White Earth Nation



White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa TribeFOOD SOVEREIGNTY INITIATIVE STRATEGIC PLAN2020-2025Five Year PlanMission StatementThe White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative believes a strong, affordable localized food system rooted in Anishinaabe traditions is vital to the holistic health and sovereignty of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.BackgroundThe effect of colonization of Native Americans across the United States still has a profound negative impact on the diet and health through the devastating loss of cultural traditional agriculture through force and violence. Pre-colonist tribes had a bounty of foods such as berries, corn, beans, squash, fish, bison and hundreds of other animals and plants on turtle island. Currently our food system in the United States is in a sad state consisting of empty calories, high fats, overly processed and unhealthy foods enslaved to make as much profit as possible. Moving from eating traditional foods to a diet high in sugar, salt and fat is the central cause that has aggravated most health problems in the Native American community. Since the introduction of processed foods, health issues for Native American people have risen drastically. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading causes of death for Native Americans in 2010 were heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death for Minnesotans, with American Indians dying at five times the rate of non-Hispanic whites. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Report on County Health Rankings, Mahnomen County (which rests entirely within the boundaries of the White Earth Reservation) is ranked lowest, 87th out of 87 counties for health factors and outcomes as well as diabetes prevalence. Mahnomen County was also to be revealed to be the second worst county in Minnesota for limited access to healthy foods (19% of the population), where the average for Minnesota counties was 6%. Becker and Clearwater counties, the other two counties that reside in the White Earth reservation are 14% and 17% food insecure. The White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative (WEFSI) is driven directly by the White Earth community itself for the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. The WEFSI holds regular monthly community meetings for the last three years. These food sovereignty meetings are also healing meetings. We do the best we can to prepare foods that are traditional or at least healthy. This is our time to sit, visit and connect in person which is often lost in our busy technological age. The meeting held in Dec 2018, we had smoked goldeneye from Red Lake Fisheries brought by David Manuel, canned venison sliders from the White Earth Tribal and Community College Extension Education Department, wild rice and buffalo brats from White Earth and quinoa salad from Diane McArthur, our White Earth Nutritionist with White Earth Health Dept. We have fruitful conversations that streamline ideas through past months keeping us on track and building towards a grounded food system in White Earth. We also will invite outside speakers from organizations such as the University of Minnesota Extension, non-profits such as the White Earth Land Recovery Project, foundations, State Ag Dept. representatives, and other individuals who join us from time-to-time to learn about our community needs to determine what effort can be made as an ally of our work. Those attending our meetings regularly know that we each play a slice in filling the big circle of food sovereignty. We all go back to our departments and families to expand upon our gifts that fits us as individuals and within the community. Then when we come back together again, we share our experiences increasing our communal understanding of our progress and how to effectively work together as a group. By having such an extraordinary diverse group of community focused on food sovereignty so close to the ground level come together regularly, we are able to act as branches on a connected system of roots, as we are all well aware that there is much work yet to be done.The overall health of the White Earth community members is of vital importance. There are many areas of health - mental health, dietary health, disease treatment, physical improvement, as well as elder and youth care. We focus on food and health, or food as medicine as a healing and universal glue to bring people together to heal our bodies, minds, spirit. There are sometimes challenges of accessing traditional and healthy food living in the rural country - even when there are plenty of people gathering, planting and hunting for themselves or their families. When observing food access from an eagle’s view in terms of placement of big grocery stores where most people shop for their daily foods, the majority of the White Earth Reservation is considered a federally recognized food dessert because many people live upwards of 20 – 30 miles away from one. And even when shopping at the big grocery