OUR PURPOSE
to preserve Oaxaca’s Indigenous food and beverage cultures through narrative change, education, and collaboration with compatible organizations across borders.
VALUES
HOW AND WHY WE SHOW UP
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Solidarity means that we are a part of the larger racial and gender justice, economic equity, environmental and food sustainability movements. Working towards Indigenous cultural preservation means being in community with movements that are also working towards free and liberated worlds.
Related Values: equity, justice, community, interconnection, belonging, interdependence.
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Reciprocity is a deeply embedded value in communities across Oaxaca. Like our Indigenous ancestors, we seek to cultivate relationships with the land, peoples, and entities who are continuing the practice of service, generosity, and fair exchange.
Related Values: tequio, guelaguetza, gozona, trueque, healthy relations, care.
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Possibility asks us to remember, reflect, dream, and co-create. We acknowledge that the possibility of Indigenous cultural prosperity requires that we embrace change. We are here today because of our radical ancestors. We honor their efforts and support the younger generations who are agents of change.
Related Values: resilience, hope, optimism, achievability, creativity, innovation.
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Celebration is an acknowledgement of gratitude, connection, and joy. We enjoy and revel in these moments in spite of systemic oppressions and personal struggles. Celebrations feed our hunger for possibilities.
Related Values:joy, happiness, celebration, freedom, pleasure.
PROGRAMS
WHAT WE DO
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Preserving the roots of Oaxaca’s Indigenous foods and beverage cultures means addressing the misinterpretation and erasures of our stories. We completed a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project that sheds light on the stories that challenge dominant narratives. Findings are forthcoming.
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Education is how we transmit Indigenous knowledge, science, and practices. We use mixed learning models to make cultural education accessible, relevant, and impactful. Cultural education is available through:
Sip n’ learn workshops
Hospitality trainings
6-week course (fall and spring)
Our cultural education programs offer space for group learning, where we all get to share knowledge as it relates to cultural preservation, food justice, and equitable futures.
OUR STORY
HOW WE GOT HERE
What began as home-cooked meals has evolved into a platform for storytelling, mezcal education, and Indigenous resilience. Learn more about the journey →
MEET THE FOUNDER
FABIOLA SANTIAGO
I am Fabiola Santiago Hernandez (she/they/mama), Oaxaca-born, California-raised. I am a Zapotec mother and migrant from the World Capital of Mezcal, Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. My father migrated to the US in the mid 1980’s because the local mezcal economy in Matatlán plummeted. He sent for the rest of the family to join him in Los Angeles, CA in the early 1990’s where we all remained undocumented for over 20 years. Like many Oaxacan migrants in Los Angeles, I was part of the food service industry. I worked in restaurants for nearly a decade and experienced firsthand the injustices faced by low-wage workers. Later, as a public health researcher, I published studies on wage theft that helped shape policy reforms at the local and state level.
In 2020, I was accepted into La Cocina, a nonprofit restaurant incubator in San Francisco. When the program was paused due to the COVID 19 pandemic, I turned to advocacy. Through writing and public speaking, I began addressing the cultural appropriation and economic exploitation of Oaxacan foodways, and the urgent need for cultural preservation rooted in Indigenous knowledge.
In 2023 I began incorporating Mi Oaxaca under La Cocina’s fiscal sponsorship, while also building our infrastructure, engaging in community research, and developing our programs. Through Mi Oaxaca, I continue to advocate for cultural respect, economic equity, and the preservation of Oaxacan traditions that are both personal and deeply rooted in community.
- FABIOLA
CONTRIBUTE
TO OUR growth
Your contributions support the visibility of Oaxaca’s Indigenous food and beverage cultures and help grow our organization's impact and sustainability.
Money is a powerful tool. The contribution from The Mellon Foundation is helping build the foundation for this work. And we’ll need more money to materialize the vision of ensuring Oaxaca’s Indigenous cultural contributions are recognized, attributed, and regarded in the globalized world. Monetary contribution information is here.
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1. Growing an organization that's preserving Oaxaca’s Indigenous food and culture while also addressing racial and gender justice, economic equity, and environmental sustainability.
2. Cultural Preservation: Challenge Indigenous erasure by amplifying the narratives and stories of Indigenous and native Oaxacan people.
3. Cultural Education: Scholarships for native and Indigenous Oaxacan people to participate in the cultural education programs. Stipends for instructors and guest speakers.
We are grateful to the many who have given their time, from individuals who’ve copyedited to the legal support from Community Economic Justice. We welcome non-monetary acts of generosity.
If you would like to learn about volunteering opportunities, subscribe to our email list.
The growing popularity of Oaxaca is leading to Indigenous erasure and cultural appropriation, which perpetuate economic inequities, harm the socio-cultural fabric of communities, and damage the biodiversity of Oaxaca.
Mi Oaxaca addresses these problems through an intersectional approach.