Gary Paul Nabhan

Gary Paul Nabhan (1952) is an agricultural ecologist, Ethnobotanist, and author whose work has focused primarily on the plants and cultures of the desert Southwest. He is considered a pioneer in the local food movement and the heirloom seed saving movement.

Nabhan was raised in Indiana, and even dropped out of high school. He worked at the headquarters for the first Earth Day in Washington D.C.

Gary started working with and learning from farmers and foragers in several indigenous communities on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. He co-hosted the first-ever national conference on community-based seed banks and heirloom seed saving. The unifying theme of Nabhan’s work is how to avert the impoverishment and endangerment of ecological and cultural relationships, while celebrating the traditional ecological knowledge of the agrarian communities. He has played a catalytic role in the multicultural, collaborative conservation movement. Nabhan was among the first creative non-fiction writers to link the loss of biodiversity to the loss of cultural diversity

Living in Southern Arizona, he farms a diverse set of heirloom fruit and nut varieties from the Spanish Mission era and from the Middle Eastern homelands of his Lebanese ancestors, as well as heritage grains and beans adapted to arid climates. 

“Eating is perhaps the most direct way we acknowledge or deny the sacredness of the earth.”

Location: Patagonia, Arizona

Book: Co-author of the populist manifesto, “An Invitation to the Radical Center”, Jesus for Farmers and Fishers, Justice for All Those Marginalized by Our Food System, The Nature of Desert Nature, Mesquite – An Arboreal Love Affair,Food from the Radical Center – Healing Our Land and Communities, Ethnobiology for the FutureFood, Genes, and Culture – Eating Right for Your Origins, Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey, Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land – Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty, Desert Terroir, Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands, Chasing Chiles – Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail, Where Our Food Comes From – Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine, Renewing Salmon Nation’s Food Traditions, Arab/American: Landscape, Culture, and Cuisine in Two Great Deserts

Website: https://www.garynabhan.com

Video 1: Redesigning Regional Food

Video 2: Relocalizing Food