stores, there is limited access to traditional or healthy foods.The beginnings of the White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative started in 2014 when the White Earth Economic Development Department identified a need for a mobile grocery store and a grant from the Indian Health Service back in 2014. The White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative (WEFSI) was formalized in the fall of 2017 to move this project forward as well as recognize and formalize other community identified food sovereignty projects. Through listening to White Earth community members, we wrote a Food Sovereignty Survey in 2017-2018 in which we received over 225 responses. The results revealed many findings about our demographics that will address in our dialogue moving forward. One of those being the lack of cooking and reasons why. We also found out that the White Earth community is very invested in all of the programs suggested to aid in increasing traditional and healthy food access which were; a Farm-to-School program, a Tribally Shared Agriculture program from a White Earth Farm and a Mobile Market Grocery. Over 90% of the community still identified a Mobile Grocery unit as a need for food security on the reservation.In October 2017, the White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative (WEFSI) staff started with one person, Zachary Paige as coordinator. With limited staff we are limited to make a larger impact quickly, however we utilize volunteers from the White Earth community and beyond to start our White Earth Community Pilot Farm. Volunteers include the Extension Education Department of White Earth Tribal and Community College (WETCC), families and interested community members, White Earth Natural 307086031305500Resource Dept., ACUTE Care men’s health facility, youth from the White Earth 4-H, college students from MState, Global Citizens Network non-profit, and many more. In 2018, we grew, cultivated and harvested three sisters (corn, beans, squash) plots using traditional mounding system together with a 29718002025650Stanton Alexander with White Earth Youth planting in three sisters traditional garden system. Photo by Zachary Paige00Stanton Alexander with White Earth Youth planting in three sisters traditional garden system. Photo by Zachary Paigefamily and elder program that met weekly and collectively learned the entire gardening process. We sourced traditional seeds to plant and are expanding our seed collection. We grew diversified vegetables such as pumpkins, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes as well as strawberries in a low tunnel system to keep out weeds. We were also involved in a cover crop project led by Vivian Wauters from the Grossman lab in the University of MN as well as a sweet corn taste test project from Iowa State University Organic program. The cover crop project showed which varieties of cover crops worked best in our soil type throughout the summer and demonstrated how they keep the soil cool, keeping soil microbes alive and adding soil organic matter. We held a community soil health day to showcase the results of this trial as well as discuss soil health principals from both a sustainable farming and traditional viewpoint.In 2018, we also purchased a food truck to cook and distribute traditional healthy foods throughout the reservation. To support this project, we received funds from the Indian Health Service (IHS), First Nations Development Institute (FNDI), the Good Food Access Fund (GFAF) and the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. We purchased our food truck primarily with GFAF dollars from Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef and re-branded it with a design to show that we will be selling not only prepared traditional foods off the truck at events, but also will be a mobile grocery distribution unit. In the summer of 2018, we grew strawberries and ground cherries at our farm and sold them as smoothies at the Mahnomen Farmer’s Market, White Earth and Rice Lake pow wows to advertise the truck and showcase what we will be providing as a Mobile Market. We held meetings with the truck (and of course cooked a traditional meal at each one) in the communities in White Earth that have limited access to grocery stores such as Rice Lake and Naytahwaush to get the community council’s opinion on route schedules and drop off points for the future mobile grocery.There are other agricultural projects happening such as a bison and hemp program that are just getting some footing. The big picture for the White Earth Ag Dept. when relating to the WEFSI is to continue to grow out more traditional seeds on more acreage and provide the White Earth Businesses with traditional foods such as corn, beans, squash, popcorn and more to package and sell back to community members at an affordable price. We also grow out and keep pure many varieties of old seeds that are very often higher in nutrition than conventional hybrids. The hemp program has a potential to supply jobs, as well as the opportunity to grow and produce