Uplifting Culture Through Food: Indigenous Recipes for Early Childhood Education
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Food is a powerful teacher. It connects our children to land, identity, and community — and it can also build healthy habits that last a lifetime. NICCA is proud to highlight a new resource created by the ONIE Project, an initiative that brings Indigenous foods into Early Childhood Education through recipes, cultural context, and classroom-ready materials.
NICCA served on the project’s Community Advisory Board, helping guide the development of recipes and resources so they reflect the realities, strengths, and cultural values of Tribal early learning programs. We are honored to have supported a project that uplifts Indigenous knowledge while meeting the day-to-day needs of child care providers and families.
About the Indigenous Foods Early Childhood Education Project
This project offers a growing collection of recipes and educational materials designed specifically for Early Care and Education (ECE) settings. These resources are especially helpful for Tribal CCDF programs, CACFP participants, and families who want to bring traditional foods into mealtime routines.
What You’ll Find in the Resource
CACFP-Aligned Recipes
All recipes meet USDA meal pattern requirements for breakfast, lunch/supper, and snacks — making them easy to integrate into CACFP menus.
Scaled for Early Childhood Settings
Each recipe is scaled for 6–48 children, with flexibility to scale further as needed.
Affordable & Accessible Ingredients
Recipes rely on budget-friendly ingredients widely available in most grocery stores, making them practical for classrooms and home kitchens.
Cultural Context & Nutrition Education
Each handout includes background about featured Indigenous ingredients — such as blue corn, Three Sisters crops, berries, and squash — along with simple explanations designed for young learners.
Printable Handouts & Classroom Materials
Providers and families can download handouts to use during lessons, tasting activities, cooking experiences, or send-home family engagement.
Featured Recipes:
Here are a few of the breakfast, lunch, and snack options included in the project:
Breakfast:
Fruit Necklaces — Kids build their own
Mother’s Blue Corn Cakes — Blue cornmeal pancakes balanced with whole grains and fresh fruit.
Pumpkin Raisin Bars — Cinnamon-spiced bars made with pumpkin and whole ingredients.
Harvest Zucchini Muffins — Whole-grain muffins with zucchini, oats, and blueberries.
Fruit Quesadillas — Fresh fruit and peanut butter in whole-wheat tortillas.
Oatmeal Pepita Muffins — hearty muffins made with whole grains and pepitas.
Lunch & Supper:
Three Sisters Quesadilla — Beans, corn, and zucchini come together in a filling, fiber-rich meal.
Three Sisters Chili — A hearty, vegetable-forward chili featuring Indigenous staples.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes — Sweet potatoes roasted with maple and lime for a simple, child-friendly side.
Snacks:
Many breakfast recipes double as snacks, including Fruit Necklaces, Zucchini Muffins, Oatmeal Pepita Muffins, and Pumpkin Raisin Bars.
NICCA’s Role: Centering Tribal Voices
As a Community Advisory Board member, NICCA helped:
Ensure recipes are practical for Tribal CCDF programs and early learning settings.
Provide insight into Tribal program needs and food service realities.
Support culturally grounded approaches to food, storytelling, and daily routines.
Lift up Indigenous knowledge and family traditions as essential components in early childhood learning.
Our involvement reflects NICCA’s ongoing commitment to strengthening Tribal early childhood programs with meaningful, culturally rooted tools.
Explore the Recipes & Resource
You can explore the full recipe collection and downloadable handouts on the project website.
👉 Visit the Indigenous Foods Early Childhood Education Project:
These materials offer practical, culturally grounded ways to nourish children — and to celebrate the foods that tell the story of who we are.
