July/August 2012 - Colorado Plateau

Addressing Native Food Issues on the Colorado Plateau

First Nations Development Institute has long been addressing Native food issues nationally as a path to better health and nutrition for tribal communities, as a way to reconnect to Native culture and lifeways, and with the added benefit of creating or stimulating much-needed economic development in those areas, many of which can be classified as “food deserts.”

First Nations has done this through its Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) that started in 2000. Over the past 12 years, many visionary foundations have pitched in to support First Nations in this effort that has reached dozens of communities.

One of the latest forays into creating sustainable and more-secure Native food systems is called the “Christensen/Colorado Plateau Food Systems Capacity Building Project.” With a $50,000 grant from The Christensen Fund, First Nations is assisting three tribal projects with individualized technical assistance and training, and is providing them with underwriting to attend the First Nations NAFSI Institute, where they will have the opportunity to network with other Native American food-oriented programs and receive training on conducting community food assessments.

The intent is to strengthen control and sustainability of local food systems in Native communities located on the Colorado Plateau. The plateau is a large geographic area covering parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The project will enhance the understanding of Native farmers, nonprofits and tribal departments of ways to improve their food systems that are beneficial to both physical health and economic growth.

The three projects involved are:

• Diné bé Iiná (The Navajo Lifeway), Window Rock, Arizona – Its focus is on sheep as a means to generate economic development, maintain culture, provide food and restore farming. Diné bé iiná is a nonprofit organization of producers and weavers that aims to assist sheep, goat and fiber producers in the Navajo Nation with technical and educational information that supports economic self-sufficiency.

• Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Environmental Programs Department, Towaoc, Colorado – The department is focused on implementing a community garden while providing related educational and awareness activities. The department has been assisting in organizing the garden planning group and advising on development strategy and funding considerations.

• White Mountain Apache Tribe Ndee Bikiyaa (People’s Farm), Whiteriver, Arizona – The group’s focus is on achieving certification for its organic farming efforts with a mission to revitalize farming and agricultural practices by involving youth, elders and communities with a concentration on creating sustainable agriculture and improving access to nutritious, affordable, locally grown and culturally significant food.

First Nations applauds the movement toward healthy, sustainable Native food systems that not only reconnect people to the land and their rich cultural traditions – and which can help reverse a tide of unhealthy eating resulting from the loss of land and traditional lifeways – but which also stimulate critical economic development in and for American Indian communities. In those communities, food can be the centerpiece of more integrated, holistic strategies that are necessary to respond to challenges that were many years in the making.

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