Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The Rosebud Indian Reservation is home to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate ("Burnt Thigh Nation"). The population on the Reservation (~34,000) currently trends young (median age is 23.6 years old, compared to a U.S. average of 38.2), and the initiative will target individuals in the 18- to 39-year-old age group. Poverty rates on the Reservation are reported at 58.9% overall and an even more startling 69% among single-parent mothers. Over 30% of the population is uninsured, and 20.7% of households do not own a vehicle. The overall unemployment rate on the Reservation as reported by the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs is 83%, and the county prevalence of food insecurity (26%) and limited access to healthy foods (14%) exceed the state prevalence (11%; 11%). The target audience for the Rosebud Indian Reservation based program are tribal members who are aspiring small- scale producers with the goal of participating in the local food economy; either by supplementing their income through local food production and sales to the local community, or through a formal enterprise. All tribal members (of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe OR community members who are tribal members elsewhere) ages 18+ are able to participate in this program. This is the target audience for the internship-style program itself; other audiences served indirectly are institutions and food retailers on the reservation that are able to purchase the food produced by our participants, as well as the local community that benefits from increased availability of locally produced foods, for purchase at the Farmers' Market, Community Supported Agriculture Program, Mobile Farmers Market, or however the participants choose to conduct direct sales. All the individuals served are socially and economically disadvantaged due to their minority status as Native Americans and the low-income status of the Rosebud reservation. The Rosebud Reservation has also been identified as an extreme food desert, with only 3 grocery stores servicing an area 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island.? Changes/Problems:Transportation was a challenge throughout the project. Lack of reliable and consistent transportation caused Apprentice participants to drop out of the program. While we made efforts to proactively address this challenge, it was not feasible for taxi services and tribal transportation to be arranged. There are no public transportation services in the community that could be utilized. As we continue these activities and continue to support beginning farmers and ranchers going forward, this will remain an issue that we will have to manage.? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training was comprehensive for Apprenticeship participants. Apprentices completed 30 hours of training each week throughout the year. All participants took part in Financial Literacy for a full week. All participants also completed gardening and food sovereignty training, cooking workshops, and wild food harvesting. Adult Apprentices took part in public speaking training, auto mechanics, and carpentry training. Additional training included Social Emotional Intelligence Training, and Lakota Language and Culture. Other opportunities included tours of various farming and food production operations throughout South Dakota such as Black Hills Mushrooms, Bear Butte Gardens, and more.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared with both REDCO and Sicangu Community Development's board of directors. Data and lessons learned will be used to help inform the sustainability and the program scope of the apprenticeship program.? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Expand existing programming at Keya Wakpala Gardens (KWG) to develop an innovative beginning farmer incubator program focused on developing sustainable small-scale producers (10 acres and under). Objective 1.1: Each year, implement a farmer-led curriculum and incubator program for a cohort of beginning farmers (19 total cohort members), which will result in the establishment of 8 new farm operations on the Rosebud Reservation by the end of Year 3. Each year, implement a farmer-led curriculum and incubator program for a cohort of beginning farmers (19 total cohort members), which will result in the establishment of 8 new farm operations on the Rosebud Reservation by the end of Year 3. Over the four-year project, 11 participants completed the program. As a result of these grant funded activities, 11 new tribal farm enterprises were launched: everyone who completed the program applied for and received their tribal business licenses and received seed money. Apprentices were introduced to a comprehensive training regimen. Throughout each apprentice year, participants learned about Training and professional development with steering committee members and other players in the local and regional food system or through training services include: Chicken butchering; Financial literacy training with Tatanka Funds; Intro to Marketing with REDCO Marketing Team; Storytelling training; Equine Therapy by Sinte Gleska University - Horse Ranch; Enterprise budgeting workshop by Tatanka Funds; Backyard chickens, financials and record keeping presentations; and Social Emotional Intelligence training by REDCO Staff In addition to the classroom curriculum, presentations, and farm tours that the interns participated in, they also got hands-on experience with growing methods in the garden with our garden manager, which covered the following: Poultry care Starting seeds Transplanting Performing tillage and field prep Irrigation Weed control Pest control Harvesting Post-harvest handling Selling at farmers' market Selling out of a mobile market unit Bison Field Harvest All apprentices completed a full week of financial literacy training. They also completed public speaking training, auto mechanics workshops, carpentry workshops, training in computer literacy, and completed farm tours. Assessments showed growth for all participants. Apprentice participants at the end of the project period were finalizing their Farm Sustainability Plans. Total, 11 apprentices completed their plans and presented them to our steering committee to receive their Seed Money. Lack of transportation remained the largest barrier to retention of Apprentices throughout the project. Objective 1.2: Annually, utilize mentorships and best practices to increase the capacity of KWG to serve as a regional training and resource center for beginning farmers and rural food systems. Each year of the