Sankofa Series: From Farm to Winter Table with Neftalí Durán

Neftalí Durán was born in Oaxaca, Mexico to a Mixteco family of cooks, healers, and campesinos. He is a a chef, advocate, educator, and organizer, working toward an equitable food system. He is the co-founder of I-Collective, an autonomous group of Indigenous chefs, activists, herbalists, seed, and knowledge keepers, who strives to open a dialogue and create a new narrative that highlights not only historical Indigenous contributions, but also promotes their community’s resilience and innovations in gastronomy, agriculture, the arts, and society at large.

Duran’s work is informed by his own experience as an indigenous and formerly undocumented migrant worker and 20 years of experience in the restaurant and food industry as chef, baker, and small business owner. He also educates communities around indigenous culinary traditions, the effects of migration on people and food, and the environment.

He is a Salzburg Global Fellow, and his writing and culinary projects have been featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian Museum of Merican History, the Native American Culinary Association, Food52.com, The Cooking Channel, and as a signature pitmaster at the Cook ‘n Scribble Longhouse Food Revival series in upstate New York. Neftalí’s work is grounded in the belief that access to food is a human right.

Register here.

Sankofa Series

Sankofa is a word from the Akan people of Ghana. It means “go back and fetch it” and reminds us of the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bring it into the present in order to ensure a strong future. The Sankofa Series is a monthly webinar series sharing the wisdom from past NESAWG conferences again and using it to help us move forward in creating meaningful change in the food system.

NESAWG has 26 years of presenting our It Takes A Region annual conferences. In the past we have had dynamic keynote speakers, panelists, and presenters who are working towards a fair food system. In alignment with one of NESAWG’s core values “A farm and food system for all”, presenters at the NESAWG Conferences are multi-racial and economically diverse, and span across food system movements, representing various sectors and community. Presenters have been youth leaders, elders and all those in between. The Sankofa Series will feature some of your favorites from the past, revisiting some of the pertinent information shared as we continue to seek solutions to issues within the food system and create positive change.