Indians: food producers with natural philosophy (Part 1)

The approximately 3.5 – 4 million Indians living in North America constitute around 1 % of the population. Today they are a relatively well integrated minority that, after much suffering, has come to terms with the culture of their former conquerors but has nevertheless retained its own culture and traditions. The present day generation of Indians is self-confident, and they have founded successful businesses, not least in the food industry. In many cases, the original inhabitants of North America have retained close ties with nature, respect for all living creatures and traditional knowledge about food. This is what Karin Heinze discovered during her week-long travels round North America. Together with the Intertribal Agriculture Council IAC, she visited Indian projects in the north west of the USA devoted to fishing, meat processing, fruit production and cranberry growing. (Picture: Coquille’s cranberries are already being exported to Israel and Japan)
 The Intertribal Agriculture Council IAC was founded in 1987 with the aim of preserving, maintaining and developing Indian traditions in agriculture, fishing and food processing. Today the IAC is a valued point of contact for the Ministry of Agriculture, the authorities, trade and industry. There are, after all, more than 500 Indian tribes in the USA. Over 19 million ha of agricultural land are available in the Indian reservations for cropping and grazing, and they have fishing rights in waters that are well stocked with fish. In the north-west, the focus is on fish, fruit and cranberries; in the south-west it is on beans, spices and maize products; in the south-east you find citrus fruit and vegetables and in the north-east mussels and blueberries. There are also many other products like bison and buffalo meat, rice and wild rice, mushrooms, cosmetics and artisan gift articles. The annual turnover of goods in the Indian economy is estimated by the American Ministry of Agriculture to be in excess of 715 million euros. Nathan Notah, a Navajo from New Mexico, accompanied a small group of journalists for a week on visits to various Indian tribes and their businesses in Washington State and Oregon. (Picture: Journalists from France and Karin Heinze, Organic-Market.Info, visiting Indian food producers with Nathan Notah)

About 20 companies across the whole of America take part in the American Indian Food Program of the IAC. Nathan Notah from the Board of IAC is the director of the American Indian Food Program which, as well as advising and advertising firms on the IAC website, above all facilitates participation in international trade fairs in order to promote exports. Moreover, firms can use the logo “Made by American Indians”, a trade mark registered since 1995, on goods from Indian production and processing. Various products were presented at the German food fair ANUGA in Cologne and at the French specialist fair SIAL in Paris. Notah has already promoted Indian products at trade fairs in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. The success of his advertising is illustrated, for example, by the fourfold increase in turnover via exporting fish products to Japan in the spring of 2010 and exporting cranberries by the firm Coquille Cranberry to Israel to the value of 200,000 dollars. (Picture: Broken Arrow canned green asparagus and Yakama apples are products that carry the label “Made by American Indians”)

A number of IAC member firms are engaged in exporting. About 500 products under the trademark label are traded, and to use this label each company has to undergo an annual audit. The criteria include the stipulation that 51 % of a company belongs to the tribe and that 80 % of a product is manufactured by Indians. Every year, around $ 750,000 are spent on the international promotion programme – for example, to attend trade fairs.

As well as exporting, gastronomy, in particular gourmet restaurants, is a marketing channel for the small and medium-size companies in the regional wholesale and retail trade. “Many top chefs value the quality of the products and their special background story. Tradition and ethical values are today more important than ever,” Nathan Notah emphasizes. As Notah explains, of the current 21 member firms there are hardly any that don’t operate a natural food policy, and sustainability of cropping and processing is a hot topic. Two IAC member companies are certified organic (Cranberry Farm in Oregon and Navajo Agriculture Products NAPE (Apache) in New Mexico). The reason for this low number is partly the cost of certification and partly the fact that many Indians don’t see why they should have themselves certified organic: “For us, Mother Nature comes above everything else, and we treat her with the respect that is due to her. Because of our philosophy, we feel at one with nature and we don’t do anything to harm her,” is how Notah justifies such unwillingness to seek certification. (Picture: The firm Coquille Cranberry has been successful in expanding its export volume)

Here is a video-interview with Natha Notah: 



Thanks to new sales channels in Israel ($ 200,000) and Japan ($ 50,000) in 2010, Coquille Cranberries achieved a rapid rise in turnover. Cranberry cropping began ten years ago in the North Bend region, which is near the coast in south west Oregon. Today, there are three cranberry farms, two conventional and one organic, that together cover an area of a good 400 ha. Cranberries are an extensive, perennial crop that, according to information provided by farmer Chris Bussman, is given only a little fertilizer. “Fungicides are only used when needed. Less is more,” says Bussman. In 2009, a total of 272, 000 t of cranberries were harvested and marketed fresh, frozen or dried. One of the main customers is Oceanspray. The farms also work with, for example, Yakama Juice and CRaisins (dried fruit). (Picture: Harvesting and processing cranberries are costly activities)

