Feast For the Future | Promoting healthy eating and culturally informed nutrition

Feast For the Future |

Promoting healthy eating and culturally informed nutrition

A Feast for the Future participant examines a green pepper. (Photo courtesy of the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health)

Healthy eating grounded in indigenous traditions offers a key strategy to address American Indian and Alaska Native diabetes and obesity.

In a long-standing partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, several Native communities in the Southwest have developed, implemented, and evaluated activities that promote healthy eating and culturally informed nutrition. Collectively known as Feast for the Future (FFF), the activities include school-based, community, and family gardens; a traditional foodways education program for youth; and farmers' markets and workshops.

A free online toolkit is available to help communities customize the FFF program components to match their own needs. Toolkit users will have access to resources such as interactive guides and a fall/spring curriculum for students.

Notably, FFF is featured in a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporthighlighting the significance of traditional foods in tribal communities.