hemp as an agricultural product on a medium to large scale. Along with our food sovereignty meetings, we provide many forms of outreach to the community to get the word out in what we do. One way we do this is through our tilling program, in which we tilled over 70 community members gardens in 2018 and provide gardeners access to seeds. We post articles on social media, on the radio, and through our tribal newspaper. We host events throughout the year at our White Earth Community Farm in Mahnomen, MN as well as the Indigenous Farming Conference gathering.The WEFSI also works on creating a new White Earth food policy as there is currently none in place. We work together with Indian Health Service, White Earth Community College Extension, the Health Dept. and others to create a document that will both be useful for following good food handling procedures for individuals, vendors and businesses while protecting wild foods and traditional harvest and gathering of wild plants and game.The WEFSI was created for the purpose of creating a new tribal food system that relies on traditional and locally produced foods and to become more food and seed sovereign. To become economically sovereign is also a goal. We will collaborate with the White Earth Market to increase the sale and purchase of traditional foods and find ways to economically support producers and harvesters. The WEFSI offers a proactive approach to food system development, utilizing information directly from the communities and tribal members in White Earth. The WEFSI is inspired by the knowledge of other organizations such as the Red Lake Local Foods Initiative, Oneida Market, and Wozupi (Shakopee). We will also work together to help support other tribal food programs in our region that are mutually beneficial. Special consideration is made to ensure that youth and elders participate in and benefit from the efforts of the Food Sovereignty Initiative. The Food Sovereignty Initiative will serve as a program for technical expertise and as well an entity that coordinates and administers promotion of health, economic stability, and education about traditional and local foods. The White Earth Mobile Market grocery store and food truck acts as a business. We intend to move this business to continue and deepen collaboration with the White Earth Market and become an arm of the market to help promote and support traditional food suppliers in the White Earth community.These objectives can be summarized with three broadly spanning goals:Increase collaboration among existing tribal resources to support a strong Food Sovereignty Initiative Working GroupIncrease the access to and consumption of fresh, healthy, and seasonal produce and traditional foods by White Earth tribal and community membersAid the capacity within the White Earth community to grow our local food economyStructure of the White Earth Food Sovereignty InitiativeThe White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative (WEFSI) was formed with the goal of tying together the efforts of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, various organizations, and community members dedicated to improving the overall health of the White Earth Reservation. A working group of stakeholders was formed to discuss the Food Sovereignty Initiative underway on tribal lands. Not only does the working group inform the Food Sovereignty Initiative, but it also acts as a collaborative effort between the groups. Meetings are held monthly with a local foods meal where White Earth community members are encouraged to participate. Representative of these departments make up the WEFSI working group:Food Sovereignty Initiative Working Group PartnershipsWhite Earth Natural Resources DepartmentWhite Earth Economic Development DivisionWhite Earth Tribal & Community College Extension DepartmentWhite Earth MarketWE Elder Wellness ProgramWhite Earth Tribal HealthWhite Earth Community Farmers MarketWhite Earth Education DivisionWhite Earth Marketing & Communications DivisionBoys & Girls ClubWhite Earth SNAP EducationWhite Earth Legal Dept.As well as trusted individuals from the following organizations and businesses:Indian Health ServiceSioux ChefIndigenous Ag CouncilUniversity of Minnesota Extension Manna Food Co-OpWhite Earth Land Recovery ProjectMinnesota Department of AgricultureOutside reservation partners include other tribes in the region and their corresponding food initiatives such as the Red Lake Local Food Initiative, Oneida Nation Market, Wozupi Tribal Gardens, the Intertribal Agricultural Council, University of Minnesota Extension, and local food cooperatives and growers. We are able to learn and collaborate with such groups if it is mutually beneficial for White Earth community members.Food Sovereignty Assessment Results0164846000The goal of the Food Sovereignty Assessment was to gather information from all White Earth communities while maintaining transparency to address community health and economic needs. To better understand the specific needs of the community, a Food Sovereignty Assessment was conducted in 2017-2018. Participatory planning and creation of the survey was done via monthly community meetings, allowing all community members to be involved in this community-wide effort. We received over 225 surveys back providing information about gardening and farming, household health, SNAP usage, wild food consumption, and individual food needs and preferences on the White Earth Reservation.Some Highlighted Results:? 