project provided a learning opportunity on how we could improve our program, the lessons of which were then implemented in each successive year. Some of the areas that needed mentorship were succession planting, organizing growing areas, and starting new systems. One of the newer systems we implemented in the project's final year was meat (chicken) production. To help us with this newest venture, we connected with Makoce Agriculture Development, an indigenous non-profit based on the Pine Ridge Reservation just ~80 miles east of Rosebud. This extra mentoring for the FSI staff helped the Apprentices in the final year too. Along with the new chicken production, we began working with a firm to expand our production area from one acre to almost nine acres. Included in our plans will be meat chicken production, vermicomposting, orchard and perennial production, and honey production. We anticipate that we will continue leveraging mentorships beyond the project. Additionally, project participants contributed to the dramatic increase of produce harvest! Through September 27 (not including the winter squash harvest), 10,534.56 lbs. of produce have been harvested and distributed to support local food sovereignty. A second weekly Farmers Market was held, allowing produce to reach residents in Mission and Rosebud. Additional produce allowed the program to supply 22 Tribally-Supported Agricultural Subscriptions with weekly food boxes. Objective 1.3: Each year, engage and educate beginning farmers and potential market outlets to establish new producer/customer pathways. In the final year of the program, the Food Sovereignty Initiative launched a second weekly farmers' market in Rosebud and offered a 20-share TSA program. These are two direct-to-consumer markets that FSI will continue to offer and will remain as market opportunities for local producers. Another pathway developed over this grant was focused on developing institutional sales and food relief programs. FSI has been working with Wakanyeja Tokeyaci Lakota Immersion school, which is a private school with flexible funding to support local foods. We will continue to develop best practices for farm-to-school so that we can share with local producers and beginning farmers on how to best access this market. Lastly, we are currently developing a food relief, food security program that will allow the program to purchase local foods from local producers to aggregate and distribute local foods to the community. While this market pathway is still in development, it has high potential to support the local food economy. Goal 2: Improve DRA's traditional Farm Beginnings Program to ensure that it is culturally relevant to Native Americans and adaptable to diverse groups. Objective 2.1: Refine, strengthen and improve DRA's traditional Farm Beginnings Program and ensure that it is culturally relevant for REDCO's incubator program. Throughout the grant period DRA worked with REDCO's FSI programs to refine curriculum. DRA staff and member leaders provided input via steering committee development, demonstrating community organizing techniques used to create curriculum and peer based learning opportunities. Beginning at the second year and throughout the third year, REDCO's staff and leadership led curriculum development for the FSI incubator program. DRA's Farm Beginnings program went through significant curriculum and program redesign throughout the grant timeframe to ensure that it is culturally relevant. Increasing the number of hours for both hands on skill training and classroom time. Incorporating more community centered and culturally relevant food operations as presenters, moving away from only catering to single family operations. More diversified land access presentations. Objective 2.2: Implement redesigned curriculum in three SD locations, partnering with local producers throughout South Dakota DRA held the redesigned course in multiple South Dakota locations: Sioux Falls Rapid City Sturgis Outreach Farm Dreams programming in: Hot Springs Lake Andes
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The Rosebud Indian Reservation is home to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate ("Burnt Thigh Nation"). The population on the Reservation (~34,000) currently trends young (median age is 23.6 years old, compared to a US average of 38.2), and the initiative will target individuals in the 18- to 39-year-old age group. Poverty rates on the Reservation are reported at 58.9% overall and an even more startling 69% among single-parent mothers. Over 30% of the population is uninsured, and 20.7% of households do not own a vehicle. The overall unemployment rate on the Reservation as reported by the US Department of the Interior Indian Affairs is 83%, and the county prevalence of food insecurity (26%) and limited access to healthy foods (14%) exceed the state prevalence (11%; 11%). The target audience for the Rosebud Indian Reservation based program are tribal members who are aspiring small- scale producers with the goal of participating in the local food economy; either by supplementing their income through local food production and sales to the local community, or through a formal enterprise. All tribal members (of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe OR community members who are tribal members elsewhere) ages 18+ are able to participate in this program. This is the target audience for the internship-style program itself; other audiences served indirectly are institutions and food retailers on the reservation that are able to purchase the food produced by our participants, as well as the local community that benefits from increased availability of locally produced foods, for purchase at the Farmers' Market, Community Supported Agriculture Program, Mobile Farmers Market, or however the participants choose to conduct direct sales. All of the individuals served are socially and economically disadvantaged due to their minority status as Native Americans and the low-income status of the Rosebud reservation. The Rosebud Reservation has also been identified as an extreme food desert, with only 3 grocery stores servicing an area 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island. Changes/Problems:Transportation has been an ongoing challenge throughout the life of the project. Transportation issues resulted in Apprentice participants dropping out. Efforts were made to proactively address this challenge, however it was not feasible for taxi services and tribal transportation could not be arranged. There are no public transportation services in the community, and this will continue to be a challenge. