How Your Restaurant Can Best Support Indigenous Foodways

Build long term relationships. “Building supportive relationships with Indigenous farmers and producers requires a commitment to open communication, mutual respect and adaptability — it’s long-term relationship building, not transactional engagement,” says Mindy. “Chefs and restaurants should engage in ongoing dialogue with these communities to understand their farming practices, seasonal cycles and the unique qualities of indigenous ingredients. This collaboration allows chefs to design menus that reflect the availability of seasonal produce, enhancing the authenticity and integrity of the dishes.” 

Be open to learning. Accept that your team will likely have a lot to learn in this space, and that you might not get it right from the very beginning. “By embracing flexibility and presence over perfection, and being open to learning from Indigenous knowledge systems, we can create a culinary landscape that honours the land and its stewards while providing diners with a rich and meaningful experience,” Mindy says. 

Put your money where your mouth is. When you’re sourcing native ingredients, buy them from Indigenous producers as a matter of policy — and make sure they are well-compensated for their work. “For agroecology to be sustainable, it also needs to improve farmer livelihoods,” says Steve Brescia, Executive Director at Groundswell International. “That means building stronger connections between smallholder farmers and local markets.” 

Let the producers take the lead. Work with farmers to learn what will best support them and the land. “When chefs ask producers, ‘Is this crop easy to produce in your conditions?’ or ‘How can we support the most resilient crops you have?’, they open pathways for agricultural systems that are not only sustainable, but dignified for those who grow them,” says Luisa Maria. “This recognises the agency and authority of peasant and Indigenous communities and opens possibilities for a more pluralistic and ethical agricultural system.” 

Keep your menus flexible. Since Indigenous farmers and producers are often working on a smaller scale, Monique says communication and flexibility are key. “It helps to discuss what your potential menu requirements might be at least several months in advance to allow them adequate time to prepare. Build open and ongoing dialogue with your suppliers so that you can support each other and work through any issues as they arise. This might mean having to tweak your menu if an ingredient is having a difficult season, or finding ways to work with a surplus if you have overcommitted.” 

Don’t romanticise. It’s important not to romanticise, tokenise or appropriate Indigenous wisdom and practices — a trap that Western culture has fallen into time and again. “While we can all work in ways that support local, regenerative farming and eating, we should be slow to romanticise or ‘trendify’ ways of relating to food that are features of real, extant communities with their own stories and who experience discrimination within many industries and aspects of society,” says Daniel Connor, Seed Saving Network Coordinator at OmVed Gardens, a greenscape and learning hub in London exploring food, creativity and ecology for health and climate resilience. “It’s important to centre authentic, grassroots movements such as La Via Campesina, Slow Food and restaurants pioneering this work, such as Owanmi.” 

Bring your team on board. Involving your entire team in this conversation is vital for fostering a culture of awareness and appreciation for native food systems. Provide training for your team by hiring Indigenous educators to share their knowledge and expertise. “As First Nations Australians, we believe our history and our knowledge is part of a shared heritage — a knowledge system that is sacred, not secret,” says Mindy. “By educating our teams about the significance of these ingredients and the stories behind them, we empower them to share this knowledge with diners, creating a deeper connection to the food we serve.” 

Educate your customers. Restaurants play an important educational role, ultimately shaping how customers think about food and choose to eat when they’re at home. Engaging customers in a dialogue about Indigenous ingredients allows them to appreciate their cultural and ecological importance and fosters a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards the land and its communities, says Mindy. “This transparency not only enriches the dining experience but also helps consumers make informed choices that reflect their values. Ultimately, this collective understanding is essential for preserving and celebrating the rich tapestry of our food heritage for future generations.” 

Build it into your community work. You can also wield your influence beyond your procurement policies by supporting other local organisations who are doing this work. “Restaurants can partner with grassroots organisations that help fund farmers to adopt sustainable practices,” says Peggy. “The rationale is to have more transparency and build partnerships in the process, building public trust in these programmes for greater success.”