This food sovereignty event brings the Indigenous past to the plate, fostering a deeper understanding of the rich culinary traditions that have sustained communities for generations. Learn about the traditional foodways of the Monacan people, sample Virginia’s culturally significant dishes, bring and share seeds, and participate in fun food activities from preparation and connection to explore the sacredness of food for healing and heritage.

This talk will share insights from three international collaborative projects that engaged Indigenous communities as active partners in addressing challenges related to climate change, food systems, and health. These projects include work with the Vedda communities in Sri Lanka and Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. A defining feature of these initiatives was the emphasis on identifying research problems prioritized by the communities themselves rather than imposing external research agendas. The talk will focus on catalyzing broader impacts by scaling up conceptual, methodological, and empirical insights from the community level to bridge local experiences with policy frameworks.