Dipping Spoon Foundation Non-Profit Startup

Our North Star is fueled by access, representation and cultural identity.  Which is why we developed two Dipping Spoon FoodSTEM Programs called SelfFSTEAM. Food is a mechanism to learn, teach, understand, share and not just eat. 

AFTER SCHOOL CULINARY CLUB

SelfSTEAM, is an after school culinary club for 7th-12th grade Indigenous Alaska Native girls and boys which celebrates culture, nature, identity and the earth through Food and STEAM: Food, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math.

CULINARY ARTS CAMP INTENSIVE

SelfSTEAM Kenirvik: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, is a week-long Culinary Arts Camp Intensive teaching the Fundamentals of Cooking, Cultural Identity, Food Sovereignty and Traditional Values merged with modern day techniques and the four basic elements which preserve and make food taste great.

DIPPING SPOON CULINARY ARTS SCHOLARSHIP

Dipping Spoon’s Culinary & Pastry Arts Scholarship provides aspiring Alaska Native and American Indian Young Adults with a fully paid Culinary Arts Scholarship to attend the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The scholarship will provide supplies, travel, living expenses, wellness & self care package, paid externship w/partnering restaurants and mentorship from Industry Experts.

Upon completion of program Dipping Spoon will assist graduating Chef recipients with future employment placement and future continuing education programs to empower Chefs creative and business portfolio.

FOOD | SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY | ENGINEERING | ARTS | MATH | Public Policy | Equity

WHO DO WE SERVE

Dipping Spoon’s work focuses predominately with Alaska Native Youth of Yup’ik, Siberian Yup’ik and Inupiaq Descent from the lower Yukon Kuskokwim Delta and soon to Bering Strait School Districts in K-12th both located in rural Alaska on the coast of the Bering Sea. Due to Rural Alaska’s unique geography all school sites in the Lower Kuskokwim School District and Bering Sea School Districts are only accessible year round by by boat or small bush aircraft.  LKSD is Alaska’s largest rural school district in the number of schools, students, and staff.

It is located approximately 400 air miles west of Anchorage, Alaska, the district encompasses the lower part of the Kuskokwim River Delta, along the coast of the Bering Sea.

It is Alaska’s second largest rural school district in terms of geographical area with roughly 22,000 square miles of roadless tundra, and area equivalent in size to the state of West Virginia. Headquartered on the main campus in Bethel, Alaska; the district office provides coordination of services and support to 22 village and 6 Bethel schools.

In 2024 Dipping Spoon’s work will be servicing 5800 students over a combined area of 102.00 square miles. Rural Alaska’s unique geography, cultural diversity and traditional foods pathways are what makes the region standout out nationwide. 

The Future of Food is Indigenous.

Indigenous Alaska Native Peoples and culture can be traced back 10,000 years. We are the original stewards of this land and have incorporated subsistence food techniques such as Drying, Smoking and Fermenting in our traditional cuisines for generations. We’re innovators, inventors, scientists, engineers, mathematicians, creative designers, hunters and gatherers adapting to harsh weather conditions since time immemorial.

Alaska’s uncertain food future, due to climate change is threatening food sources and cultural traditions. This was made quite evident when a Yup’ik student attempted to break down a pork shoulder for Carnitas tacos and started to carve the with a Western style knife, in lieu of the traditional Uluaq knife she uses at home. She struggled. A camp leader asked her if she’d rather use an Uluaq. Her answer, an enthusiastic, Yes! Once she started again on the meat, this young woman transformed. In amazement, we all watched her effortlessly and gracefully carve down a massive pork shoulder led with ancestral expertise. She was filleting with an heirloom, a Yup’ik timepiece.

We believe in the Global Impact of Indigenous foods, cuisine and the transmission of traditional knowledge. The ancestors of our students come from a lineage of cultural experts who have preserved our identity and successfully understood the driving forces behind Indigenous Subsistence Foods. These are natural preservatives. Salt preserves food. Fat preserves food. Acid preserves food. Heat in conjunction with all the other preserves food. Everyone relies on Native Food in rural Alaska. The future of Agriculture is Indigenous. Farm to table is nothing new. It’s a gentrified term for substance living. Yet our transmission of traditional ancestral knowledge food and all the industries food touches is missing, undervalued and unrepresented in a modern world, more pointedly, through education and business.

When we compare Alaska Native cuisine to other cuisines, Yup’ik and Inupiaq foods are just as worthy. Alaska Salmon, Alaska Snow Crab, Alaskan seafood anything is recognized as premium all over, why can’t our Indigenous foods be honored as such?

 Due to this rising rate, we ask, where are the educational and business developmental opportunities for Young Native Youth? Where will our communities food resources come from? How will a predominately young Yup’ik demographic adapt to massive income inequality and underemployment? Will our traditional foods and tools be forgotten?

Our North Star is fueled by access, representation and cultural identity. We envision a global world where all Indigenous youth champion their culture, ancestral blueprint to rebel against institutional boundaries to become entrepreneurial culinary rockstars through Food, Science, Media, Sports, Design and Foreign Policy in the Public and Private Sector.

We pledge to contribute longterm systems solutions with actions that address the root problems by changing policies and norms. Which is is why Dipping Spoon’s programming needs to continue in Indigenous rural Alaskan school districts beyond. 

 It is clear in lieu of Dipping Spoon’s FoodSTEM programs, an Accredited Indigenized Culinary Arts Curriculum must be developed to ensure cultural identity and food traditions. 

FoodSTEM is education. Dipping Spoon’s work would be #86d without the generous hospitality from individual, corporate partners, grants and community.

What will make executing our mission sustainable?

The best way for our non-profit agency to maintain the mission, needs and experiences of our students is to ensure the people working on the issue full-time may continue the work. 

Did you know only o.4% of total Philanthropic dollars are dedicated to Native communities? 

Equity leads to Empowerment. Empowerment of Native Women. Empowerment of Native Youth. Empowerment in Education. Empowerment in Income Levels. 

Giving to Dipping Spoon means Stakeholders are not only investing in the next generation of Indigenous Youth to become Culinary Rockstars, it means they are giving our promising mission and vision seed money for continued pilot testing, research and development.

 Quyana for your support!