“IndigeNOW! Presents Indigenous Cuisine from Around the World” is an in-person annual international Indigenous culinary festival/trade show to showcase Indigenous chefs and Indigenous food producers from around the world and to promote buying Indigenous and hiring Indigenous in the culinary industry.

The time has arrived for an annual international Indigenous culinary showcase event that will serve as a trade show in the context of a contemporary, sophisticated Indigenous setting. Such an event will provide workshops, cooking demonstrations, tasting meals, panel discussions, book signings, media panels, employment opportunities and more.

Why This is Important
Indigenous diets have been wracked by the destruction of many Indigenous food sources and the imposition of colonial foodstuffs, often laden with sugar and calories and fats, such as American Indian fry bread, which is little more than flour and lard and has been criticized by numerous Indigenous chefs as well as tribal healthy departments and other health and wellness organizations. Indigenous chefs and food producers and tribal health departments in the United States and around the world are decolonizing Indigenous diets and restoring food sovereignty.

2021

• Zimbabwe Chef Mhlelusizo Ncube—Zoom presentation to Indigenous culinary students at Navajo Technical University, Crownpoint, New Mexico
• Freddie Bitsoie, then-Executive Chef Mitsitam Cafe, National Museum of the American Indian—Zoom presentation to virtual conference “Our Food Our Heritage, Our Future”, Zimbabwe

2022

• Zimbabwe Chef Mhlelusizo Ncube—in person visit to New Mexico
  • worked with Native American students at SIPI (Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute, a tribal college) to create a Zimbabwe corn dish that was served at the reception hosted by SIPI
  • meeting with the Zimbabwean community in NM
  • meeting with Native American chef Lois Ellen Frank
  • meeting with Acoma farmer and Seedkeeper Aaron Lowden
  • meeting with Kenya chef Ahmed Obo at his restaurant, Jambo, in Santa Fe
  • meeting with the directors of institutions in Santa Fe about possible joint projects with Zimbabwean counterparts
  • meeting with educators about possible educational exchanges with Zimbabwean and other international counterparts
  • reception and Zimbabwean cooking demonstration hosted by the Black Leadership Council of NM
  • live interview with the Voice of America Zimbabwe desk

2023 Plan – In-Person Events

• Zimbabwe Chef Mhlelusizo Ncube—in person visit to New Mexico
  • presentations, workshops and cooking demonstrations on Indigenous cuisine and reclaiming food sovereignty to Indigenous restaurateurs, chefs, food producers and culinary students in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation and beyond
  • promotion and marketing of Indigenous foods and cookbooks from the chef’s country
  • meet with economic development, tourism, and agricultural officials—tribal, city, county, state; foundations—regarding economic benefits that participation in IndigeNOW! can offer Indigenous chefs and food producers, tourism, etc
  • dinner for donors, prepared by the Indigenous chef and focusing on Indigenous foods and techniques with a representative from the embassy of Zimbabwe as a guest of honor
• Similar events are planned for the partner chefs in 2023-2024

2024 Plan – Continued Success
Building on the culinary events and collaborative organizational experience gained in years 1-3, IndigeNow!, its Indigenous advisory board, and investors will launch the first annual IndigeNOW!—an Indigenous culinary festival and trade show

• showcasing Indigenous chefs and Indigenous food producers from around the world
• promoting Buy Indigenous, Hire Indigenous in the culinary industry