Over the past year, a magnificent transformation of river ecosystems has taken place in the far wilds of Northern California. It started with the largest dam removal project in history, which freed hundreds of miles of the wild and scenic Klamath River.
The river winds its way through 250 miles of wilderness, marshes, and forests from Oregon through California and into the Pacific Ocean. It’s the third-largest salmon- and steelhead-producing river on the contiguous West Coast and a lifeblood for Tribal food sovereignty.
Saving the salmon was the driving force behind the Tribal-led movement for the removal of the four hydroelectric dams threatening the river’s health. Wild salmon provide sustenance for black bears, wild birds, and aquatic life, bringing nutrients to the soil and vitality and stream health to mighty watersheds like the Klamath.
Salmon are also a part of traditional Indigenous foodways and ceremony in the Pacific Northwest. The annual return of migrating salmon is celebrated in first-salmon ceremonies and highlights the relationships between all living beings.
The lifecycle of salmon requires the free flow of rivers. Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1997, and California coastal Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were listed in 1999.
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The Yurok Tribe (which also helps lead the California condor recovery program) has led this fight, along with the outstanding revegetation and rewilding of the river’s ecosystems. Historically Klamath Tribes, such as the Yurok, Klamath, and Karuk, have faced ongoing challenges regarding fishing and gathering rights and river access.
As has been explored elsewhere, the land back movement is about foodways, sovereignty, and healthy ecosystems. The current success story of the Klamath River watershed connects the importance of ecological health, traditional Indigenous knowledge, land rights, and land stewardship.
In 2024 the Center released a global roadmap called The Just Transition from Industrial Animal Production to Equitable, Humane and Sustainable Food Systems. This multilingual roadmap reflects the voices of over 120 individuals, representing 72 organizations from youth, women, farmer, and worker constituencies across 35 countries. Its central tenets are threefold: shift food systems away from destructive corporations, promote agroecology, and shift diets within planetary boundaries (highlighting plant-rich, culturally appropriate, diversified, and healthy diets).
The Center is currently working on a roadmap for a just transition specific to the United States. |
A just transition in U.S. farming must be rooted in the decolonization of food and farming. Returning land to Indigenous peoples and promoting knowledge-sharing and traditional practices are key elements of a just transition.
One major part of that is transforming agriculture into food systems that prioritize ecosystem restoration.
Food sovereignty must be part of the shift too. The term “food sovereignty” has come to reflect the right to healthy, fair, sustainable, ethically grown food and independent control of local and cultural food systems.
It’s deeply embedded in the wellbeing of a community and its relationship to the planet. It emphasizes the centrality of farmers, workers, consumers, and communities to sustainable food systems — rather than markets and corporations.
And it means protecting and respecting our farmworkers and food workers. The Center advocates for farmworker protections related to pesticide exposure and other environmental health issues and against disastrous, inhumane treatment of migrant workers deployed by the Trump administration.
At root, just transition strategies champion alliances between fenceline, frontline, Indigenous, and other communities as a collective, building new pathways for communal and ecological health. Decolonizing food and farming can support Indigenous food sovereignty while building a more sustainable food system for everyone.
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In future issues, we’ll discuss more about why regenerative movements don’t go far enough and why the future of food is agroecology.
For now, read my latest essay, "A Wild River of Food: How Traditional Knowledge Can Help Rewild Ecosystems" in Graduate Journal of Food Studies. |
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