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Native Americans Rank Highest In Food Insecurity

FILE: Yurok fishers near the mouth of the Klamath River. Because of low fish stocks, this year's Yurok tribal salmon festival will not serve the fish to eat. The tribe has closed the commercial fishery every year since 2015 to preserve fish runs.
Linda Tanner, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org
Members of the Yurok Tribe fish the lower Klamath River.

Members of the region's tribes have a long history of collecting food from the land and water nearby.  But that history has been interrupted by white settlement, and now rates of food insecurity are higher for Native Americans than other group in the country. 

Part of the problem is legal limits to access foods that are still available naturally, from acorns to deer.  University of California-Berkeley researchers tracked the food insecurity of the members of the Karuk, Yurok, Hoopa, and Klamath Tribes

They found issues accessing both traditional and modern foods.  Jennifer Sowerwine and Lisa Hillman, two members of the research team, return with details.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily talk show focused on news and interests across our region of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.