Food Shift
Back to the Future? In an era of chronic drought, thousand-year-old desert crops could become the new sustainable dinner...
Dear Friends,
In drought-stricken California, where much of our nation’s food is grown, the question of how to keep irrigating those thirsty crops gets more complicated with each passing —and increasingly arid—year. This week’s feature story, “Food Shift,” by Christopher D. Cook, was first published in our pages in 2015, and its premise is even more relevant today. By blending thousand-year-old desert crop varieties with water-saving farming techniques inherited from Moorish Spain, Africa, and Indigenous North America, a few forward-thinking farmers are demonstrating how we might sustain ourselves in an era of chronic drought and escalating climate crises. It’s a thought-provoking read that I hope you’ll enjoy.
We also have a new audio version of this story, narrated by Mitch Greenberg. As with all of our podcasts, you can listen or download it directly from our site, or on popular streaming services like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
We’ll continue to add to our Fall issue on “Native American Craft: The Southwest" through mid-November. Each Friday, we’ll release a feature story, short article, mini-documentary, photo essay, or podcast. While most offerings will be related to some aspect of our theme, we also try to present a few stories on other topics each quarter so that there's something for everyone. So please, stay tuned.
In the meantime, I hope you'll always find something intriguing to read, watch, or listen to within our pages—currently free of charge, and free of ads. We welcome your thoughts via email, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for donating to our cause when you can, and for being such a loyal part of the Craftsmanship community.
Sincerely,
Todd Oppenheimer
Editor & Publisher, Craftsmanship Quarterly
Native American Craft: The Southwest
In our first issue on Native American craft, which we hope will be joined by others in the coming years, we look at the unusually rich and varied craft traditions of some of the Southwest’s Indian tribes. These communities rarely let outsiders see much of their cultural practices, but thanks to the tireless work of a few New Mexico writers and others, who have spent years developing relationships with members of the region’s tribes, we can offer you a glimpse into the work of some remarkable Indigenous artists and artisans.
Link to interview with Amy Juan, who is pictured in the photo from TOCA:
https://open.substack.com/pub/theborderchronicle/p/under-occupation-a-discussion-with?r=57b12&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post