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training was comprehensive for Apprenticeship participants. Apprentices completed 30 hours of training each week throughout the year. All participants took part in Financial Literacy for a full week. All participants also completed gardening and food sovereignty training, cooking workshops, and wild food harvesting. Adult Apprentices took part in public speaking training, auto mechanics, and carpentry training. Additional training included Social Emotional Intelligence Training, and Lakota Language and Culture. Other opportunities included tours of various farming and food production operations throughout South Dakota such as Black Hills Mushrooms, Bear Butte Gardens, and more. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been shared with both REDCO and Sicangu Community Development's board of directors. Data and lessons learned will be used to help inform the sustainability and the program scope of the apprenticeship program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 Objective 1.1: Each year, implement a farmer-led curriculum and incubator program for a cohort of beginning farmers (19 total cohort members), which will result in the establishment of 8 new farm operations on the Rosebud Reservation by the end of Year 3. Five individuals were recruited and have participated in program activities. However only 2 of the 5 participants completed the program. The two participants ended their apprenticeship program strong by developing and presenting their farm plans to our steering committee. Retention challenges were connected to transportation issues. Those who complete the program will earn Seed Money to launch their farming efforts. All apprentices completed a full week of financial literacy training. They also completed public speaking training, auto mechanics workshops, carpentry workshops, training in computer literacy, and completed farm tours. Assessments showed growth for all participants. Apprentice participants at the end of the project period were in the process of finalizing their Farm Sustainability Plans. The two apprentices were able to complete their plans and present them to our steering committee to receive their Seed Money. Objective 1.2: Annually, utilize mentorships and best practices to increase the capacity of KWG to serve as a regional training and resource center for beginning farmers and rural food systems. During this project year, we have utilized the practices and teaching we have learned in the first 3-years of the program. Some of the areas that were needing mentorship were succession planting, organizing growing areas, and starting new systems. One of the new systems that we have started to develop plans in this last year of the project has been meat (chicken) production. We have been able to get connected with Makoce Agriculture Development, an indigenous non-profit based on the Pine Ridge Reservation just ~80 miles East of Rosebud. As we start preparing to launch this new enterprise and system, we will continue to leverage mentoring to increase our capacity in this area. We are also working with a firm to help expand our production area from 1 acre to 6. Included in our plans will be meat chicken production, vermicomposting, orchard and perennial production, and honey production. We anticipate that we will continue leveraging mentorships beyond the project. Additionally, project participants contributed to the dramatic increase of produce harvest! Through September 27 (not including the winter squash harvest), 3,137.63 pounds of produce have been harvested and distributed to support local food sovereignty. A second weekly Farmers Market was held, allowing produce to reach residents in Mission and Rosebud. Additional produce allowed the program to supply 22 Tribally-Supported Agricultural Subscriptions with weekly food boxes. Objective 1.3: Each year, engage and educate beginning farmers and potential market outlets to establish new producer/customer pathways. In the final year of the program, the Food Sovereignty Initiative was able to launch a second weekly farmers market held in the town of Rosebud, and offered a 20-share CSA program. These were two direct-to-consumer markets that FSI continues to offer that we educate participants on how they can get involved and take advantage of as producers. Another pathway we have been developing has been institutional sales and food relief programs. FSI has been working with Wakanyeja Tokeyaci Lakota Immersion school. The school is a private school that has flexible funding to be able to support local food foods. We will continue to develop best practices for farm-to-school so that we can share with local producers and beginning farmers on how to best access this market. Lastly, we are currently developing a food relief, food security program that will allow the program to purchase local foods from local producers to aggregate and distribute local foods to the community. While this market pathway is still in development, it has high potential to support the local food economy. Goal 2 Updates Goal 2 of the project was completed in FY 2022. REDCO was able to work with Dakota Rural Action staff to develop best practices and relevant curriculum that allowed for a more culturally relevant program. DRA was able to offer the program at two locations in western South Dakota at Sturgis and Rapid City, as well as a 3rd location, at their established site in eastern South Dakota focusing on the Sioux Falls area. Due to staffing and capacity, DRA was unable to offer their Farm Beginnings Program at all sites across South Dakota. Therefore, project 2 activities were not a focus in the last year of the project.