19% use SNAP, 7% use Commods? 28% said one person is diabetic in their household, 5% said two or more? Over 70% would be interested in cooking/canning classes if offered? Average distance to grocery store is 60 mile round trip? Over 80% said they would purchase more fresh vegetables and traditional native foods if they were offered closer in distance to their home.3048000889000? 90% of people said they would rather purchase from a mobile truck with a route than gas station store.? 55% said they would like to continue to be involved with Food Sovereignty conversations? Over 50% of White Earth community members purchase over 90% of their food 30 miles from a big box store with the majority of shoppers going to Walmart.? The most harvested traditional native food is fishTo request the full results of this survey report, email Zachary Paige, Food Sovereignty Specialist; zacharypaige@whiteearth-467360066040White Earth Mobile Market 00White Earth Mobile Market 3187700000White Earth Mobile Market-2286001685290Identified Goals:? Increase consumption of tribally produced fruits and vegetables by both individual producers and a White Earth community farm operation? Increase access to traditional native and healthy food options in rural WE communities? Collaborate with existing WE food distribution programs such as Elder Wellness, SNAP Food Distribution and ‘fill in the gaps’ (begin where other food access programs end).? Through collaboration with the White Earth Market, increase diversity of traditional native food products sold and support traditional harvesters, gatherers and growers??Increase cooking knowledge and expertise through providing recipes of traditional native foods.00Identified Goals:? Increase consumption of tribally produced fruits and vegetables by both individual producers and a White Earth community farm operation? Increase access to traditional native and healthy food options in rural WE communities? Collaborate with existing WE food distribution programs such as Elder Wellness, SNAP Food Distribution and ‘fill in the gaps’ (begin where other food access programs end).? Through collaboration with the White Earth Market, increase diversity of traditional native food products sold and support traditional harvesters, gatherers and growers??Increase cooking knowledge and expertise through providing recipes of traditional native foods.As previously mentioned, this project began with an Indian Health Service grant from Economic Development in 20014. This initiated the hiring of Zachary Paige as Food Sovereignty Specialist in 2017 who eventually moved from Economic Development to the Ag Department to manage this project as well as all other Food Sovereignty tasks.The White Earth Mobile Market is a multipurpose food truck and grocery store intended to deliver traditional and local produce to drop-off at convenience stores, community centers, gas stations, directly to community members, and sell White Earth Market products such as honey, wild rice, as well as cook food for community events and teach and train up and coming White Earth Chefs. The identified communities to deliver food are: White Earth, Rice Lake, Elbow Lake, Pine Point and Elbow Lake.Grants and organizations and foundations that support this project:We successfully leveraged $40k from the Minnesota Department of Ag under the Good Food Access Campaign to purchase the truck in 2017, as well as open display vegetable coolers in Richwood and Pine Point gas stations to increase vegetables being sold. In 2018, we leveraged $14k to purchase more freezers and refrigerators to store food at our base location in Mahnomen, as well as provide electric and storage to the Mahnomen Farmer’s Market. In 2019, we successfully leveraged $30k through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Equity Grant to support the purchase of our initial traditional foods and implementation of our traditional meal kit project in the fall of 2019. This project is in collaboration with Manna Foods Co-op in Detroit Lakes to provide premade meal-kits with traditional native foods which will be delivered to community members. All of the recipes are made by White Earth chefs and will be filmed and broadcast. Other collaborators in this project include Food Distribution, Elder Wellness, WETCC Extension, Sioux Chef, and White Earth SNAP education.White Earth Tilling Program15748001452245Adam Woltjer, Ag Manager tilling garden00Adam Woltjer, Ag Manager tilling garden39751001972945Zachary Paige, Food Sovereignty Specialist00Zachary Paige, Food Sovereignty Specialist3975100186563000010033000We took phone calls and emails and tilled over 75 personal and community