Performing Department
Plant Pathology
Non Technical Summary
Indigenous food systems are increasingly recognized as critical components to supporting the health and cultural continuance of Indigenous communities. Many Tribes across the US are making marked progress toward building more self-reliant food system economies that focus on the production of organic food and products to feed their communities. To continue to support the ongoing growth of Tribal food sovereignty and food production initiatives, particularly in the context of organic production, we propose to bring together a working group of Tribal community leaders and University/Extension faculty and staff of each of the 1862 and 1994 Land Grant Colleges and Universities in the state of Wisconsin. Working closely with Tribal community members and Land Grant College and University faculty and staff, the goals of this planning proposal are 1) to conduct a needs assessment and compile asset and resource map that will contribute to the development of a white paper outlining a roadmap of activities that will support Tribal agriculture programs and education, particularly in the context of organic agriculture, and 2) to become better acquainted with one another across cultures and the landscape. Through project activities, we will gain clearer understanding of Tribal needs, developing holistic, community-based strategies to strengthen and expand the production of organic food by building strong relationships and trust. Successful completion of this planning process will result in the formation of an expanded ongoing UW-Madison/Native Nations Agriculture Working Group and submission of integrated multiregional proposal(s). This projects meets OREI goals 1, 2, 5, and 7.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Working closely with Tribal community members and Land Grant College and University faculty and staff, the goals of this planning proposal are 1) to conduct a needs assessment and compile asset and resource map that will contribute to the development of a white paper outlining a roadmap of activities that will support Tribal agriculture programs and education, particularly in the context of organic agriculture, and 2) to become better acquainted with one another across cultures and the landscape. Through project activities, we will gain clearer understanding of Tribal needs with respect to food production, sovereignty, and education, developing holistic, community-based strategies to strengthen and expand the production of organic food by building strong relationships and trust. Successful completion of this planning process will result in the formation of an expanded ongoing UW-Madison/Native Nations Agriculture Working Group and submission of integrated multiregional proposal(s) to USDA-NIFA and other programs.
Project Methods
Methods include the following:1) Community-based meetings of working group members and other stakeholders involved in Tribal food sovereignty and food systems efforts as well as follow-up individual interviews will occur in the summer and fall throughout 2021 and 2022. Four events will be held over the course of the project at sites highlighting current projects, including within Tribal communities and at the 1862 and 1994 Land Grant partners. The project manager/outreach specialist, along with local Tribal community hosts, will be prepared to facilitate the meeting, and related discussion, incorporating knowledge gained from Objective 1. These facilitators will provide a brief introduction of the goals of the meeting, the ground rules, a summary of activities to date to serve as an introduction to the day-long meeting, and instructions to obtain consent nt from participants. The meeting participants will then convene in small group, responding to 8-10 open-ended questions; facilitators will ensure all participants respond, drawing out members when necessary, and politely closing off dominant participants if required (Groves et al., 2004). Following the discussion, community-based workshops will be offered to engage community members around topics such as reducing tillage, soil health, and seed saving in organic systems2) We will use a combination of written assessment tools as well as information gathered from in-person listening sessions. We will identify areas of need that are limiting the progress and expansion of Tribal food sovereignty efforts, including aspects related to organic food production, processing, and education. Additionally, we will identify other areas that could benefit from partnerships across the working group members and other public agencies, including access to federal agriculture programs, business management, undergraduate education, and Extension.3) The project manager, with the PDs and working group members, will summarize the outcomes of the needs assessment, asset and resource mapping, and listening sessions into a white paper, which also proposes a roadmap forward as to how the project partners and other public agencies can work together in the future to support Tribal food sovereignty goals and related education efforts. Approximately ten stakeholders from the working group will be more intimately involved in the development of the white paper and future research proposals for submission to the OREI, AFRI, and other USDA programs.