With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we’ve been thinking about the many ways this holiday bolsters colonial narratives, as well as opportunities to push back on them. This episode spotlights individual people, dishes and ingredients that are decolonizing our food system. We’re looking at our Thanksgiving plates and beyond to explore efforts to reclaim food sovereignty in Native American culture, the African diaspora, and Puerto Rico. 

We start by revisiting the Thanksgiving myth and investigating the forces that continue to shape Native Americans’ food access and culinary legacy. Then we’ll share a recipe that brings Geechee culture to the Thanksgiving table. We track the history of a West African rice strain that is reintroducing a rich heritage as well as environmental resilience to American soil. And finally we learn about how one food justice collective is working to bring power and healing to Puerto Rico. 

Further Reading and Listening:

Check out Sean Sherman and his platform,  The Sioux Chef – Revitalizing Native American Cuisine / Re-Identifying North American Cuisine

Subscribe to Jupiter’s Almanac wherever you get your podcasts. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

Find Matthew Raiford’s Thanksgiving recipe for oyster dressing here.

Learn more about Dr. Anna McClung and the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center here. 

Find out more about Glenn Roberts and Anson Mills here. 

Check out Luz Cruz and Cuir Kitchen Brigade here. Here’s an NPR article on the history of Puerto Rican debt, and here’s a 2019 study on the effects of the Jones Act

Keep Meat and Three on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. 

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