Elena Terry is the Executive Chef/Founder of Wild Bearies, a non-profit community outreach catering organization that supports participants to overcome alcohol and other drug abuse issues or emotional traumas. One of her goals has been to develop mentorship programs that help build stronger communities within the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement. Developing the Native American Food Sovereignty Association’s Food and Culinary mentorship program in 2020, Elena emphasizes the healing nature of working with traditional indigenous ingredients while building community. Tune in to learn more about:
- Wild Bearies and their mission to heal through real food and bringing communities together;
- The power of how ancestral knowledge of food and animals is being passed from one generation to the next;
- The cooperation with the Indigenous Seed Savers Network as well as Dream of Wild Health in continuing the stewardship of ancestral seeds;
- The story of the bean seed that came back to the tribe;
- The memories of her great-grandmother cooking over on open fire and the stories that were shared;
- Learning how to butcher from her own grandmother;
- What decolonized food is;
- Elena’s philosophy that while food is medicine, the real medicine is in the creation and the relationships we build around food.
To learn more about Elena and her work go to https://wildbearies.org.