Tocabe is on a seed to soul mission

Local eatery changes health and community with Direct-to-Tribe Ready Meal program

BY ELICIA HESSELGRAVE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Ben Jacobs, a member of Osage Nation, and Matt Chandra’s dream is to build a native peoples’ food supply chain.

And recently, this became a reality for them.

e two have been in the restaurant business for more than 25 years and are co-owners of Tocabe, an American Indianspeci c restaurant that has a Greenwood Village location and another in north Denver.

It is one of only a handful of American Indian restaurants in the United States.

Jacobs and Chandra saw a need beyond their metro area restaurants. Native people often do not have access to culturally relevant, nourishing food. So they set out to meet this need. It took a year and a half, but in January, they began production for the Direct-to-Tribe Ready Meal program.

“What we are providing (is) not just a meal,” Jacobs said. “It’s traditional, meaningful ingredients.” e federal advisory committee that aims to promote healthy, accessible eating and physical activity for all Americans,

It’s meant to bring joy, he added.

Jacobs’ name is rising nationally. He was appointed in March to President Biden’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.