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience: REDCO Program: The target audience for the Rosebud Indian Reservation based program are tribal members who are aspiring small- scale producers with the goal of participating in the local food economy; either by supplementing their income through local food production and sales to the local community, or through a formal enterprise. All tribal members (of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe OR community members who are tribal members elsewhere) ages 18+ are able to participate in this program. This is the target audience for the internship-style program itself; other audiences served indirectly are institutions and food retailers on the reservation that are able to purchase the food produced by our participants, as well as the local community that benefits from increased availability of locally produced foods, for purchase at the Farmers' Market, Community Supported Agriculture Program, Mobile Farmers Market, or however the participants choose to conduct direct sales. All of the individuals served are socially and economically disadvantaged due to their minority status as Native Americans and the low-income status of the Rosebud reservation. The Rosebud Reservation has also been identified as an extreme food desert, with only 3 grocery stores servicing an area 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island. DRA Program: Individuals who are interested in holistic land management practices, sustainable agriculture, and operations contributing to the local and regional food systems markets. Target participants include beginning and new producers, food entrepreneurs, and community food operations. Changes/Problems:Changes/Problems Goal 1: One of the challenges that we've faced in the REDCO program was participant retention. While we've started the program with 7 participants, only 5 completed the program. This has happened in the previous two years of this project. While this is the first project of its kind to be offered in our community, we still receive high interest and applicants each year. One thing that we will do is include the experience of past participants in our recruitment plan. We believe that sharing these first hand accounts of what each participant experienced will help shed light on what potential applicants can expect of the time commitment and expectations of the program. Another challenge that we faced this year was not having adequate time for participants to prepare for their sustainability plans. We've started the sustainability plans at the beginning of August. We had originally planned to start in early July. However, July is a challenging time for our community due to it being a busy time for cultural ceremonies. Many of our participants took time off from the program to be with family and attend said ceremonies. Once this period was over, participants resumed project programming as scheduled. Participants were able to complete the sustainability plans and present them to the steering committee. However, the feedback we received was that the participants felt that the time given to complete the process of the sustainability plan was not enough. Participants felt rushed. For future project years, we will adjust the time frame of when we start developing the plans. Possibly starting in June may be adequate time to complete the plans. This would also give us time to be able to host practice presentations for each participant to receive feedback in ways they can improve their plan and presentation. Changes/Problems Goal 2: DRA's program suffered delays because of the pandemic. With the training programs being place based, in-person, and hands-on learning environments, the global pandemic made it so we had to adjust program development to meet the needs of individuals and take into consideration health concerns. Some of these changes include converting to hybrid and remote learning sessions, and reduced in-person convenings and skill share events. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and professional development with steering committee members and other players in the local and regional food system or through training services include: Chicken butchering provided by FSI staff Financial literacy training with Tatanka Funds Intro to Marketing with REDCO Marketing Team Storytelling training with FSI Staff and REDCO Marketing Equine Therapy by Sinte Gleska University - Horse Ranch Enterprise budgeting workshop by Tatanka Funds Backyard chickens, financials and record keeping presentation with Stephanie Peterson, Fruit of the Coop Social Emotional Intelligence training by REDCO Staff In addition to the classroom curriculum, presentations, and farm tours that the interns participated in, they also got hands-on experience with growing methods in the garden with our garden manager, which covered the following: • Poultry care • Starting seeds • Transplanting • Performing tillage and field prep • Irrigation • Weed control • Pest control • Harvesting • Post-harvest handling • Selling at farmers' market • Selling out of a mobile market unit • Bison Field Harvest Throughout the grant period REDCO FSI staff joined DRA staff and member leaders at winter agricultural conferences that included professional development sessions. DRA and REDCO staff organized annual program planning convenings that included facilitation of skill development. REDCO staff participated and joined the Farm Beginnings Collaborative annual meetings for facilitators.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?REDCO program progress and results disseminated into monthly reports to the REDCO Board of Directors, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Government, and project steering committee. We also disseminate results to the greater Rosebud community via a digital newsletter. We have consistently shared updates on the curriculum and internship framework with the steering committee and have received input and feedback from them on various aspects of the program. The steering committee has also been an audience when participants present their sustainability plans Other ways that Dakota rural action has shared results include: Public speaking events at conferences - South Dakota Local Foods Conference. Results have also been shared and presented with peers in state, regional, national, and Tribal networks and coalitions What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In this next reporting period, we plan on revising and implementing the apprenticeship style program for a fourth year. Most of our activities will be focused on Objective goal 1. We anticipate recruiting at least 3 participants for this fourth program cohort. We will also be revising the implementation of the sustainability plan to allow for more time for participants to fully develop their ideas. One way we will do this is by allowing for more 1x1 time with project staff to give feedback, as well as creating spaces for group feedback amongst participants. Participants will continue to work on-site at Keya Wakpala Gardens with FSI Garden Manager throughout their 8-month program. We will also continue to build relationships with tribal producers to allow for more culturally relevant farm tours for program participants. In terms of timeline, we plan to release application and marketing materials by January 2023; Closing application by late February 2023; Selecting participants by mid-March; and launching the program by late March.