Progress 08/01/17 to 07/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Our main target audience are the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Members and members of the EBCI Community. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are located in the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina. There are approximately 16,000 tribal members living on 56,000 acres of mountainous forest land with minimal property suitable for farming or housing. As with most mountainous areas, farmland is often competing for housing and commercial use. This land classification also tends to lead to isolated communities with little modern infrastructure such as cell towers and fiber connections. Due to land restrictions and the historically challenging access to healthy food options through local food systems, food sovereignty is of major concern Changes/Problems:Throughout the last few years, the EBCI NC Cooperative Extension Office has used best practices to work and deliver education outreach to our EBCI Community during COVID. This has ranged from Virtual Meetings held for those that have Internet access to holding most activities outdoors when weather allowed. The EBCI NC Cooperative Extension Office has also experienced turnover in the FRTEP Funds supported positions which has caused signifcant salary funds to go unspent this last year. Thank you. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?NC Cooperative Extension State Conferences held annually InterTribal Ag Council Annual Membership Meeting Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program Professional Annual Meeting Routine Trainings held through NC Cooperative Extension How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results and reports are provided to the community through newspaper, social media, Extension Website, Annual Reports to Council, Chief's Annual Report, and through monthly Ag & Natural Resources Committee Meetings held on-air through Cherokee Cablevision and broadcast live via EBCI Streaming services. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
TRIBAL YOUTH AND 4-H? Additionally, all students in 3rd to 6th grades at New Kituwah Academy received Santa's STEM Kit with at-home activities selected by 4-H volunteers and teachers at the school. Face-to-face programs resumed with precautionary measures including the Youth Sewing Group and Cultural Presentation Team. Conducted virtual in-school embryology (hatching chicks) with all 2nd grade classes at Cherokee Elementary School (approximately 120 students) during April and May. Held a financial simulation for EBCI seniors (approximately 75 students, 30 volunteers) at Cherokee High School as part of their Real Life Expo in April. Currently, we have 25 families involved in our Youth Poultry Project. 400 eggs were incubated at the extension office over the summer to meet the needs of giving out chicks and basic supplies to families in order to have more youth involved in agriculture and participating in livestock shows. Watching Youth and Adults Lead through 4-H Five youth competed in the presentation competition this year virtually, completing a 5-12 minute presentation on a topic of their choosing - At the district level, we had a 1st place winner (2nd place state) in the 14-18 Public Speaking category about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), 1st place winner (2nd place state) in the 11-13 Citizenship and Civic Engagement category about the Gender Pay Gap, 2nd place (state participant) in the 14-18 Arts and Communications category about Anime, 2nd place in the 8-10 Arts and Communications category about Gacha Life, and a Cloverbud participant. One youth participated in the AIRE (Application, Interview, Resume, and Electronic Video) competition to hone skills needed for college applications and entering the workforce. The EBCI has representation with the first district officer elected to the West District 4-H Teen Council from our tribal 4-H program. Eight youth attended the virtual West District 4-H Teen Retreat by joining with each other at the extension office to participate. Five youth attended the virtual NC 4-H Citizenship Focus at the extension office and learned about making decisions in consensus, debating current issues, and the political system. Five youth attended the virtual NC 4-H Congress at the extension office to meet other youth across the state via Zoom, participate in social activities to mitigate stress and learn about leading others through a service project. Eight adult 4-H volunteers attended the NC 4-H Volunteer Leader's Conference virtually in February to gain the skills necessary to serve our youth.? Food Systems, Farm and Community Markets Chief's Garden Kits - 1000kits (10000 individual seed packets) were given out in 2022 Garden Judging - visit and review community member, family, and cooperative gardens. For 