gardens in 2019 with two tillers. With two people it took about three weeks to till all gardens. This took away from some of the Spring planning and planting that is necessary for both the Ag Department and the Food Sovereignty Initiative. This has been identified as an understaffed program for the amount of community members requesting their plot being tilled.? Starting in 2020 we will be to also provide plant starts with our new greenhouse.? Request for aid in tilling staff in 2020 from other departments so the Ag and Food Sovereignty Program can concentrate on other important community Ag and commercial Ag projects and not be derailed for three weeks at a vital time of the year.White Earth Community Farm378460040640000White Earth Natural Resource Division purchased a 10 acre property on Hwy 200 a quarter mile East of Hwy 59. This was the previous home of an old horse auction barn. On the property there is a house which is currently the WEFSI office, a large horse barn, and additional new shed. WENRD and WEFSI are currently storing farm equipment in the barns, and WEFSI also has equipment that is stored. 3721100342265WEFSI Greenhouse Photo by Zachary Paige00WEFSI Greenhouse Photo by Zachary PaigeIn the East field, we have planted three sisters plots with in 2018 with the White Earth Tribal and Community College Extension. We gardened together each week and shared the harvest and provided pumpkins to the Circle of Life Academy. In 2019, we grew traditional white corn that we are planning to make into a hominy product on a small scale. It is possible that we will scale up for 2020 if we have the resources to do so.We finished construction on our greenhouse adding electric and propane capability. We will be able to grow plant starts for the community starting in the Spring of 2020. We also plan on putting in a High tunnel in 2019 for use in 2020 to grow cucumbers and tomatoes. In 2019, we planted a ? acre of traditional corn for processing and hominy product for community meals.This is the site that Ag Manager, Adam Woltjer has identified as having potential to start the White Earth Bison Program. We can utilize the land here to grow vegetables for the community through the White Earth Farmer’s Market and the Mobile Market. WEFSI is not looking to profit from sales but will sell produce to programs and individuals at a reasonable market price. We currently use organic methods of growing and cultivating without the use of pesticides. Currently there is no benefit to be certified organic thereforePartnerships Strengthened in 2019-254002101850White Earth 4H cooking Wild Rice Blueberry Pancakes. Photo by Z.P.00White Earth 4H cooking Wild Rice Blueberry Pancakes. Photo by Z.P.-492760123825003947160307340000This year in 2019, we are strengthening our partnerships with the Elder Wellness Program, White Earth Food Distribution, WETCC Extension, Manna Food Co-op, White Earth 4H, and the Sioux Chef. Together, with the help of a grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Equity, we are cooking! WEFSI is working together with five native chefs to create meals that use traditional foods. Colleen Blattenbaur, SNAP-ED educator will be filmed cooking her famous Saratoga squash recipe! The youngsters pictured here are from the White Earth 4H. They have been coming to the WEFSI farm every Wednesday from noon to 4pm, learning about farming, growing food, weeding and cooking. They created the wild rice flour blueberry pancake meal kit that also contains dehydrated dandelion tea and wild rice bison sausage bratwurst. 52578001776095Photo by Z.P.00Photo by Z.P.The Sioux Chef, internationally acclaimed chef Sean Shreman has also partnered with us on this project. He is currently building an Indigenous Food Lab in Minneapolis where young native chefs can train and learn how to use traditional foods in their cooking. Sean will be coming up to White Earth to begin what we hope will be a meaningful and lasting partnership to increase the excitement and economic opportunity of native chefs cooking with traditional native foods. Sean has led the way to help increase awareness of the importance of eating from our localized environments, which is both healthy and seasonal.We are working also together with the Elder Wellness Program by delivering our traditional foods meal kits at the same time the elder meals are being served. This way, the community will know what time and where the meal kits are being offered. As we move forward with all of our projects, we always are determining if another program is already doing some work in that field and working together to both strengthen their program as well as increase the capacity of the WEFSI.White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative Five Year Plan Strengthening collaboration with the White Earth MarketThe WEFSI currently utilizes and maintains the equipment listed on the next page, but there is no clear place to store and utilize this equipment for the growth of the WEFSI program for the next 2 or 5 years. There is also no storage space that is food grade