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: Objective 1.1. In year 3 of the project, we had recruited 7 participants for cohort 3. Our goal for this third cohort was to recruit 7 participants. Selected participants were screened, interviewed and chosen based on interview scoring and readiness to start the program. The cohort and the apprenticeship program was launched at the end of March 2022. Participants were onboarded and participated in several trainings to get them acclimated to work. In addition to food and agriculture based training, we also offered training in social emotional intelligence, financial literacy, and storytelling. As an indigenous based organization that is working towards transforming systems, we believe that these additional training sessions were necessary for these participants to become changemakers and food producers. During the first few weeks of the program, two participants were unable to meet the time commitment required of the program. The two participants ultimately withdrew from the program, leaving 5 participants remaining. As we were several weeks into the program, we were unable to refill the two participant slots. The remaining 5 participants worked at our farm site, Keya Wakpala Gardens, weekly and completed the daily on-farm skill training with our Farm Manager. Due to the pandemic, year 1 and 2 curriculum was hybrid with a heavy amount of learning taking place online.Year 3 curriculum was adjusted from the previous years to become fully in-person. Throughout the program participants were able to participate in farm tours throughout the state. Based on feedback from the previous year, it was highly recommended that we include tours to indigenous owned and operated farm enterprises. We were able to tour Oyate Teca (Kyle, SD), Cheyenne River, Lakota Youth Development (Herrick, SD), and Cheyenne River Youth Project (Eagle Butte, SD). A capstone to our project is for participants to complete a plan for how they are going to start their food production as well as a plan for sustainability. In the past two years, we utilized a business plan as a framework to complete this capstone project. However, based on feedback from the previous year, we decided to create our own framework. We developed a Sustainability Plan. Unlike a business plan that is more technical in nature and focused on profit, we decided to opt for a plan that focuses on storytelling, food production both at the individual level and the community level and how the participant plans to meet those needs, and how the participant plans to sustain their production year after year. This has allowed our participants to think creatively about how they are going to save costs such as seed saving and planting perennial crops vs annual. It also has allowed them to think of food not as a business but as means of community development and empowerment. One participant's plan involves working with their community to secure public land that would be set aside for a community garden, with support coming from the community utilizing their Youth Coordinator position to coordinate volunteers and fundraising. Another participant's plan involves developing a CSA Model serving their remote community and working their way towards becoming a SNAP Vendor. All 5 participants were able to present their plans to the project steering committee and were then awarded seed money to help with their starting costs for food production. Objective 1.2 Dakota Rural Action and our state farmer network members continue to provide mentorship to KWG and staff. In addition to the farm tours and training that our participants attend, our staff has been able to work with various producers in our network. We have built great relationships with Cycle Farm, a small-scale mixed-vegetable producer out of Spearfish, South Dakota, and with Bear Butte Gardens which is another small-scale mixed-vegetable producer out of Sturgis, South Dakota. Both farms continue to provide technical assistance and guidance on best practices in various areas on food production such as seasonal extension, creating swales, and succession planting. Our farm manager has acclimated to her role and has become more confident in leading our food production at our farm. We've been able to reach out to these producers on an as needed basis for support and technical assistance. Working with Indigenous farmers and producers was an area that we wanted to do more of this year. While we were able to meet several indigenous producers who provided farm tours, more relationship building is needed to secure mentorship-style relationships with our farm staff. We will continue to keep up communication and build onto the existing relationships that we built with the indigenous producers. Objective 1.3: In this project period, we've continued to host our seasonal farmers market, mobile market, and CSA programs. Participants took more of an active role this year by working at our farm stand and helped our staff set-up market stands each week and interact with other vendors. In previous years, some participants have taken the initiative to start their own vegetable production at their respective homes. We believe that those that did were those participants that had previous experience. While we did encourage our this year's cohort to do the same, we believe that they lacked the skill level needed to do this on their own. Instead, participants worked with project staff at the farm to grow, harvest, and take produce to the markets. We've started having conversations with area schools to see what the barriers and opportunities that exist for schools to be able to source local foods. Project Manager, Matte Wilson, has been working with a grass roots organization to help lead these discussions and efforts. Towards the end of the calendar year, meetings were scheduled with one of the local school boards where a proposal to initiate a task force to research these areas with the hope of creating policy recommendations. While this process may take time, we believe that the local school systems are a large untapped market that has the potential to be able to support the local foods movement on Rosebud. Objective 2.1: Throughout the grant period DRA worked with REDCO's FSI programs to refine curriculum. DRA staff and member leaders provided input via steering committee development, demonstrating community organizing techniques used to create curriculum and peer based learning opportunities. Beginning at the second year and throughout the third year, REDCO's staff and leadership led curriculum development for the FSI incubator program. DRA's Farm Beginnings program went through significant curriculum and program redesign throughout the grant timeframe to ensure that it is culturally relevant. Increasing the number of hours for both hands on skill training and classroom time. Incorporating more community centered and culturally relevant food operations as presenters, moving away from only catering to single family operations. More diversified land access presentations. Objective 2.2: DRA held the redesigned course in multiple South Dakota locations: Sioux Falls Rapid City Sturgis Outreach Farm Dreams programming in: Hot Springs Lake Andes