2022, 61 Community Members participated. For 2021 and 2022 we were unable to host the Backyard Ramp Patch Project giveaway due to supply issues. We hope to continue in the future. Hosted multiple family shiitake log workshops. We schedule hour long appointments for families or groups comfortable with their peers to reduce exposure to others. Posted multiple chicken incubations on Facebook Live and posted to our Facebook page. Published an article regarding the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program offered to farmers that have been affected Hosted a virtual workshop regarding invasive species and native plants to utilize instead Conducted a seed saving workshop in Snowbird and Cherokee. We hope to give out different seeds annually during the garden kit giveaways. Seed saving is an important process for all gardeners. Held our first Ginseng Seed Giveaway in September 2021. Funds that we not used to purchase ramp bulbs were used to give out seed to over 600 community members. We hope to allow Tribal Members to establish their own ginseng patches for personal use. And all throughout the year we respond to community members calls for assistance. This ranges from plant pest or diseases to best growing practices. EMFS(Empowering Mountain Food Systems Project is a project partnership between the EBCI, NCSU Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC Cooperative Extension, and the Cherokee Preservation Foundation) has been collaborating with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' Public Health and Human Services Food Sovereignty & Security Board. Food Insecurity and Poverty were identified as a priority by survey tribal members on the 2018 Tribal Health Assessment. The Healthy Eating Action Team (HEAT) meets biweekly with Tribal Food Distribution, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), EBCI Transportation, Cherokee Choices, Natural Resources, and Cooperative Extension. The group developed and deployed a survey to assess COVID-19's impact on food insecurity and identify intervention points. Nearly 600 tribal members responded to the survey. WCU Integrated Health Sciences Students spent their Spring 2021 and Fall 2021 semester on a feasibility study for a Produce Prescription Program serving the EBCI community who are at risk for diet related disease and food insecurity. These students interviewed community stakeholders and presented a mock program that would effectively link farmers to a distributor, who would then distribute local foods to consumers who need a "prescription" of health foods. These distributors would be matched with cooking, preservation, and gardening classes. The Spring 2021 student class presented their program to approximately 20 stakeholders. EMFS acted as a liaison between ASAP and Tribal Foods, while Tribal Foods applied for the Appalachian Farmers Feeding Families Grant, which pays farmers fair wages for their food that is distributed to those in need. Pursuing grants to increase institutional procurement for feeding relief centers is a priority of HEAT. Three Cherokee Farmers received this contract to supply their fresh produce to Tribal Food Distribution.? EMFS hosted a EBCI Local Food Business Meeting to assess need and interest from local food business owners on the boundary. 18 community members participated.? Freshpoint (a Sysco distributor) was linked to two of our Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) farmers expanding to regional farm sales; from Lauren, "I'm really excited to start working with our EBCI Farmers. Their seed varieties - both heirlooms and seeds with geographic connections - are exactly what we're looking to source from more farmers to support Native American tribes and flavor histories. It sounds like they'll start harvesting this summer and fall, so I'm hoping to start purchasing as soon as they have product available." A collaboration with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians' Kituwah Sacred Farm is developing. The EMFS team is supporting various initiatives to establish permanently expanded markets for the EBCI farmers in Swain County and the Qualla Boundary. These efforts include cold storage, GAP certification, Agritourism development, and increased access to wholesale and retail markets. A unique partnership will align EBCI grown produce with the Produce Rx program currently in development.? EMFS collaborated with EBCI Public Health and Human Services Tribal Food Distribution Program and Nikwasi Initiative to plan a 5-session webinar on Indigenous Wellness and FoodWays. Session topics included pre-colonial diet benefits and live cooking demonstrations.? Tribal businesses and farmers were present at various events EMFS sponsored including a 4-part agritourism webinar, 3-part Good Agricultural Practices webinar, 2021 Winter Vegetable Conference, 3-part High Tunnel webinar.?
