Getting Grounded This Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving means so many different things to so many different people. If you’re in the United States, it’s quite possible you’ll be spending the day with family or friends, cooking, eating, and enjoying the company of those you might not often get to be with. For many, it’s a day that evokes feelings of sentimentality, gratitude, community, and celebration. However, for many, this is changing. More of our country is finally beginning to recognize the reality of its history. Our expanding modes of communication have made it ever more apparent how many people spend days like this without the food and community many of us get to enjoy. And our global community is beginning to reckon with the very real impacts of climate change, a phenomenon inextricably linked to our global food systems. As a result, many of us may be finding ourselves growing alienated from many of the traditional aspects of this day and searching for ways we can make this day more sustainable and just for our planet and our global communities.
So, you might find yourself asking yourself the simple question: what can I do today to help? There’s too much ground to cover in a single day, but together there are many things we can all do to take steps forward. If you’re feeling so compelled, it can be helpful to have a brief overview of some potential avenues where you might be able to reduce your impact, help those in need, promote the empowerment of Indigenous communities, and so much more. Every little bit counts, and if you find something particularly meaningful to you, consider making your efforts more frequent than just this one day a year!
Below, we’ve listed some broad categories where you can focus your efforts this year. Today we encourage you to focus on just a few, but to keep them all in your mind and your heart moving forward!
Support Indigenous Food Sovereignty
The story of the first Thanksgiving is a whitewashed and often blatantly false representation of colonial-Indigenous relations. What’s more, as we enjoy an array of holiday food built on the land and cuisines of Indigenous communities and nations, many of those same communities and nations are still fighting for food sovereignty to this day. Indigenous communities are leading the way to tribal sovereignty, food sovereignty, and the cultivation of traditional foodways — the cultural, social, and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food. There is so much to learn about the history of Indigenous food gathering, cultivation, and traditions, and tangible ways for all of us to support these efforts. Please consider exploring this guide to learn more and explore opportunities for you to support!
Reducing Your Impact at the Table
In terms of food, Thanksgiving is often seen as a meat-focused day of excess. And that’s because, well, it often is! But it doesn’t have to be.
As much as Thanksgiving has evolved over the years, the cuisine that shaped this day is fundamentally Indigenous, and while fowl and other wild animals are certainly part of that cuisine, the sheer diversity of vegetables (cruciferous, starchy, root, etc.), grains, and fruits are a force to be reckoned with. To reduce your impact, consider leaning into fruit and vegetable dishes and even opt for plant-based proteins altogether. It’s estimated that turkey may account for nearly two-thirds of the embodied emissions of the entire traditional Thanksgiving meal!
Buying locally when possible, always helps too! The day is a strange one for our food system: tens if not hundreds of millions of people simultaneously create a surge of demand for a relatively short list of ingredients. This means lots and lots and lots of trucks and refrigerators working overtime to keep it all fresh. Shopping locally when possible reduces that strain and the emissions associated with it. Buying direct from farmers keeps money in your local economy and allows farmers to invest more money in sustainable practices in your area.
But a big one on this day is buying and planning in an effort to reduce waste. It’s estimated that Americans waste in excess of 250 million pounds of food every Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day leftovers might be the most famous in the “leftovers” world, but they ultimately create a situation of excess that requires you to save it! A valiant effort is made by many, often successful, but one that can be less extreme by turning back the dials and considering what might be a more reasonable amount of food for your party! It’s tough, especially when so much of the holiday seems to be about celebrating abundance with the overflowing cornucopia of food on a table, but keep in mind that anything that isn’t eaten that night is incredibly likely to end up in the trash. That said, if you find yourself with leftovers… #UseItUp! We have some suggestions if you find yourself needing to get crafty with leftovers on their last leg!
Sharing The Day With Those Not At Your Table
On this day that’s filled with food and community for so many of us, over 38 million people in the US alone will go hungry. Food insecurity is rampant in the United States, and that has only been exacerbated by the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on many communities. Food insecurity brings together so many different social factors, and Indigenous communities are four times more likely to experience food insecurity than their white neighbors. If you’re able to donate food or funds, there are countless organizations that make doing so easy. As a jumping-off point, we urge you to check out Feeding America. The Feeding America nationwide network of food banks secures and distributes 4.3 billion meals each year through food pantries and meal programs throughout the United States and leads the nation to engage in the fight against hunger. You can find local food pantries and banks to support in your area through their website.