Promoting Indigenous foodways education

YOU ARE ON NATIVE LAND

Our mission is to promote Indigenous foodways education and facilitate Indigenous food access.

We can be the answer to our ancestors’ prayers

North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS), founded by James Beard award winners The Sioux Chef, is dedicated to addressing the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways. We imagine a new North American food system that generates wealth and improves health in Native communities through food-related enterprises.

NĀTIFS has opened The Indigenous Food Lab in the Midtown Global Market on historic Lake Street in Minneapolis. The Indigenous Food Lab is a professional Indigenous kitchen and training center covering all aspects of food service; research and development; Indigenous food identification, gathering, cultivation, and preparation; and all components of starting and running a successful culinary business based around Native traditions and Indigenous foods.

Reclamation of ancestral education is a critical part of reversing the damage of colonialism and forced assimilation, and food is at the heart of this reclamation. NĀTIFS will drive sustainable economic empowerment and prosperity into tribal areas through a reimagined North American food system that also addresses the health impacts of injustice.

Indigenous food markets in the US 3% 3%
Indigenous food restaurants in the US 1% 1%
Indigenous land in the US 100% 100%

Now Open!

Indigenous Food Lab Market

Open Monday-Saturday, 10am – 6pm

Serving hot food:
Monday 11am-2pm
Tuesday-Saturday 10am – 6pm

Midtown Global Market,
920 E. Lake Street in Minneapolis.

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Vendors

INTRO

Indigenous Food Lab

We offer high-quality Indigenous foods and products to our community. We work to broaden access to Native-made goods and allow people to experience contemporary Indigenous offerings while empowering entrepreneurs to expand their markets.

LEARN

Why aren’t there more Native American restaurants?

When you think of North American cuisine, do Indigenous foods come to mind? Chef Sean Sherman serves up an essential history lesson that explains the absence of Native American culinary traditions across the continent, highlighting why revitalizing Indigenous education sits at the center of a better diet and healthier relationship with the planet.

Indigenous Food Lab

ROADMAP

PHASE 1

Indigenous LAB

Urban location
An Indigenous market and eatery
A Native foodways classroom
Research and development to create more curriculum and educational resources

N

NOW OPEN

PHASE 2

REGIONAL ACCESS

Creating regional Indigenous Food access

Work with tribal communities to help develop satellite Indigenous kitchens
Make Indigenous foods accessible to areas that need it most

PHASE 3

VISION

North American vision

Replicate Indigenous Food Lab Centers which creates regional counterpoints for development of Indigenous Food Access and Education
Develop Tribal Community Indigenous Kitchens everywhere

Indigenous Food Lab is a professional Indigenous kitchen and training center at the heart of our work establishing a new Indigenous food system that reintegrates Native Foods and Indigenous-focused Education into tribal communities across North America. We envision a future of developing and supporting multiple tribally operated kitchens bringing cultural and nutritional revitalization across North America!

The Indigenous Food Lab Market

A kitchen and retail space that offers high-quality Indigenous foods and products to our community. We work to broaden access to Native-made goods and allow people to experience contemporary Indigenous offerings while empowering entrepreneurs to expand their audience.

The IFL Market is a project of NĀTIFS and aims to promote Indigenous foodways education and facilitate Indigenous food access. We are deeply committed to our community locally, nationally, and globally.

The IFL Market in the Midtown Global Market is a first of its kind in Minneapolis; a pilot from NĀTIFS that will be replicated elsewhere throughout North America to support Indigenous food access and enterprise development in any interested region. The Indigenous Food Lab Market will further improve access to and educate about Native foods.