The following is an article produced by Verified News Network Collaborator Brittany Harlow.
TULSA, Okla. – Born in Bartlesville, chef and TV celebrity Pyet DeSpain returned to Indian Country on Thursday to speak at the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Summit.
The free summit, presented by Feeding America, Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, and Hunger Free Oklahoma, highlighted work being done to address Native food insecurity and the important role of food in Indigenous culture.
DeSpain, who is both Prairie Band Potawatomi and Mexican, spent her childhood on the Osage Reservation before moving to Kansas City.
She said the opportunity to speak at a food bank in northeast Oklahoma was “no coincidence” after experiencing food insecurity as a child and then later again as an adult.
“They taught me the value of community, compassion, and the importance of extending a hand when someone else needs it,” DeSpain said. “I am who I am because of the kindness and the generosity the food banks have shown to me throughout my life. And while I’m not in the food bank line today, I am forever grateful for the lessons they’ve taught me and the strength they gave my family during our toughest times.”
Chef Pyet: An Inspiration
DeSpain skyrocketed to global fame after winning the premiere season of Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” in 2022.
Though DeSpain has lived in Los Angeles for the last several years, she said she comes back to the heartland “all the time”.
“Home is always there,” DeSpain said. “And I’m always trying to make sure I stay connected to my roots, as we all should.”
Growing up with a single mother and three siblings, DeSpain said her mom had to swallow her pride and accept food from food banks to feed them all. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue her culinary dreams, DeSpain found herself homeless and again needing to turn to food banks for help.
Data provided at Thursday’s summit echoed her hardship: one of out every four tribal community members experiences food insecurity, the highest rate of insecurity of any racial demographic.
DeSpain said the hardest moments in her culinary journey came when she decided to lean deeper into her roots. But so did the best.
“I have something that’s burning inside of me that’s telling me, it’s not your time to leave this place yet,” DeSpain said. “Like, you need to stay here and you need to really see it through.”
Being taught that she, as Prairie Band Potawatomi, was a fire-keeper her whole life also helped. It is something she leaned on more than once, before and after her struggles in Los Angeles.
“Going through culinary school,” DeSpain said. “Although you’re there to learn about all these different cultures, if anybody knows anything about culinary school, the entire curriculum is based off of the French technique and the French infrastructure of the kitchen. And so there’s no room for indigeneity in that kitchen. The kitchen that they built was not for me. And so when I come in and I start reading these American regional textbooks, guess who was especially missing from that conversation? Indigenous people.”
DeSpain said she has used that lack of representation to fuel her career, to educate people about who Indigenous people are and what they stand for.
Even when working in the basement level of Next Level Chef with food scraps.
“They were like, “Oh, this place sucks. Oh my gosh. Like, ugh,” DeSpain recalled. “And I was like, “Shh, this is luxury. You don’t know what my apartment looks like. I don’t even have a stove sweetheart. I have a little mini bake oven and a stove top burner. And that’s what I had to make magic with. Because of my humble upbringings, I had the wits of being able to utilize what I had in the basement to make amazing things.”
DeSpain said she went on the show saying she wanted to be the voice of Indigenous people in the culinary world. Now, as an advocate for Indigenous food sovereignty, Indigenous foodways, and Indigenous food knowledge, she has catapulted beyond even that.
“I hope it inspires you all to show up for yourselves authentically into the roles that you are in, whatever walk of nature and path you are from,” DeSpain said. “And you get to show up for yourself and represent all the things that really, really mean a lot to you. And to keep striving and never give up on your dreams. It doesn’t matter where you are in your chapter of your life. It doesn’t matter how hard life gets. Continue to persevere and put one foot in front of the other because you never know where it’s gonna lead you.”
A Buffet of Information
Thursday’s Indigenous Food Sovereignty Summit had a variety of educational opportunities, such as round table discussions and an Indigenous Food Sovereignty panel that included Chief Craig Harper of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
Following DeSpain’s keynote speech, Feeding America’s Director of Native and Tribal Partnerships Mark Ford discussed groundbreaking research they conducted across the United States.
His presentation included the fact that several states have just one food bank that serves tribal communities, as well as the need to invest in tribal communities beyond traditional food banking.
“Sourcing Indigenous foods is very expensive,” Ford said. “We don’t have a lot of food producers that produce enough food to be distributed in large quantities. The largest Indigenous food producer in this country is NAPI, which is Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. The Navajo Nation owns it. I think it’s 11 miles of farmland that they have. And they grow a huge amount of produce. But most other tribes do not have that capability, so buying enough Indigenous produced food is very difficult to do and source and it’s expensive. But we want to pay top dollar because we believe in investing in those communities.”
Ford is both Chiricahua Apache and Tewa/Tiwa (Pueblo). He said his work to ensure food security has been one of healing for his family, repairing the painful disconnection many other Indigenous people can relate to following colonization.
During his presentation, Ford explained his Chiricahua Apache ancestors were not permitted federal recognition following warfare between their tribe, led by the legendary Geronimo, and the U.S. Government. Instead, they were sent to live with other tribes after the war ended, of which they did not bond with and later left to become “urban Indians”.
Today, Ford helps support tribal communities across the country through Feeding America, providing equitable and cultural food access in innovative ways.
“We want to invest in our food sovereignty and food initiatives,” Ford said. “This coming together of this community. Those who are from tribal communities, those who work with organizations that address hunger and food insecurity. We’re bringing people together because we think it’s better to do things in partnership with each other rather than solitary. I’ve had the privilege of having gone to so many tribes and reservations during my time at Feeding America and seeing beautiful things happening in these communities. Beautiful initiatives where people are being fed and food is being grown.”
Ford said feeding communities as opposed to feeding individuals in tribal communities is also key.
Other insights from their research included the identification of community needs such as addressing racism and mistrust resulting from historic harmful and weaponized food distribution, allies being more present in their communities and more opportunity for respectful listening and engagement.