Publications
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Progress 08/01/20 to 07/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:For this project the target audience is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Western North Carolina. There are approxiamately 15,000 Enrolled Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Programming and education focus on youth age five up to senior adults. Impacts reach youth younger than five through family education Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?NC Cooperative Extension State Conference Trainings InterTribal Ag Council Annual Membership Meeting Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Professional Development Meeting Other trainings throughout the year from Extension and the EBCI HR Department How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through NC Cooperative Extension Reporting System In EBCI Annual Report to Council In EBCI Annual Chief's Report to the Community Monthly Newsletter EBCI NC Cooperative Extension Social Media and Webpage What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue to evolve and react appropriately with COVID and hopefully going back to face-to-face. However virtual meetings have shown to be beneficial and efficient.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Volunteers Leading the Way Throughout 2020, our volunteers have led the way to bringing 4-H programming to the youth of our community before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, we began a monthly volunteer mentoring program to provide our 4-H volunteers with individualized development plans based on their interests and needs In February, our volunteers won three awards at the North Carolina 4-H Volunteer Leaders Conference in Raleigh: two $100 scholarships for the National 4-H Volunteer Conference and the Statewide 4-H In-School Enrichment Volunteer award Additionally, two of our volunteers taught workshop sessions at the North Carolina 4-H Volunteer Leaders Conference showcasing programs on gardening and sewing In September, two of our volunteers attended the virtual National 4-H Volunteer Conference and taught two workshops: one on Cherokee culture and another on sewing 4-H Programs Weathering the Storm COVID-19 has had an obvious impact on our 4-H programming with the inability to conduct face-to-face programs in order to keep our community and young people safe. But critical programs have still had great participation and success on a district and state level this year. Seven project record books of 4-H participation in 2019 were submitted to the district competition earlier this year with judging still pending due to the pandemic Two youth competed in the presentation competition this year virtually, completing a 5-12 minute presentation on a topic of their choosing - At the district level, we had a 1st place winner (and state competition participant) in the 11-13 year old Arts and Communications category for a presentation on the Cherokee language; and a 3rd place winner in the 11-13 year old Egg Cookery category The EBCI has representation with the first district officer elected to the West District 4-H Teen Council from our tribal 4-H program during the virtual Teen Retreat in June Providing Solutions for Families during COVID-19 Getting materials for at-home activities and learning during this time is a critical community need which our 4-H program has stepped up to help provide programs to meet. With our national curriculum resources and innovative hands-on youth development ideas, we have been able to help our families. Immediately after the public schools shutdown in March, we provided 350 various activity kits to over 100 youth on the Qualla Boundary and in the Snowbird community. These kits had activities from marshmallow catapults, crocheting, cooking, outdoors education, and Cherokee culture During April and May, we had 25 youth participate in our virtual Kids' Cooking Challenge creating meals from a recipe and cooking activity emailed to their home each week for six weeks This summer, led by a 4-H volunteer, we hosted a 'Language and Legends' virtual program to make sure our families had access to video-based Cherokee culture resources to use at home Three of our youth participated in a virtual Junior Master Gardener program sponsored by Texas A&M University, including doing a service project where they started plants and gave them away at a local farmer's market This fall, we are providing monthly giveaways for activity kits themed around STEM, Cherokee Culture, and Healthy Living - during August and September, we have been able to reach 50 youth Local Food Systems, Farms, Community Markets Chief's Garden Kits - 850 kits (8500 individual seed packets) were given out in 2020. Garden Judging - visit and review community member, family, and cooperative gardens. For 2020, 55 Community Members participated. Hosted a Pesticide Collection event to dispose of old and unused pesticides • Hosted a workshop about building a raised bed at the American Legion in Cherokee. This raised bed was elevated to be wheelchair accessible and we had several people come out. Published an article about soil tests and how to conduct a soil test on your property Hosted a vermicomposting workshop where we learned how to utilize worms to create a compost for your garden. Three members brought home a vermicompost bin from the workshop and other have created their own. Attended the Appalachian Farm School hosted at Southwestern Community College Hosted the Backyard Ramp Patch Project where we gave out over 15,000 ramp bulbs to the public. Conducted a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party with Snowbird Library helping kids plant their own ("Truffula trees" a.k.a. snapdragons) Hosted three shiitake log workshops. One was hosted here at the EBCI Extension Office, the second one was hosted with Cherokee Choices for their multiday camp and the third was hosted in Snowbird at the Snowbird Library Created a YouTube video to show the public how to build a chicken feeder for home use in their chicken coops Published an article regarding the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program offered to farmers that have been affected Hosted a virtual workshop regarding invasive species and native plants to utilize instead In collaboration with the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, we published our first monthly newsletter in September Informed the public of the hemlock cone initiative and the importance of collecting cones for hemlock restoration in the state
