Non Technical Summary
The Rural Nutrition project is expected to improve health for Alaska Native people by increasing the consumption of traditional Alaska Native wild gathered foods.The Objective for this project is to: Increase availability of relevant information and skills training in the FANH Sciences that support improved nutrition in order to achieve the Goal: Increase food security and health outcomes for Alaska Native and rural community students and residents. The Rural Nutrition project provides 8 classes/workshops per year (24 total) with at least 3 of the sessions recorded and uploaded to the internet. The university credit classes and non-credit workshops will provide instruction, skills training and hands-on learning experiences related to gathering and preserving food from traditional sources for personal consumption with an emphasis on wild foods including vegetation, fish and game. The majority of the classes/workshops will be held in rural Alaska communities and include an Alaska Native subject expert in addition to a university or Cooperative Extension instructor. It will enhance student learning by incorporating place-based education that looks at food as a whole related to the land and ecology and cultural traditions.Sessions will be augmented by additional resources including information on UAF FANH academic programs, Alaska Cooperative Extension resources and the IAC developed online Gwich'in Athabascan Alaska Native language course lessons on food and eating terms.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
703	0830	3020	50%
703	0680	3020	50%

Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior;

Subject Of Investigation
0680 - Other products of the forest; 0830 - Wild animals;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Goals / Objectives
Goal: Increase food security and health outcomes for Alaska Native and rural community students and residentsObjective 1: Increase availability of relevant information and skills training in the FANH Sciences that support improved nutrition

Project Methods
This grant will provide one-credit classes and/or non-credit workshops related to gathering and preserving food for personal consumption with an emphasis on wild foods including vegetation, fish and game. All of the classes/workshops will provide relevant content on nutrition, food-based health information, traditional food sources as well as information on additional resources including UAF FANH academic programs and Alaska Cooperative Extension resourcesUpon receipt of award, IAC staff will construct reporting forms, set up an excel spreadsheet to track activities, work with the CRCD Chief Fiscal Manager to set up a project budget and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Office of Grants and Contracts (UAF OGCA) on reporting requirements.Grant project funding supports a dedicated project coordinator, instructor payment, honorariums for Alaska Native Elders/traditional subject experts, travel to rural villages to provide classes/workshops, supplies/materials for the classes/workshops, tuition support for students in for-credit classes, travel for one Project Directors meeting and external evaluation.A Rural Nutrition Coordinator will be hired to over see this project. This position will work full time during the academic year. The Coordinator will provide daily coordination and oversight of the project including work with communities to determine desired topics, setting up classes/workshops, recruit lecturers/presenters, secure supplies/materials, logistics and tracking project progress. This position will work closely with IAC Director and project PI Julie Biddle.This funding will support 7 classes/workshops in rural Alaska communities and 1 class/workshop in Fairbanks per year (Fairbanks is the central hub for the Interior Region). It is expected that each class/workshop will have at least 8 participants.IAC will recruit subject matter experts, including Alaska Native Elders, to provide presentations, skills training and knowledge related to traditional foods. Topics can include identification of wild gathered foods, traditional uses as food and medicine, traditional food preservation methods (such as fish drying), skills such as building a fish trap, using wild gathered food in cooking, nutritional content of wild gathered foods, and other relevant topics. Other topics that can be incorporated into this project are traditional ecological knowledge, common elements of regional diets, nutrients that support health, comparison of traditional diets to a modern western diet, and common diet related problems affecting rural Alaskans. Presentations and activities can incorporate supporting topics.The classes/workshops will include experiential activities and incorporate local knowledge when appropriate. For example, a class on plant identification class/workshop would be scheduled at a time of year when the instructor can include a field trip.Short videos will be produced from the Fairbanks classes/workshops. IAC will also make at least 3 videos of presentation to post on the UAF media website (https://media.uaf.edu/) IAC will also post information about the project and online videos on IAC's social media platforms. This will increase the reach of the information. In addition, the online videos will continue to be a resource after the conclusion of the project.Classes/workshops will include both an adjunct instructor or Cooperative Extension presenter plus a local expert or Alaska Native Elder whenever possible and as appropriate. IAC will compose a database of potential instructors and traditional knowledge experts. IAC is part of the USDA funded Drumbeat Consortium, which includes a subsistence foods emphasis, and will work with Alaska Cooperative Extension to identify presenters. IAC will reach out to our communities and Native organizations for referrals of experts on traditional subjects. IAC has used this approach successfully to find Alaska Native presenters with traditional knowledge and skills for past Title III projects including Strengthening Our Foundation and to develop the Alaska Native language videos supported through Sustaining Progress.The IAC developed online Gwich'in Athabascan Alaska Native language course can be used as a resource for this project. This course features a lesson on food and eating terms. The majority of the communities in IAC's service area speak Athabascan dialects. The website is available at: https://gwichin.community.uaf.edu/The PI and Coordinator will be housed in the Harper Building. They will have regular contact and the PI will receive monthly reports with updates on project progress, challenges and highlights. The PI will oversee the budget and will be responsible for approval of all purchases including instructor and external evaluation contracts. External evaluators will be hired to conduct annual evaluations and reports with a summative evaluation at project end.