CONFERENCE - Tuesday, May 2, 2006
UNDERUTILIZED PLANTS
Their Role in Preventive Medicine, Nutrition, and Sustainability NATIVE AMERICAN FOODS: Lost Traditions - Found Opportunities SUMMARY
In 1960, no member of the Tohono O’odham Nation had ever had Type 2 Diabetes. Today, more than half the population (including children as young as 8 years old) suffer from the disease, the highest rate in the world. The move away from the traditional diet that sustained the tribe for countless generations is the primary cause of the diabetes pandemic. Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA) has developed a comprehensive program to revitalize a sustainable food system that promotes community health, cultural revitalization and sustainable development. TOCA will share its theory of community change, goals and strategies for creating a healthy, vital and sustainable Tohono O’odham community. BIOGRAPHIES
TRISTAN READER, B.A., M.DIV.
Co-Director, Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) Tristan Reader is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA). Raised in Arizona, he was educated at Swarthmore College and Harvard University. He has worked as a community organizer in a variety of settings ranging from inner-city Boston to rural Iowa. In 1995, he moved to the Tohono O’odham Nation where he met Terrol Dew Johnson, TOCA’s other Co-Founder and Co-Director. Recognizing both the extreme need and tremendous assets of the Tohono O’odham community, they joined with several community members to develop programs aimed at creating a healthy, sustainable and culturally vital Tohono O’odham community. TOCA works in areas as diverse as cultural revitalization, food system redevelopment, a basketry marketing cooperative, youth/elder mentoring and health promotion. In 2002, he and Terrol Johnson were a recipient of the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World Award recognizing them as among the top community leadership teams in the U.S. KAREN BLAINE, B.A., M.S.W.
Health, Nutrition and Culture Coordinator
Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) Karen Blaine serves as the Health, Nutrition and Culture Coordinator for Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA). An enrolled member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, Karen coordinates TOCA’s work to promote the use of traditional foods in an effort to combat the pandemic rates of Type 2 Diabetes within the tribe. Before joining the TOCA staff, Karen received a Masters of Social Work degree from Arizona State University. |