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the Rosebud Indian Reservation based program are tribal members who are aspiring small- scale producers with the goal of participating in the local food economy; either by supplementing their income through local food production and sales to the local community, or through a formal enterprise. All tribal members (of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe OR community members who are tribal members elsewhere) ages 18+ are able to participate in this program. This is the target audience for the internship-style program itself; other audiences served indirectly are institutions and food retailers on the reservation that are able to purchase the food produced by our participants, as well as the local community that benefits from increased availability of locally produced foods, for purchase at the Farmers' Market, Community Supported Agriculture Program, Mobile Farmers Market, or however the participants choose to conduct direct sales. All of the individuals served are socially and economically disadvantaged due to their minority status as Native Americans and the low-income status of the Rosebud reservation. The Rosebud Reservation has also been identified as an extreme food desert, with only 3 grocery stores servicing an area 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island. Changes/Problems:Goal 1: Program Participation decline: We had originally recruited 10 participants for the internship program but only 3 participants completed the program. The feedback we received from the participants who did not complete the program were: 1) the stipend amount offered ($10/hour) was not sustainable for them to balance their full or part-time jobs with the internship - leaving many to prioritize their day jobs over the internship; and 2) personal transportation was an issue for almost every participant. Given the feedback on the participant stipend amount, we will be assessing the right balance between finding the ideal amount of participants per cohort while seeing if we are able to increase the stipend amount to increase the incentive to participate and complete the program. As for personal transportation, we tried to address this by connecting with our tribal Transportation Office. Our goal was to see if our participants were able to utilize their passenger van system. However, due to the Pandemic, the Transportation Office was not able to offer services to the public. Our next option was to provide gas vouchers for our participants. This was helpful for many of our participants who had to catch rides with friends and family to Keya Wakpala Gardens for the hands-on work. Another major change from the original framework is the way the Classroom hours are being completed. In year 2, we have continued with the hybrid approach of having classroom sessions be moved online combined with the hands-on food production skills being completed in-person at Keya Wakpala Gardens. While this approach seemed to work out initially, we also saw a decrease in participation. Many participants stated that it was difficult for them to learn via the online learning management system due to their capacity. Most participants indicated that they were visual learners and preferred to learn the classroom topics in-person. We were able to complete the project year with the 3 participants using the talent management system. However, for year 3, we will be moving away with the hybrid approach, and instead opting for 100% in-person. In addition to the hands-on food production skills being completed in-person, we will be having trainings and other workshops held in-person. Goal 2: Due to the pandemic, travel restrictions and health concerns limited the ability for Sicangu FSI and Dakota Rural Action to physically come together. The community led projects that are rooted in face to face connections and convenings; project leaders and support staff have had to develop tools and systems to facilitate training(s) in a virtual setting and while practicing social distancing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Goal 1: • The presentations that were provided with steering committee members and other players in the local and regional food system or through training services: • Farm tour of Rez Raised Beef, a local native-owned cattle ranch • Chicken butchering workshop with FSI staff • Financial literacy training with Tatanka Funds • Intro to Marketing with REDCO Marketing Team • Homesteading process, access to land and water with community members Carlos Jarrett and Deanna Eagle Feather • Business Plan workshop by Tatanka Funds • Backyard chickens, financials and record keeping presentation with Stephanie Peterson, Fruit of the Coop • Small business start-up and ownership, and value-added goods presentation with Miranda Koltze, Sweetgrass Soapery • Fruiting Trees and Shrubs presentation with Blackshire Farm, Luvern, MN. • Growing herbs and seed saving presentation, Q&A with Trish and Jeremy of Cycle Farm Business Management • Financial framework for small business owners • Water accessibility • Soil health and conducting at-home soil tests • Business planning for organic farmers • Enterprise budgets • Putting together a business plan • Cash flow • Feasibility analysis • Market research • Marketing 101 • Record keeping, business structure, and tax prep for small business • Basics of personal finance and building credit In addition to the online curriculum, presentations, and farm tours that the interns participated in, they also got hands- on experience with growing methods in the garden with our garden manager, which covered the following: • Poultry care • Starting seeds • Transplanting • Performing tillage and field prep • Irrigation • Weed control • Pest control • Harvesting • Post-harvest handling • Selling at farmers' market • Selling out of a mobile market unit • Bison Field Harvest Goal 2: Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and leaders took part in training and leadership development alongside DRA staff through Farm Beginnings Collaborative facilitation meetings. One training that DRA led was essential to community organizing. There are now opportunities to go out