Publications
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Progress 08/01/19 to 07/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:For this project the target audience is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Western North Carolina. There are approxiamately 16,000 Tribal Enrolled Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Programming and Education focus on youth age five up to senior adults. Impacts reach youth younger than five through family education and participation in programming. Our service area encompassses 7 Western NC Counties. Changes/Problems:The COVID 19 Public Health situation as with everyone is the greatest challenge. We are seeing this as an opportunity to reach new community members who may have not utilized our services before or we have not had any interaction with. Our social media and extension website has seen tremendous growth. But is a challenge when trying to work with our more traditional clients who may be older. With kids being at home and not in public instruction, day camps, afterschool programs, we are doing our best to give families tools to keep youth engaged and learning. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? State Extension Conference 2019 with 2 to 4 workshops daily over 3 days FRTEP Professional Development Conference 2019 with workshops provided InterTribal Ag Council Annual Meeting 2019 with workshops provided Organic Growers School Ginseng Growing Workshop Berry Workshop DISC Training for staff and Community Club Officers Eventbrite Training for customer registration for workshops Virtual Learning workshops Youth Development Training - Ages and Stages for new staff Embryology Education for Teachers Pesticide Continuing Education Credits Tax Preparation for Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Volunteers Farm Bill Implications on Indian Lands NRCS Programs and Opportunities How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Community Club Meetings Newsletter Email List Serve Clients North Carolina State University Extension Reporting Modules Annual Report to Tribal Council Chief's Annual Report to the People Social Media (Facebook) EBCI Extension Website What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?With the current public health situation, we must be creative in how to maintain the momentum that we had prior this spring. We must use virtual classrooms and platforms to reach our community. For those who do not have internet access or poor or no cell service, we must find ways to reach those who people. For the last several months we have done a good job to react to the situation, but now we must consider it the norm for a time to come. We will use our Social Media Platforms for instruction outreach and continue to provide paper copies of activites for those who do not have access. And as with last year, we with staff in place, continue to work toward strengthening partnerships and educational opportunities for Tribal Members. We also want to increase volunteer activity.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Backyard Ramp Patch Project 2020 - we give out ramp bulbs to the community to establish their own resource and lessen the impact on native stocks. Vendors for this year's supply was difficult to find as other areas are experiencing over-harvesting. For 2020 325 families began or expanded their own ramp patch. Community Garden Kits - 850 kits (8500 individual seed packets) were given out in 2020 to Cherokee Families to promote home gardens and family interaction in the garden. This was done in April 2020 a few weeks after a State and Reservation Border Shutdown began due to the COVID-19 Public Health Situation. Attendance was high and we actually ran out of seed and was not able to meet demand. We expect next years particpation to be around 1000 families. Monthly workshops on home gardening techniques along with farmer specific trainings. Workshops included: Raised Bed Growing, Vermicomposting, Mushroom Log Innoculation, Backyard Chicken Flocks, Dehydrated Foods, Home Canning, Knife Skills, and home exercise. Garden Judging - visit and review community member, family, and cooperative gardens, to be recognized at the Fall Community Awards Banquet. For summer 2020, 62 Community Members participated. This is also an opportunity to share grower techniques with each other and staff. Grew and distributed Traditional Cherokee Seed from the Center for Cherokee Plants, along with providing educational classes and tours of demonstration gardens. Work with other Tribal Programs to provide services to their clients or staff. Cannery for a second year in a row served more people and in turn processed the most preserved food to date. The Tribal cannery provided families and the community with over 5000 jars of food. Community Awards Banquet - recognize garden winners, community club achievements, and community initiatives. In Fall 2019 we recognized garden judging winners and 9 community clubs. Community "competitions" are held annually to record the amount of outreach each Tribal Community Club does for its people. Food boxes and school supplies distributions, grave digging, and other community projects are encouraged. Indian Fair - Extension is responsible for the exhibit hall portion except for the Qualla Arts & Crafts Section. This includes setup, intake, judging, displaying, prize awards, and much more. In the Fall of 2019, there were over 480 fair entries. An update on this reported last year. Working with National Park Service to establish a new "gathering rule" for harvesting native greens(sochan) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This will include a permitting process, proper plant identification, and proper harvesting, as well as tracking quantities harvested. 