Rooted: Food Sovereignty as Medicine

This course focuses on health and well-being from an Indigenous lens and uses medicine wheel framework to explore how our food is part of a sacred circle which allows us to acknowledge relational accountability and address how the revitalization and reclamation of our food systems can help repair the circle and help restore all aspects of wellness for ourselves, our communities, and our planet. It is part of a non-sequential series that examines historical injustices responsible for the complex and inequitable food systems we experience today, from an Indigenous lens and critical analyses. The course materials and structure honors grassroots efforts (both Indigenous and Western, and collaborations between) to bring control over food production, distribution, and restore access to the peoples most impacted. Discussions will include critical reflection of historical events and the current debates around food, agricultural systems and human rights in a local and global context, with an emphasis on social movements aimed at food justice and food security locally and throughout the United States. Topics will include human rights, equity, food deserts, food scarcity, colonization and decolonization, traditional and healthy foods, Tribal food sovereignty, local food production, and activism. The goal of this course is to create a foundation of knowledge to support further academic work and civic engagement in the food sovereignty/food justice movements.