(By Christina Stucker-Gassi, Healthy Food & Farms Program Manager & Sidney Fellows, Program Specialist) The purpose of this project is to support the rich and complex relationships between the native plant movement and Indigenous knowledge-ways. Various tribal communities today are adapting and strengthening cultural practices that involve native flora. These practices have historically, and continue to be, impeded by colonial dispossession which has created an issue of tribal access to the native flora that is traditionally used for food, ceremony, and various other cultural practices. Often, traditional food/medicine harvesting areas are hard to access, due to practices such as land privatization and industrialization, in addition to being located off of Indigenous reservations. Environmental degradation through conventional agriculture, industrial contamination, and climate change are among the factors that tribal communities face as they adapt and strengthen their ancestral human-plant interactions.  Continue reading

Photo: Magic Mana corn ready to be shelled, or removed from the cob (By Christina Stucker-Gassi, NCAP, and IORC Agriculture & Food Team) Food access is a cornerstone social justice issue of our lifetime. In 2020 organizers with the Idaho Organization of Resource Councils (IORC), Irene Ruiz and Samantha Guerrero, helped create the Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance (IIRA) to bring emergency aid to the Idaho farm worker and immigrant community. These communities were left without access to resources like funds, social services, and information due to lack of translated materials when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Idaho. Many living in food apartheids couldn’t access nutritious food despite being a critical member of the food production system. Under IIRA, Project Milpa was created to source & grow non genetically modified, organic, and culturally relevant food to feed Idaho’s Latinx community, most of whom are of Mexican descent and have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Continue reading

(By Rosanne Wolf, NCAP Board President) With immense gratitude as well as sadness, the NCAP Board of Directors bids farewell to Co-Directors Ashley Chesser and Dominica Navarro Martinez. Both have been pursued to work for wonderful organizations in the environmental field. Dominica’s last day was March 31, 2022 and Ashley will work through early summer. They have been working closely with the Board to ensure a smooth and effective transition.  Continue reading

(By Tommy Diaz, Healthy People & Communities Program Manager) We were so excited in early March to host another one of our participatory talks (​​pláticas participativas) in Eastern Oregon and engage with the community. The event took place at the Iglesia Apostólica de la Fé where NCAP hosted community members and partners. The attendees participated in a two-hour discussion about pesticide safety, environmental protection and COVID-19 awareness. Continue reading

(By Ashley Chesser, NCAP Co-Director, in collaboration with Kimberly Gallagher of LearningHerbs.com) When is doing less the healthier choice? When it comes to maintaining your lawn! Letting common herbal weeds like dandelions grow in your lawn can support the health of people, pets and pollinators. Read on to see the benefits of herbal weeds in your lawn. Continue reading