within the Farmer Network communities to present on the inequity within the food system and highlight the wealth of knowledge from Black Indigenous and People of Color growing food and farming. DRA organized and hosted on-farm skill shares and events on Rosebud, for both the program participants in REDCO's program and for farmers market customers. DRA continued to offer informal mentor/mentee relationships with Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and DRA member leaders to continue to broaden the knowledge and experience of DRA member leaders. As a result of Covid 19 response and shifting of work plans and how to continue community-led projects that are rooted in face-to-face connections and convenings; project leaders and support staff have had to develop tools and systems to facilitate training(s) in a virtual setting and while practicing social distancing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Current curriculum, course flow, and internship framework are being developed and improved upon for year 3 of the three year project. We disseminate the outcomes of the year as well as quarterly progress on the program to our steering committee, Board of Directors, and greater community via a newsletter. We have consistently shared updates on the curriculum and internship framework with the steering committee and have received input and feedback from them on various aspects of the program. The steering committee has also been an audience to the business plan and farm plan proposal presentation of our 3 interns who completed the Y2 cohort and were able to hear about their progress in the program and about their future plans for food production. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: During year 3 of this project, we will be making adjustments to the program and curriculum, taking the lessons learned and feedback received from year 1 and 2, to improve the program. We are planning to adjust the program 100% to in-person, hands-on learning - eliminating the classroom style and online learning components. We believe that this change is needed as it has been feedback we have received for the past two years of the program. We will also be reviewing the length of the program from a 11-12 month program to an 8-month program following the natural rhythm of food production in South Dakota. This change is needed due to the winter months make it difficult for participants to travel to Keya Wakpala Gardens and slower activities for food production in the winter months. We are also going to assess other retention feedback such as revisiting the participant stipend amount. Given that we did not utilize the full amount of the intern stipend amounts in year 1 and 2, we may be increasing the dollar amount per hour to make the program more sustainable for our participants to not have to choose between their day jobs and the internship. With the amounts that have been working with in the previous years, we may be looking at recruiting 5 highly motivated and dedicated participants to the program. With the focus of really investing in hands-on skills we will also be marketing the program as an apprenticeship program. In addition to the training and presentations we offer, we are going to revisit the business plan process. In our feedback with the participants, we have learned that there isn't a high desire for launching a farm enterprise for the basis of making revenue or profit, but rather for the sake of being self sufficient and focusing on selling produce to break-even. We will be working with our sister organization Tatanka Funds, to develop a farm sustainability plan. This plan will have the major components of a business plan with the addition of various human development pieces such as storytelling and with a greater focus around sustainability. The steering committee membership has changed slightly and we believe it to be extremely well-rounded, with members of different perspectives and backgrounds, and a majority of them being from and living in Rosebud at the time so that we can ensure that the program is as relevant and applicable to the local culture and context as possible.We anticipate year 3 of this program being highly improved upon from previous years, and look forward to learning further lessons and receiving further input and feedback from our interns and steering committee to continue improving and growing year to year. Goal 2: With or without a global pandemic, this work is relationship-based and every year we are building on the foundations that we have been building during the previous years. By implementing our current actions and navigating the changing world as well as we can while observing safety precautions, we will accomplish our goals because we are constantly working to build upon. In addition to this, DRA will be launching another cohort for the Farm Beginnings. We plan to have 5 sessions focused around holistic planning, exploring scale and enterprises, marketing your farm & enterprises, and lastly farm financials. Following these 5 sessions we will also be offering the option to participate in an internship or apprenticeship program. Our final experience will be rounded out at the Annual South Dakota Local Foods Conference.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1 Objective 1.1.For year 2, we had successfully recruited 10 participants for cohort 2. Participants were screened, interviewed and chosen based on interview scoring and readiness to start the program. However, we were only able to successfully have 3 participants complete the program with a business plan and a home site space ready to develop out for their enterprises. This internship has given them the tools and the space to develop these ideas and to get feedback on them from individuals who have already been through this process in one way or another, while receiving the classroom education on the technical side of starting up and running a small business. One participant's enterprise involves the sale of vegetable production and subsidizing their costs with hand-made native american jewelry. The other 2 participants have decided to go into a partnership to launch a small scale cattle ranch. They are currently in the final stages of securing their 10-acre home production site. All 3 participants were able to successfully apply for a tribal business license and were approved by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Revenue Office. All 3 are in the early development of their enterprises, thus reaching a total of 4 new farms established on Rosebud. Year 2 curriculum was completed and compiled. It will later be updated and further developed