2019 marked the first year of the partnership. 36 permits where distributed to community members who were allowed to bring 5 additional people with them. We have not heard yet of the total amount harvested. Early comments were "I have not been allowed to harvest sochan that I could see from my home, now I can." Referring to a tribal member living along the park boundary. Modifications to this agreement are being made as what a biologist sees as the edible portions of a plant are not what gatherers wanted. VITA Tax Preparation - we house, facilitate, and manage this program as well as take the community's calls andestablish appointments. For 2020 the COVID -19 presented a great challenge when preparing taxes for community members. Our staff did virtual appointments and utilized other methods to reduce face to face contact. I am proud to say they completed 450 tax preperations. In a "normal" year last year, there were 520 people served. Provided Financial Education classes to: Tribal Education's Summer Youth College Experience, Early Childhood Staff during professional development session, and held 4 education short sessions for Community Club's, as well as began evening classes. Education was also provided to senior and junior Cherokee High School Classrooms. For 2020, we began working with special and gifted classrooms. Maintained garden projects with partners, including: Domestic Violence Shelter, Juvenile Services, MotherTown Healing Group(Substance Abuse Work Group), Dialysis Center and Senior Assisted Living, Kituwah Language Academy, Boys & Girls Club, and Children's Home. Provided Life Skills Classes to Cherokee Children's Home Youth Conducting food demonstration classes at Tribal Food Distribution twice a month. Conducted food demonstrations at Cherokee Food Lion. Provided knife skills and Home Food Preservation Classes to Family Consumer Science Classes and Occupational Course of Study Students at Cherokee High School. Conducted the Teen Cuisine Summer Nutrition Program at the Recreation Summer Camps and Cherokee Youth Center. A total of 143 students received education on nutrition, food safety, and some cooking skills. The program also utilized 3 youth ages 13-14. They received training and then helped facilitate the program. New for 2020 is the outreach of our own 4-H Program to other counties across the state and even to audiences outside of NC. Our 4-H Agent started a cultural presenation team to empower our youth to speak to other youth and adults about Cherokee Culture. So often our youth are asked to be ambassadors of Cherokee, unfairly expected to know everything about their own history, language, culture. We bring in Cherokee Artists, Historians, Language Specialists, and others to our club meetings to teach our youth. With the growing social justice movements, our group has been highlighted in state articles and has also influenced the creation of a cultural virtual cafe meetings.
Publications
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Progress 08/01/18 to 07/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:For this project the target audience is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Western North Carolina. There are approxiamately 15,000 Tribal Enrolled Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Programming and Education focus on youth age five up to senior adults. Impacts reach youth younger than five through family education and participation in programming. Changes/Problems:FRTEP Ag Agent (educator) has been vacant 11 months over this reporting cycle. Prior agent left August 2018. New person began August 1, 2019. This may have caused financial reports to look as though funds not being used. The other staff in the office and PI has been conducting Ag Education. There are some journal entries to post that effort back to this project. Now with staff we hope to strengthen partnerships and education opportunities to Tribal Members. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Youth Development Training - Ages and Stages Embryology Education for Teachers Pesticide Continuing Education Credits Tax Preparation Farm Bill Implications on Indian Lands NRCS Programs and Opportunities Home Food Preservation Healthy Cooking Skills Youth Nutrition Life Skills Plant Identification Proper Harvesting Techniques for Native Greens and Ramps Seed Saving Techniques Raised Bed Gardening Disaster Awareness and Preparedness How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Community Club Meetings Newsletter Email List Serve Clients North Carolina State University Extension Reporting Modules Annual Report to Tribal Council Chief's Annual Report to the People Social Media (Facebook) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?With staff in place, work toward strengthening partnerships and educational opportunities for Tribal Members. We also want to increase volunteer activity.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Backyard Ramp Patch Project - we give out ramp bulbs to the community to establish their own resource and lessen the impact on native stocks. For 2019 300 families began their own ramp patch. Chief Community Garden Kits - 800 kits (8000 individual seed packets) were given out in 2019 to Cherokee Families to promote home gardens and family interaction in the garden. Monthly workshops on home gardening techniques along with farmer specific trainings, such as: food safety, food preservation, raised bed planting, community gardens. Garden Judging - visit and review community member, family, and cooperative gardens, to be recognized at the Fall Community Awards Banquet. At the end of the growing season in 2018, 57 Community Members participated. Grew and distributed Traditional Cherokee Seed from the Center for Cherokee Plants, along with providing educational classes and tours of demonstration gardens. Work with other Tribal Programs to provide services to their clients or staff. Cannery served more people and in turn processed the most preserved food to date. The Tribal cannery provided families and the community with over 3600 jars of food. Community Awards Banquet - recognize garden winners, community club achievements, and community initiatives. In 2017 we recognized garden judging winners and 9 community clubs. Indian Fair - Extension is responsible for the exhibit hall portion except for the Qualla Arts & Crafts Section. This includes setup, intake, judging, displaying, prize awards, and much more. In the Fall of 2017, there were over 400 fair entries. Working with National Park Service to establish a new "gathering rule" for harvesting native greens(sochan) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This will include a permitting process, proper plant identification, and proper harvesting, as well as tracking quantities harvested. 