Current colonizer government methods of nutrition are insufficient to solve the health crisis – instead, we should move towards methods of indigenous knowledge of nutrition and agriculture

Milburn 04 (Michael P., "Indigenous nutrition: using traditional food knowledge to solve contemporary health problems." The American Indian Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 3-4, summer-fall 2004, pp. 411+. Accessed via Gale Literature Resource Center on the University of Michigan Library System, DOA: 6/27/24)//LFS – LMH

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Native American food pyramid simply takes the standard food pyramid and adds a few Native foods such as wild rice and wild game, while maintaining the milk and dairy group and a base of bread and cereals. These government models would fall into the camp of not making much difference in the end. (64) Oglala Sioux nutritionist Kibbe McGaa Conti has thrown out government nutrition policy and its associated biases and started from a more appropriate symbol, the sacred Medicine Wheel symbolizing the four directions. In the west of the Sacred Circle Model is placed water and other healthy drinks; in the north is placed lean meats such as the buffalo; in the east are berries, fruits, and vegetables; and finally in the south are corn, beans, potatoes, and squash. The Sacred Circle Model of Native Nutrition is easier to use than the standard food pyramid, says Conti: "More importantly, it's the first and only culturally-specific nutrition curriculum for Native Americans. And it's a way for us to honor our ancestors as we return to eating the traditional foods that kept them--and can keep us--healthy." (65) There is a growing recognition of the need to change current dietary patterns and of the value of traditional foodways. The Center for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, based at McGill University in Montreal, is a research and education resource for Indigenous Peoples created by Canada's Aboriginal Leaders to support traditional nutrition and study the safety of traditional foods, which often have been contaminated by chemical toxins. (66) In the United States community-based traditional nutrition projects and regional and national conferences are focused on the problem of diet-related disease and the need to regain traditional foodways. The winds of change have begun to blow.