In many reservation communities, the lack of a strong private sector severely hinders the vibrancy that we see in more healthy local and regional economies – specifically, dollars turning over two, three, and even four times before exiting the economy. In most economies, this dollar turnover, or multiplier effect, makes $1 introduced or imported into the economy really worth $2, $3 or $4. Conversely, in the early 1980’s, reservation economic impact studies conducted by First Nations Development Institute demonstrated that a dollar entering local reservation economies, flowed out to border town communities almost immediately, thus greatly reducing, or even eliminating all together, this multiplier effect.

So how does that feed (yes, pun intended) into a discussion on food systems? At First Nations Development Institute, we believe that while food systems are important for the proper health of community members, we also believe that they can create a multiplier effect in the health of the local economy.

Think about it. Everyone has to eat. According to the USDA publication, “Food Spending Patterns of Low-Income Households,” even impoverished people spend upwards of 30% to 40% of their income on food. So a 20,000 person community, where the per capita income is $8,000 per year, spends between $48 million and $64 million on food. And with little or no retail food infrastructure, these precious dollars are leaving the reservation at lightning speed. The spending in border towns located near reservations creates more than $100 million in economic value, even if we assume a conservative 2X multiplier effect – just imagine the impact if we were able to keep these dollars in reservation communities.

And we haven’t even begun to talk about the effect of institutional customers – schools, Head Start programs, elderly feeding programs, health centers, and even gaming enterprises. This is where an organization like First Nations Development Institute gets ‘geeked up,’ about the economic possibilities.

When we begin to talk about what this might mean from a food, diet and health impact for local communities to control the nutritional options for their people and their food system – wow! It gets even better still. Healthier, more productive people and retention of even more dollars that are currently being exported on rising health care costs for the treatment of obesity and type II diabetes. 

One of the most important aspects of economic and community development in Native communities is ensuring that Native families have access to healthy food. The issue of food access becomes all the more relevant in relation to culturally significant foods that for some communities have become high priced and expensive goods. A prime example is the relationship between the Oglala Lakota people and the buffalo. For the Oglala, the buffalo have cultural and spiritual significance, representing cultural ties, enduring Oglala values and a path to survival and prosperity into the future. Historically buffalo were an essential element of the diet for Oglala people and are rich in nutritional value. However, colonization disrupted these traditional dietary patterns that had endured for centuries. As well, the national shortage of buffalo in the United States has made this valuable resource difficult for the Oglala to acquire and use.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe, through the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority (OSPRA) – a First Nations Development Institute grantee – developed the Bison Meat Delivery System project as a method to eliminate family food insecurity and provide families with this culturally relevant food product at an affordable price. The OSPRA purchased a mobile refrigeration distribution center and transformed an old tribally-owned storage building into a bison cold storage facility. The mobile distribution center allows access to the reservation’s rural communities, alleviating transportation difficulties that confront low income and elderly community members. The Tribe used their own bison herd for the sale and redistribution of bison associated with this project.

This innovative project, which looks to tackle food insecurity head-on, not only by nourishing the body but also the spirit of Oglala Sioux tribal members, was made possible through the assistance of First Nations Development Institute.

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