Gravy

In “Virginia Public Schools Serve Indigenous Cuisine,” Gravy producer Anya Groner takes listeners to the second annual Indigenous Peoples Feast at the College of William & Mary. The evening’s menu showcases indigenous food–foraged wild rice, duck confit, acorn grits, and a four-corn stew. But these dishes aren’t just for enjoying tonight. With the help of a USDA grant, they’ll eventually be served at public school cafeterias in Virginia’s coastal Tidewater Region. Coming up with the menu wasn’t easy. Centuries of forced assimilation, land grabs, and genocide prevented cultural knowledge from being passed down through generations. Designed by Chef Diosa Hall from the Mohawk Nation and Chef Joe Rocchi from the Pamunkey Tribe, the meal combined native plants and fowl from the Eastern Seaboard with contemporary culinary trends, emphasizing the entire production process, from tiny seed to plated meal. Volunteers foraged herbs like plantain and bergamot. Hunters donated ducks. Growers harvested sustainably farmed