The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, now numbering about 15,000, has made its home in the North Carolina mountains for more than 11,000 years. And during that time, our tribal culture has centered on the earth, especially agriculture. Cultivating plants to produce food has been a mainstay of Cherokee existence.

Recently, along with the rest of society, the Cherokee people have suffered from the excesses of modern living. Fast food, poor eating habits and lack of exercise have lead to obesity and an increased incidence of diabetes in our children and adults. And as in many communities, our tribe has seen the effects of the deterioration of the family unit, as well as growing substance abuse issues and a breakdown in our social structure that can lead to domestic violence.

We have confronted these problems head-on, with expanded health care and education, improved public safety programs and a new, consolidated tribal-run social services system. While we are making a difference with these initiatives, we knew that to be successful we needed to deal with the root causes of these problems.

In the end, it all came down to simply planting a garden. Not just any garden, but one that could be tended by a family, that produced nutritious natural foodstuffs and that brought families back together around the dinner table.