TOCA’s Food System & Wellness program creates physical, spiritual, cultural and economic wellness through the promotion of the traditional foods, O’odham sports, and the work that has supported the Tohono O’odham community for countless generations. Combating the highest rate of diabetes in the world, TOCA is reintroducing traditional food production to the community, stimulating improved community health, revitalizing a heritage of health and fostering economic opportunity. Through the successful creation of two farms, efforts to market traditional foods, and extensive educational programming, TOCA stimulates increased community self-sufficiency and vitality. TOCA has helped create educational programs, community gardens and hands-on workshops on how to harvest and prepare wild foods.

By providing models of how health and wellness can enrich the local economy, TOCA is establishing a model which can be replicated in other native and rural communities. For example, TOCA's Desert Rain Cafe has offers nutritious meals made from Tohono O'odham foods. The cafe has also created local jobs. TOCA is providing  traditional foods for sale in the community and to hospitals, schools, and elderly lunch programs. TOCA's Food System & Wellness program has had a significant impact on the food and nutritional habits of the Tohono O’odham community.

Since 2007, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has supported TOCA’s work with community members and local institutions to reclaim wellness and health. Visit the Food & Fitness Collaboration page for information about our current projects. To get involved in the Food & Fitness Collaboration, call Karen Blaine at 383-4966.

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