to adequate process traditional foods identified as potential sale items for the White Earth community to make a food safe product either for their own use and sale or to sell to either the White Earth Market. The house on the WEFSI grounds needs to be repaired if equipment will be continued to be stored at this location. The White Earth Market also has similar goals and has a similar problem. Both the WEFSI and the White Earth Market managers are very interested in collaborating more to increase the line of items that the White Earth Market sells. This collaboration will be the major focus of both a 2-year and 5-year plan.The WEFSI began in White Earth Economic Development with a goal to work together with the White Earth Market and aid in increasing the diversity of traditional foods products which will also aid in increasing the sovereignty of the White Earth Food System. In 2017-2019, WEED and WEFSI collaborated on a value-added grant through the Minnesota Department of Ag to purchase equipment that was mutually beneficial for both divisions. This equipment purchased was a $10k wild rice bagger as well as the $13k corn sheller. Both of these items need to be used as their intended goal to increase capacity of the White Earth Market while supporting White Earth farmers and rice harvesters. The rice bagger was a vital item to help speed up bagging what is now over 50k pounds of wild rice to be sold to USDA and other markets.Both the manager of the WEM and the specialist of WEFSI have been following the White Earth Market 2015 Business Plan developed by Economic Development which outlines a pathway to increase its economic reach into the wholesale market and increase sales. The WEFSI can focus on aiding with a few White Earth Market value-added projects that support food sovereignty. Some of these include:White Earth Jams and JelliesWhite Earth Dried Corn HominyWhite Earth PopcornWhite Earth BeansSweetgrass braidsWhite Earth Maple Syrup processingWhite Earth Wild Rice finishingWhite Earth BisonEquipment Assessment – What we have and approx. value of each itemWEFSI EquipmentYear PurchasedApprox. Purchase price/valueWhere currently storedUseCorn Sheller2018$13kHorse Auction BarnTop of the line food-grade corn sheller will rubber rollers and vacuum used to shell traditional corn and make a corn hominy product using clean and whole kernels. Food Grade Freezer2019$3kHouseStore traditional foods that must be stored frozen such as meats/fish/corn meal and other frozen vegetable products to be sold with the White Earth Mobile MarketFood Grade Refrigerator2019$3kHouseStore traditional foods that must be cool to keep preserved such as fruits and vegetablesTraditional Foods2019$6kHouseVarious traditional native food products such as jams. Jellies, meats stored in house/office to be sold with White Earth Mobile MarketBCS Tiller2018$4kAg BarnTill personal and department White Earth community food plotsSmall tiller2019$1kAg BarnTill personal and department White Earth community food plotsGreenhouse2018$10kWEFSI groundsGrow plant starts for the White Earth community members such as tomato, cucumber, pepperHigh Tunnel2019$10kWEFSI groundsGrow food such as tomatoes, cucumber for Mobile Market Food bins2019$1kHouseStorage for traditional foodsFood Truck2018$35kWEFSI groundsCook at Community events, mobile grocery store concentrating on traditional and healthy foodsTine weeder2018$2kWEFSI groundsHelps in weeding/cultivating organic corn without having to spray chemicals4-row Corn Planter2018$3kWEFSI groundsPlants corn on medium acreage.John Deer Tractor2017$28kWEFSI groundsTills, cultivates, and seeds small acreage from 1-5 acres.Total approximate value of equipment used for WEFSI currently being stored on WEFSI grounds: $119k. Neither the house/office or horse barn on the property are food grade and would need repairs to become food grade and store food.Need for Food Grade Commercial/Community Kitchen, Processing and Storage Facility (for both WEFSI and WEM)We have a need a large, clean and food grade community kitchen for the use of White Earth Community to process traditional and canned foods. This has been identified as a need for over the last five years by the White Earth Tribal and Community College Extension Educators. The WETCC Extension Educators have an in-depth knowledge of community gardening to cooking needs. They have a small food-grade space in their office, but it is by no means a large enough size to use for larger processing. Both Becca Dallinger and Tammy Bellanger whom have work for Extension for the past 5 years have identified this as a major need echoed by the White Earth Farmer’s Market and the White Earth Health Dept.Once a large, food grade community kitchen is built, be will be able to use this kitchen for making more products for the White Earth Market. The Ag Department would be able grow more traditional corn that could be a vertically integrated market where we can save seed, plant, grow, harvest, shell, clean, cook, dehydrate and packed in such a facility and sell with the White Earth