Secretary's Column: USDA Partners with Native Americans

From USDA:

Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on December 5, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Shortly after taking office, I joined other Cabinet officials on a visit to rural Southwest Alaska. We met with Alaska Native leaders and heard firsthand the difficulties facing Native Americans living in small communities in remote, rural areas. Since that time, this administration has worked each day to provide Native Americans with improved housing, better educational opportunities, clean water and sanitation, and the opportunity to create good jobs. Across government, and here at USDA, we’ve made progress.

This past week, I joined President Obama and members of the Cabinet at the sixth White House Tribal Nations Conference here in Washington, DC. In addition to serving as the Chair of the White House Rural Council, I am also a member of the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Our priorities in Indian Country include promoting sustainable economic development; supporting greater access to and control over healthcare; improving the effectiveness and efficiency of tribal justice systems; expanding and improving educational opportunities for Native American youth; and protecting and supporting the sustainable management of Native lands, environments and natural resources.

The Obama Administration has been committed to increasing tribal self-governance and self-determination, making it possible for tribes to develop resources and improve infrastructure on their lands, and also create employment and business opportunities for Native American families, including veterans and youth.

As part of this effort, I recently announced $9.7 million in grants to 62 community-based and non-profit organizations, and educational institutions to conduct training, outreach and technical assistance for socially disadvantaged, veteran, and tribal farmers and ranchers. A dozen of those grants will support tribes. Additionally, we are providing loans and grants totaling $4.1 million to 1994 Land Grant Tribal Colleges through USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Programs. These programs provide funds to construct, enlarge or improve community facilities for healthcare, public safety and public services.

USDA will also support partnerships with three tribal colleges (Oglala Lakota College, Kyle, S.D.; Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, N.M.; United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, N.D.) by providing grant writing assistance and other services to help traditionally underserved communities access federal resources. We are also providing a $5.4 million loan to upgrade broadband service for residents of New Mexico’s Mescalero Apache Reservation. This is the first telecommunications loan USDA has made under the Substantially Underserved Trust Area (SUTA) provision of the 2008 Farm Bill.

As we enter 2015, we will continue to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis, consulting and collaborating with them, and striving to ensure that they receive their fair share of support from USDA programs—support that not only provides jobs and educational opportunity, but also honors our promises and treaty responsibilities.

Green Thumbs near Green Bay: Menominee Tribe Cultivates Nutrition Education

From USDA:

Posted by Lindsay Walle, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Food Distribution Division, on December 5, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Participants in the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s monthly cooking class sample the new recipes they learned to prepare, cereal treats with wheat bran flakes and zippy zucchini salad. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols.

Cooking knowledge, proper planning, and access to healthy foods are essential ingredients to healthy diets.  I witnessed this firsthand when I traveled to the food distribution center of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, one of the 20 Indian Tribal Organizations that received funding in 2014 from USDA’s Food Distribution Program Nutrition Education (FDPNE) grants.  Their programs offer cooking classes, recipes, nutrition education and resources for Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) participants as well as manage a community garden program which provides fresh fruits and vegetables for tribal members.

Creativity and partnerships allow the Menominee’s innovative educational activities to serve as a shining example of best practices.  A monthly cooking class combines instruction about basic cooking and food safety with interactive games and hands-on recipe preparation.  The class is a joint venture among FDPIR, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Community Resources Center, and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

The day my colleagues and I visited, the lesson theme focused on eating away from home.  Attendees shared reasons they eat out, such as celebrations, convenience, or camaraderie.  A scenario game prompted participants to consider how the interrelated factors of time, money, nutritional value, and social pressure influence their decision-making.  After brainstorming strategies to better manage and plan ahead for everyday challenges, the class transitioned to the kitchen area to learn how to prepare zippy zucchini salad and cereal treats with wheat bran flakes.

Gardening is very popular among the Menominee.  The food distribution center maintains a community garden as well as raised beds that provide fresh produce – from bok choy to snow peas – to clients.  The tribe also seeks to bring gardening home to its members.  Using FDPNE grant funds, staff members have the resources available to rototill plots of land, distribute seeds and gardening tools, and build raised planting beds for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Canning classes go beyond traditional jams and jellies.  These classes enable participants to enjoy local produce, such as apples and tomatoes, year-round.  Everyone goes home not only with new skills and ideas but also with a portion of the session’s products.

In addition to the cooking and canning classes, nutrition educators conduct monthly tastings and present “learn while you wait” visuals to clients coming in to pick up their FDPIR food packages.  Resource management, making ends meet, and the tendency to think one day at a time rather than long-term are struggles Jennifer Gauthier of UW-Extension witnesses with her clients.  By providing strategies to eat both affordably and healthily, the Menominee’s nutrition education programs are making a difference, one household at a time.

An attendee of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s cooking class prepares a zippy zucchini salad recipe using zucchini from the garden at the food distribution center. USDA Photo by Bob Nichols.