In 1995, a new area of land for organic cropping of cranberries was created and, since 1998, it has been certified organic by the strict certification organization Oregon Tilth. The favourable climate means that cranberries thrive very well, and operator Bill Snyder says they have a particularly intense red colour. However, the organic harvest is only about half as big as that from the conventionally managed fields, although this is compensated by the higher price of organic cranberries. Duane Long from Kickich Organic Farm cultivates four hectares and works closely with Coquille Cranberries. “The organic farmers are doing better than the conventional farmers,” says Long. He gets about $ 2.50 a pound (ca. 0.45 kg) and, because demand is rising, he would like to expand his farm. (Picture: Bill Snyder is convinced that organic farming is the future)

The fertile Yakima Valley near Toppenish in Washington State is a traditional fruit growing region. The Yakama tribe, with 11,000 members one of the two biggest Indian communities in the USA, engages in growing and marketing apples, pears, cherries, peaches and various sorts of green asparagus (about 40 t/year). In the Yakama Indian reserves (total area approximately 400,000 ha) you see extensive fruit plantations that cover about 500 ha. The processing and marketing of the apple harvest is carried out together with the Yakima Fruit Company, a highly professional company that is also the biggest employer in the region. (Picture: Apple washing and waxing line)

The harvests are washed, graded, waxed, packed and then either exported to Mexico, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, England and Scandinavia or put onto the domestic market. The organic fruit is packed in a separate facility. Although in 2009 the demand for organic apples rose by 15 %, according to one of the top managers, many farmers are reverting to conventional production because of smaller harvests and the fact that they are not getting the prices they need to compensate for the higher input. He said, however, that integrated cropping with reduced use of pesticides was widespread. Depending on the harvest, the Yakama people market between two and three million18 kg boxes, and they are therefore among the most important farmers in the Yakima Valley. Prior to the apple season (7 varieties), they harvest cherries, peaches and pears. The aim is to produce more premium qualities to compensate for the fluctuations in the market price. (Picture: Professionally preparing and packing the apple harvest)

The social component of the business is interesting: The Yakama Nation Land Enterprise (Toppenish) is a charitable foundation whose main objective is buying back land that originally belonged to the Indians. They want to acquire territory so that they can practise agriculture on their land without reference to state regulations and develop the market as they think fit, in compliance with the promises made to the Indians in the treaties of 1859. To achieve this objective, a number of companies have been founded over the years: around 160,000 acres (65, 000 ha) of reservation land has already been acquired. Carroll Palmer (picture), the head of the Yakama Nation Land Enterprise, explained the successes of the organization: “The decisions of the tribal chiefs will be easier to apply by buying back land in future.” The money they earn is reinvested and goes into the community for social and health projects, infrastructure, cultural developments like running a museum, care of the elderly and supporting unemployed members of the tribe. On average, $ 15 million flow each year to the community from the turnover of companies belonging to the tribe. More effort is to be made in future regarding exports – two differently flavoured green asparagus pickles carry the IAC label “Made by American Indians”, and they are working on a marketing strategy. (Picture: Carroll Palmer)

Visitors to the restaurant Terrace Kitchen in Lake Oswego (near Portland in Oregon) can experience Indian haute cuisine first-hand. Star chef Fernando Divina and his wife Marlene have specialized in this ethnic cuisine. Both have Indian roots: she is Chippewa, Cree, Assiniboine and Norwegian; he has a Cherokee mother and a Philippine father. When they opened their first restaurant in 1990 and served menus using Indian recipes, there was a great deal of media response. A museum expressed interest in the unusual chef. This was the next stop for the Divinas, and it was here that a cookery and history book about Indian cuisine – “Foods of the Americas” - was compiled. The book was very well received and was awarded several prizes, among others the renowned James Beard Award. (Picture: Star chef Fernando Divina and his wife Marlene specialize in Indian cuisine and produced their Indian cookery book)

All of this was followed by numerous international invitations to cookery shows and Slow Food events, etc. A few years ago, the Divinas founded their Terrace Kitchen in Lake Oswego in the vicinity of Portland. Their high-end gastronomy in the wooded hills of Oregon offers a mix of Indian specialities and top-value ingredients. “We try to combine present day tastes with the traditional Indian background and ancient knowledge surrounding special foods,” says Fernando Divina. “We buy as much as possible from our region, and we use as many organic products as are available.” The Divinas work together with an organic farm in the region, and they collect some ingredients themselves, such as special mushrooms, Watapo wild onions or roots. They also support organic projects in the United States and in the Philippines.
(Picture: Marlene and Fernando Divina are committed to preserving Indian specialities)