Market.Native American Produce - White Earth Market manager Tracy Goodwin, has been to a training to be able to put an authentic “Native American Produced” sticker on all products that are harvested and produced by White Earth community members. This will add value to all new and old White Earth products. All the following products will not only be more accessible to the White Earth community members, they will also increase profit and maintain economic sustainability and increase sovereignty of the food supply within the White Earth Reservation.Jams and Jellies - Berries are a nutritious native food product. Currently this is a market that White Earth Market can expand according to the 2015 WEM business plan. We can purchase berries from community members for a specific price or we can purchase the final jam and jelly product from a White Earth individual. Either way, to streamline this process, a food grade commercial and community kitchen would not only be ideal, it would in the end help save time and money by not having to ensure an individual kitchen operation that a person uses is food grade and servsafe certified.Dried Hominy Corn Product - This product is a potential large moneymaker. There are currently no tribes in our region making this product that is available in a bulk amount. From our WEFSI monthly meetings, the community has identified a dried hominy corn product as very desirable. We can use the traditional Bear Island Flint Corn variety that was grown in the region. We have access to this seed and could use our commercial corn sheller to increase the production of this product. WEFSI’s unique position under the Ag Dept can help identify fields that are isolated to save seed as well as grow the corn on a small 1-2 acre plot to determine if the variety will work for this product. In order for this product to be a success, we would need a commercial kitchen space, a space to use the corn sheller, and a space to package the product. This could potentially be done using WEM or WEFSI staff as the project would align with either program’s goals. WEM could also purchase cobs from individual growers and provide seed to farmers.White Earth Popcorn - This could be another potential product using similar guidelines as listed in White Earth Dried Hominy Corn with less processing involved.Beans - This is another potential product and would fall into the “5-year plan” category as bean harvesting equipment is very costly. Although beans are a staple, traditional food high in protein and dries and stores well and can be used for soups.Dried Vegetables for Soup Mixes - A commercial kitchen can be used to make soup mixes. This is a need identified by elders when attending elder meetings and talking about food sovereignty. This would also increase the time that vegetables are available in our short season climate.Maple Syrup Processing - White Earth Market has identified producing Maple Syrup as a way to save money while supporting white earth production of this amazing traditional product. Currently, there is no White Earth Program that vertically integrates the collection of sap to being financially reimbursed for their product. This could be an additional facility that White Earth Market and WEFSI co-manage that purchases sap from community members with a standards protocol and boils it down to make genuine White Earth Syrup instead of purchasing.Wild Rice Finishing - White Earth Market is also interested in finishing our own wild rice. This would also save money in the process and make another vertically integrated market. Such finishers as Bruce Savage from Fond du Lac who finishes a few tribes’ rice in the area could be hired to help White Earth write up a business plan on the needs of a wild rice finishing facility for the amount of wild rice that is purchased by the tribe.White Earth Bison - We will need additional staffing to shelter bison. Adam Woltjer, Ag Manager is the lead on bison and is the point of contact for this project. Bison jerky could potentially be another White Earth Market Product. SummaryThe White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative have an immediate need for storage of current equipment as well as a need for the estimated growth and success of the project that the White Earth Community is invested in. With the White Earth Food Sovereignty Survey complete, and with such community investment such as over 90% being interested in having greater access to traditional and healthy foods, we have a potential market both within and outside of the reservation for traditional foods. This will only increase economic sovereignty of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. In order to maintain and increase both the access to traditional foods and supporting tribal producers, we need adequate facility to process, store, and sell these food products. The development of a White Earth Food Co-op storefront was actively being worked on with council’s approval in 2016-2017 in White Earth Economic Development Department. Through listening to the community members there is