What if I were to tell you that some American children are eating salmon and bison in their cafeterias? Some trays are filled with poi or blue corn. No, these aren’t the private schools of the extremely wealthy. These are schools that have a primarily Native American population. Jenny Montague from the USDA Food and Nutrition Services and Jo Dawson, State Director of the Alaska Child Nutrition Program had insight into the menus of school districts across the country that have recently introduced the use of “traditional foods.”
First and foremost, what are “traditional foods”? Foods that traditionally have been prepared and consumed by an Indian tribe fall into this category. This consists of venison, amaranth, barley, bison, various types of seafood, and even seal and whale oils
. Montague set out to discuss and test the acceptability of traditional foods in schools in Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, and North Carolina. She feels that it is crucial to incorporate traditional foods into the menus of certain school districts in order to “learn about [cultures] through food.” Some techniques that she reported schools practicing were using traditional ingredients and recipes, growing traditional foods and using traditional languages, and substituting meal components with traditional equivalents. In Cherokee County School District in North Carolina, students were taste testing traditional foods, such as trout cake, growing traditional foods in their school garden, and using traditional names on their menus. For example, the August word of the month was shvng-ta, or apple. They found that the acceptability of these foods and of learning about this culture was improved through these practices.
Alaska’s push for “traditionalizing” the school menu was by far the most interesting to me. Alaskan schools are able to accept donated foods that fit the ‘traditional” parameter. In one district, a “Sockeye Salmon Donation Day” resulted in the procurement of 12,000 pounds of salmon that
were then flash-frozen to be served once a week in the schools and has since become a community tradition. The largest discovery of these programs were an analysis of the barriers to introducing the “traditional foods” elsewhere. Researchers found that their largest barrier was supply, which stemmed from a lack of knowledge of the donation allowances. In other words, people just didn’t know that they could donate meat and other foods to the schools. Once that issue is remedied, supply is expected to increase.
Traditional native foods are now being celebrated and found culturally significant by overarching organizations. Those who work for county and state schools systems may want to take another look at their menus before bidding to see if cultural foods could be added. The incorporation of these traditional foods into the menus of schools could spur more interest in these cultures and how to properly preserve their customs and way of life. This could potentially reduce cost and increase the efficiency of the food service system. By using locally grown and harvested foods, we are supplying our children with wholesome and educational habits to use in their futures.