High stakes and high flavour: Indigenous chef brings Amazonian soul to COP30

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As world leaders gather in Belém for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), they’ll find more than just food for thought on the menu. 

Indigenous chef and activist Tainá Marajoara will serve dishes rooted in ancestral Amazonian traditions, showcasing the biodiversity and spirituality of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples.

Between rounds of negotiations, delegates will be treated to flavours such as maniçoba, açaí and pirarucu – all prepared with more than 10 tonnes of agroecological ingredients sourced through fair and sustainable food systems.

A taste of ancestral wisdom

“Our kitchen will feature canhapira, an Indigenous Marajoara dish that remains part of local cuisine today,” Ms. Marajoara explained. 

The dish comes from the Marajoara people, an Indigenous group native to Marajó Island, a vast river island where the Amazon meets the Atlantic.

“There will be plenty of açaí. We managed to secure its inclusion despite earlier controversy.

“We’ll also serve maniçoba, a dish made from cassava leaves cooked for seven days with pork, as well as tucupi, jambu, tacacá, and the Amazon’s iconic fish, pirarucu. We plan to buy at least two tonnes of it alone.”

Tainá is the founder of Ponto de Cultura Alimentar Iacitatá, the cultural and culinary collective selected to oversee the COP30 kitchen, which will serve everyone attending – from presidents to porters. 

© Courtesy of Tainá Marajoara

The indigenous activist and chef Tainá Marajoara, from Brazil, at the Food and Agriculture Museum and Network in Rome.

Peace meal

More than just a meal, the ancestral cook sees this culinary effort as a statement. “We want to show that it is possible to live in peace. We need to live in peace,” she said.

“Throughout COP30, we are building a space of ancestral diplomacy, making it clear that recognising the link between Indigenous and local communities and food sovereignty is urgent.

“As long as ancestral lands are violated and violence spreads across forests, rivers, and fields, our people and our culture are being killed.”

Speaking from Rome, where she was attending the World Food Forum at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters, Ms. Marajoara stressed the COP30 kitchen will embody the values of sustainability, justice, and respect for life.

UN News/Felipe de Carvalho

Tucupi is a yellow broth extracted from wild cassava, traditional in Amazonian cuisine.

Rooted in climate justice

For the Chef, Indigenous food systems represent much more than sustenance, they are a living form of environmental stewardship and spiritual connection.

“This knowledge has been invisible for too long,” she said. “Leading the COP30 kitchen is an act of cultural and ancestral diplomacy.”

She hopes the initiative will become a model for future international events. “This will be the first COP to feature a community-based, family-farming kitchen. It proves that it can be done, and it shouldn’t stop here. Let COP30 become a historic milestone, one that inspires similar initiatives across the world.”

Food and conservation

Ms. Marajoara emphasised that food sovereignty and environmental conservation are inseparable.

“The world is in collapse,” she warned. “There is no more time for endless negotiations. Protecting Indigenous and local community territories is a concrete, effective way to safeguard the planet’s climate.”