:10:30.084 --> 00:10:32.571 We all need this food, 00:10:32.571 --> 00:10:36.022 and I don't think I have to tell you why. 00:10:36.823 --> 00:10:40.450 I don't have to tell you about the global health crisis, 00:10:40.450 --> 00:10:41.719 climate change, water crisis, 00:10:41.719 --> 00:10:44.304 soil fatigue, 00:10:44.304 --> 00:10:48.374 collapsing agricultural systems, all that. 00:10:48.374 --> 00:10:52.752 But for me, equally important reasons why we need these foods 00:10:52.752 --> 00:10:55.338 are the deeply felt ones, 00:10:55.338 --> 00:10:58.641 because food is so many things, you see. 00:10:58.641 --> 00:11:02.601 Food is nourishment, comfort, 00:11:02.601 --> 00:11:05.187 creativity, community, 00:11:05.187 --> 00:11:09.024 pleasure, safety, identity 00:11:09.024 --> 00:11:11.065 and so much more. 00:11:11.065 --> 00:11:13.384 How we connect with our food 00:11:13.384 --> 00:11:15.452 defines so much in our lives. 00:11:15.936 --> 00:11:19.290 It defines how we connect with our bodies, 00:11:19.290 --> 00:11:22.383 because our bodies are ultimately food. 00:11:22.383 --> 00:11:26.036 It defines our basic sense of connection 00:11:26.036 --> 00:11:28.671 with our existence. 00:11:28.671 --> 00:11:31.731 We need these foods most today 00:11:31.731 --> 00:11:35.652 to be able to redefine our space as humans 00:11:35.652 --> 00:11:38.754 within the natural scheme of things. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:38.754 --> 00:11:42.098 And are we needing such a redefinition today? NOTE Paragraph 00:11:42.098 --> 00:11:48.738 For me, the only real answer is love, 00:11:48.738 --> 00:11:55.834 because love is the only thing that counters shame. 00:11:55.834 --> 00:12:00.762 And how do we bring more of this love into our connections with our food? 00:12:02.564 --> 00:12:11.144 For me, love is in a big way about the willingness to slow down, 00:12:11.144 --> 00:12:14.164 to take the time to feel, 00:12:14.164 --> 00:12:17.817 sense, listen, inquire. 00:12:17.817 --> 00:12:23.146 It could be listening to our own bodies. 00:12:23.146 --> 00:12:25.515 What do they need 00:12:25.515 --> 00:12:28.967 beneath our food habits, 00:12:28.967 --> 00:12:32.861 beliefs, and addictions? 00:12:32.861 --> 00:12:36.798 It could be taking time out to examine those beliefs. 00:12:37.516 --> 00:12:39.808 Where did they come from? 00:12:39.808 --> 00:12:43.044 It could be going back into our childhood. 00:12:43.044 --> 00:12:45.562 What foods did we love then, 00:12:45.562 --> 00:12:48.115 and what has changed? 00:12:48.115 --> 00:12:52.260 It could be spending a quiet evening 00:12:52.260 --> 00:12:54.277 with an elder 00:12:54.277 --> 00:12:56.114 listening to their food memories, 00:12:56.114 --> 00:12:59.082 maybe even helping them cook something they love 00:12:59.082 --> 00:13:01.291 and sharing a meal. 00:13:01.291 --> 00:13:05.473 Love could be about remembering 00:13:05.473 --> 00:13:09.332 that humanity is vast 00:13:09.332 --> 00:13:11.257 and food choices differ. 00:13:11.257 --> 00:13:14.510 It could be about showing respect and curiosity 00:13:14.510 --> 00:13:17.195 instead of censure 00:13:17.195 --> 00:13:20.655 when we see somebody enjoying a really unfamiliar food. 00:13:21.790 --> 00:13:26.845 Love could be taking the time to inquire, 00:13:26.845 --> 00:13:29.888 to dig up information, 00:13:29.888 --> 00:13:31.622 reach out for connections. 00:13:31.622 --> 00:13:35.509 It could even be a quiet walk in the ?? 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:40.020 to see if a certain plant speaks up to you. 00:13:40.254 --> 00:13:41.805 That happens. 00:13:41.805 --> 00:13:44.658 They speak to me all the time. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:45.242 --> 00:13:49.162 And most of all, 00:13:49.162 --> 00:13:50.303 love is to trust 00:13:50.303 --> 00:13:51.654 that these little exploratory steps 00:13:51.654 --> 00:13:56.025 have the potential to lead us to something larger, 00:13:56.025 --> 00:13:59.678 sometimes to really surprising answers. 00:13:59.678 --> 00:14:03.355 An Indigenous medicine woman once told me 00:14:03.355 --> 00:14:07.008 that love is to walk on Mother Earth 00:14:07.008 --> 00:14:10.934 as her most beloved child, 00:14:10.934 --> 00:14:15.239 to trust that she values an honest intention 00:14:15.239 --> 00:14:18.292 and knows how to guide our steps. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:18.292 --> 00:14:20.500 I hope I have inspired you 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:24.087 to start reconnecting with the food of your ancestors. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:24.087 --> 00:14:25.739 Thank you for listening. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:25.739 --> 00:14:27.141 (Applause)