Tohono O'odham
With his business partner Tristan Reader, Terrol Johnson founded Tohono O'odham Community Action (TOCA) in 1996. The nonprofit community development organization operates a basketry cooperative, farms, and sells indigenous foods. Tohono O'odham people have the highest rate of adult-onset diabetes of any ethnic group in the world. TOCA's Tohono O'odham Community Food System provided tribal members with aboriginal desert foods to combat the disease and promote health and sustainability. Foods provided by TOCA include tepary beans, mesquite beans, cholla (cactus) buds, chia seeds, squashes, acorns, and saguaro cactus fruit and syrup.