a great interest in this idea.Next Steps and Recommendations for 5 Year PlanPart of the work that WEFSI does is to listen to needs between different White Earth Departments to come up with a solution that saves money through working and sharing resources and facilities. The White Earth Market can also be more marketable if more people are aware of its existence. It is currently in a closet in the RTC building. If WEM had a storefront, it would increase traffic ten-fold and is something that community member ask for… “When is White Earth going to start a food co-op already?” This is a very common question that I have heard at pow wows, farmer’s markets and community meetings when discussing food sovereignty. There already has been some groundwork laid out from WEED in the past, but starting now in 2019, we have laid ground work in another way. We have listened to the community and were able to acquire all of our equipment with grant money up until this point. We are going to be writing a few grants in 2019/2020 to increase the capacity of WEFSI as the community is invested. Our ask from the White Earth Council is to see our need as the demand has grown and will continue to grow to help support this effort. We will also be working on creating a White Earth Food Policy with Tribal Lawyers and the WEFSI work group.STAFFING Recommendation for 5 year planOne full time staff – Food Sovereignty Specialist – Currently fundedDuties include:??Coordination of community farm/ garden projects and providing outreach to youth, elders, and White Earth Programs.? Coordinating tilling program for personal gardens??Manage other food sovereignty staff? Manage grants, development of programs? Continue to collaborate with White Earth Market and all other partners to expand food sovereignty on the White Earth ReservationOne full time Mobile Market technician (prospective)Duties would include:? Coordinate food truck route and schedule? Manage inventory of traditional foods, EBT, cooking education demos? Coordinate growers, harvesters to White Earth Market and increase traditionalFood harvested and sold in White EarthOne full time Community Farm Technician (prospective)? Planting all plant starts for tilling program, tilling personal gardens? Planting small farm for White Earth TSA (Tribally Shared Agriculture) ProgramOffering a box of fresh food to interested community members and programs once a week? Taking care of community farm high tunnel, planting, cultivating, harvest of traditional foods and seeds. ? Bring community members on farm in assistance program connected to WETCC in farm and grower training.EQUIPMENT - FOOD GRADE FACILITYOptions for existing equipment and community need for food sovereigntyBuild up the shed to make food grade processing facility with community kitchen – No assessment done yet. There is currently a new shed that is a shell. We could build up to be a food grade facility to process and package traditional foods that could potentially benefit both WEFSI and White Earth Market.Build new facility - No assessment done yetNote: For developing a food co-op, there are free services that U of Madison provides in their co-op development program that could be beneficial to a potential assessment and MUNITY KITCHENIf we have one large commercial/community kitchen with processing and storage space for the potential to expand to more products, the following departments will be able to utilize the space in the following ways:DEPARTMENTUSEWEFSI? Store traditional foods safely for White Earth Mobile Market? In 2019/2020 – Utilize our corn sheller to make a dried corn hominy product.? Store frozen/refrigerator foods in a safe and clean environment.WETCC? Teach large groups cooking? Processing foods from the WETCC gardens and personal gardens on a small scaleWhite Earth 4H? Learning cooking, food processingWhite Earth Market? Expand market by offering more diverse traditional foods products? Providing income to harvesters such as berries and wild foods and teas? Place to store mass amount (over 25k lbs.) of wild rice and keep safeTribal Members? Will have increased access to traditional and healthy foods without having to wait for a farmer’s market once a weekFarmers/Producers? Can sell product that is processed in a food grade facility to White Earth Market or Farmer’s market. Without processing in a food grade facility, it is unacceptable to resell? Sell harvested berries or other products is mass to be processed by WEFSI or WEM to be sold by WEMWhite Earth Youth and Chefs? Chef training location with Sioux Chef native chefs. This could be a potential site for learning chef skillWhite Earth Mobile Market? Store foods in a facility when not on a route safelyWhite Earth Elders? Would benefit to have a place to go to purchase traditional foods Thank you for reading the White Earth Food Sovereignty Initiative 5 Year Plan. If you have any questions, please contact Zachary Paige, Food Sovereignty Specialist at;zacharypaige@whiteearth-Office: 218-936-4024 ................
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