The Children’s Healthy Living Food Systems Training Program (CHL FST) trainees
(Christina Young, Hannah Shai, Pauline McFall, Jennifer Galbreath, and Kristi
Hammond) and Dr. Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla (CHL FST lead) recently attended
the Seventh Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition: Cultivating Seeds of Joy
and Justice that took place in Prior Lake, Minnesota from September 14-16th , 2025.
The conference brought together community members, leaders, and researchers who
work with Indigenous communities to promote Indigenous food sovereignty and
nutritional health. An Indigenous graphic recorder synthesized and captured in art form
various highlights from keynote speeches, PechaKucha talks, and breakout sessions.
conference held at the Mystic Lake Center in Prior Lake, Minnesota
Each of the trainees and Dr. Revilla showcased research they have been involved in
during the poster session. Christina and Dr. Revilla both presented their work with
Native Hawaiian mothers (on breastfeeding support systems and engagement in
nutrition research, respectively). Hannah shared findings on beverage consumption
among children in the Northern Mariana Islands. Pauline presented qualitative work with
caregivers of young children in American Samoa on attitudes and perceptions toward
child diet quality and behaviors. Jennifer presented a scoping review of household food
security assessment and measurement in the US-Affiliated Pacific. Kristi highlighted
preliminary findings related to realized food access and child diet quality in Guam.
discussion
As a collective, the trainees participated in a panel discussion, facilitated by Dr. Revilla,
entitled Training the Next Generation of Innovators in the US-Affiliated Pacific: The
Children’s Healthy Living Food System Training Program. During this well-attended
session, the trainees shared the impacts CHL FST has had on them as students,
professionals, and community members working in Pacific food systems.
A highlight of the conference included an Indigenous chef expo, which featured over a
dozen culinary teams from across Turtle Island (North America) presenting regional
Indigenous cuisine. Some of the trainee favorites included a candy cap mushroom
dessert (Chef Joseph Shawana; Odawa), 48-hour slow-cooked braised bison (Chef
Crystal Wahpepah; Kickapoo Nation), and bison meatballs with sweet potatoes, stinging
nettles, lamb’s quarter, and spruce tip salt pesto over a wild mixed berry sauce (Chef
Flora Deacon; Deg Hit’an Athabascan).
CHL FST would like to thank CHL and the conference organizers including the
University of Minnesota Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute led by Dr. Mindy Kurzer
for the gracious support of CHL trainee attendance at this nourishing and uplifting
conference. CHL FST would also like to extend gratitude to the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community for their warm welcome onto the land they steward.
A detailed conference schedule with abstracts is available in the 2025 Native American
Nutrition Conference Program.