Young people reconnecting to ancestral food systems
For Mariah, the foods of her Indigenous ancestors are rich in creative possibilities.
Mariah Gladstone uses her Native American heritage to fuel her passion for cooking, reconnecting people to ancestral and Indigenous Peoples’ food systems. ©Kenneth Cook
Mariah Gladstone’s childhood laid the perfect foundations for the work she does these days, breathing new life into Indigenous Peoples’ food traditions through her online cooking show Indigikitchen. With her approach to sustainable diets, making use of pulses and other ancestral foods, Mariah became a Champion for the World Food Forum, a youth-led initiative launched by FAO and a global network of partners, to empower young people to transform agrifood systems for a better food future.
On the Blackfeet Reservation where Mariah was raised, in the wind-whipped ruggedness of the northwestern state of Montana, her dad and grandpa carved out a vegetable garden for her. “I was raised with a lot of fresh foods that came from the earth, and I had an understanding of seeds growing into food. That’s something that I feel really privileged to have grown up with.”
Meanwhile her mom gave her free a rein in the kitchen. “When I was very young, I started coming up with recipes in my head. My mom let me experiment with them. Even from when I was five or six years old, she’d make me document my entire recipe. I continued to do that.”
Learn more