2019 marked the first year of the partnership. 36 permits where distributed to community members who were allowed to bring 5 additional people with them. We have not heard yet of the total amount harvested. Early comments were "I have not been allowed to harvest sochan that I could see from my home, now I can." Referring to a tribal member living along the park boundary. VITA Tax Preparation - we house, facilitate, and manage this program as well as take the community's calls and establish appointments. For 2019 there were 520 people served. Provided Financial Education classes to: Tribal Education's Summer Youth College Experience, Early Childhood Staff during professional development session, and held 3 education short sessions for Community Club's, as well as began evening classes. Education was also provided to senior and junior Cherokee High School Classrooms. Worked on garden projects with new partners in 2018/2019, including: Domestic Violence Shelter, Juvenile Services, MotherTown Healing Group(Substance Abuse Work Group), Dialysis Center and Senior Assisted Living, Kituwah Language Academy, Boys & Girls Club, and Children's Home. Provided Life Skills Classes to Cherokee Children's Home Youth Conducting food demonstration classes at Tribal Food Distribution twice a month. Conducted food demonstrations at Cherokee Food Lion. Provided knife skills and Home Food Preservation Classes to Family Consumer Science Classes and Occupational Course of Study Students at Cherokee High School. Conducted the Teen Cuisine Summer Nutrition Program at the Recreation Summer Camps and Cherokee Youth Center. A total of 143 students received education on nutrition, food safety, and some cooking skills. The program also utilized 3 youth ages 13-14. They received training and then helped facilitate the program. Facilitated the Speedway to Healthy Program at Cherokee Central Schools. This was a 1,200 square foot exhibit that represented the human body with students able to have hands on learning as they traveled through the exhibit. A total of 561 students went through this exhibit
Publications
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Progress 08/01/17 to 07/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:For this project the target audience is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in Western North Carolina. There are approxiamately 15,000 Enrolled Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Programming and education focus on youth age five up to senior adults. Impacts reach youth younger than five through family education. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Food safety training for farmers Record-keeping Pesticide Continuing Education Credits Tax Preparation Farm Bill Initiatives and Concerns Home Food Preservation Healthy Cooking Classes How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Community Club Meetings Monthly newsletter North Carolina State University Extension reporting modules Annual Report to Tribal Council Chief's Annual Report to the people Reports during on-air committee meetings (natural resources committee) List serves of clients What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are for the first time in 4 years, fully staffed. The FRTEP Ag Agent Position has been vacant a great deal over that time. Staff are committed to accomplishing the goals of this project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Backyard Ramp Patch Project - we give out ramp bulbs to the community to establish their own resource and lessen the impact on native stocks. For 2018 over 15000 ramp bulbs were given out. Working with National Park Service to establish a new "gathering rule" for harvesting native greens in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This will include a permitting process, proper plant identification, and proper harvesting, as well as tracking quantities harvested. Chief Lambert Community Harvest Garden Kits - 850 kits (8500 individual seed packets) were given out in 2018. Monthly workshops on home gardening techniques along with farmer specific trainings, such as: food safety, record-keeping, etc.. Garden Judging - visit and review community member, family, and cooperative gardens, to be recognized at the Fall Community Awards Banquet. At the end of the growing season in 2017, 51 Community Members participated. Grew and distributed Traditional Cherokee Seed from the Center for Cherokee Plants, along with providing educational classes and tours of demonstration gardens. Work with other Tribal Programs to provide services to their clients or staff. Cannery open May to October. At the end of 2017 the Tribal Cannery had served more than 60 families. The Tribal cannery has provided these families and the community with over 2000 jars of food. Community Awards Banquet - recognize garden winners, community club achievements, and community initiatives. In 2017 we recognized garden judging winners and 9 community clubs. Indian Fair - Extension is responsible for the exhibit hall portion except for the Qualla Arts & Crafts Section. This includes setup, intake, judging, displaying, prize awards, and much more. In the Fall of 2017, there were over400 fair entries.
Publications
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