for year 3 based on lessons learned and to account for increased in-person learning. Due to the pandemic we have transitioned from the previous to a hybrid model. However, the Rosebud Indian Reservation experienced frequent lockdown orders from the tribal president which has made it difficult for our interns to travel to Keya Wakpala Gardens to complete their in-person training.To mitigate this, we have offered virtual learning via TalentLMS and allowed participants to complete home garden projects during these lockdowns. Due to these lockdowns and limited capacity for home gardening projects, our participants did not reach their 800 on-farm hours. We will be assessing the on-farm hour commitment in year 3. DRA and Farmer Network members have provided mentorship to the interns, as well as local food system players on Rosebud and our steering committee members. Objective 1.2: DRA and their Farmer Network members have provided mentorship opportunities both to the interns and our project staff. Project staff and participants have been able to learn about various topics from mentors such as poultry operations - laying and broiler; chicken butchering; seed saving; season extension models; diversifying and choosing enterprises to increase and strategize farm income and to meet the existing market; composting systems; ranching; box elder tree tapping; fruiting trees and shrubs; growing hemp; food handling and safety; square foot food system development; business management; land acquisition on the Rosebud; financials and record keeping; food preservation; homesite development We have built great relationships with Cycle Farm, a small scale mixed-vegetable producer out of Spearfish, South Dakota, and with Bear Butte Gardens which is another small-scale mixed-vegetable producer out of Sturgis, South Dakota. Both farms have allowed our garden team through technical assistance and mentorship, to expand some or our growing areas, and become more efficient. One area where we are needing more mentorship or connections is with other indigenous food producers who work in indigenous communities across South Dakota. Were were able to meet with an indigenous apothecary owner who recently just launched her own brick-and-mortar store in SIoux Falls. The owner's partner is a small-scale farmer who is able to source various herbs and plants that she includes in her home-made health and beauty products. We have been able to connect with them to discuss possible value-added products that Keya Wakpala Gardens can potentially expand to. Given this need to connect with more indigenous producers and entrepreneurs, we will be making that a priority in year 3. Objective 1.3: Throughout the course of year 2, the 3 participants that completed the program were able to grow and or harvest their own food which they then sold to Keya Wakpala Gardens. We aggregate produce and food products from the participants as well as other local vendors and include it in our direct-to-consumer markets: Farmers Market, CSA program, and mobile farmers market. One participant has sold sweet potatoes, kale and other produce to our partnership with the newly established Wakanyeja Ki Tokeyahci; Rosebud's first Lakota Immersion school. The other 2 participants harvested wild fruits and vegetables that they maintained on their homesites and were purchased by KWG and later sold at the farmers market. We gave the option for participants to sell directly as their own vendor, or sell to Keya Wakpala Gardens where we would then sell directly to consumers through our farmers' market, CSA program, and mobile market. As we developed the partnership with the Lakota Immersion School, our goal is to have more opportunities for farm-to-school activities with other schools in the area. Goal 2: Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and leaders met again with Dakota Rural Action's (DRA) to review their Farm Beginnings Program for cultural relevance. DRA and Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff documented feedback, researched, modified, and developed new curriculum and program concepts to be used at the Key Wakpala Community Gardens and in Dakota Rural Actions' programming. DRA has been working with their Farmer Network leaders to develop materials and training that focus on the history of farming in South Dakota, especially explaining the history of land theft and the critical role Indigenous communities play presently and historically. DRA is working 1-on-1 with member leaders to show how DRA's Farm Beginnings standard curriculum (and a fair number of DRA FB presenters operate(d) from and within a system built upon the realities of land theft and structural racism, maintains the status quo in terms of land ownership, access to land, and individualistic capitalism versus community based food. Both DRA and SFSI will be making changes to their programs to make sure that in-person hands on learning is prioritized. Other changes that DRA will be making to their program is that in addition to their educational sessions, they are going to be offering the option to continue by applying for an internship or apprenticeship on a farm to further their hands-on skills.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the Rosebud Indian Reservation based internship program is tribal members who are aspiring small-scale producers with the goal of participating in the local food economy; either by supplementing their income through local food production and sales to the local community, or through a formal enterprise. All tribalmembers (of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe ORcommunity members who are tribal members elsewhere)ages 18+ are able to participate in this program. This is the target audience for the internship program itself; other audiences served indirectly are restaurants and food retailers on the reservation that are able to purchase the food produced by our interns, as well as the local community that benefits from increased availability of locally produced foods, for purchase at the farmers' market or however the interns choose to conduct direct sales. All of the individuals served are socially and economically disadvantaged due to their minority status as Native Americans and the low-income status of the Rosebud reservation. The Rosebud Reservation has also been identified as an extreme food desert, with only 3 grocery stores servicing an area 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island. The target audience of Dakota Rural Action's Farm Beginnings program isbeginning farmers and ranchers across the state of South Dakota. Changes/Problems:Goal 1: Due to intern dropout / incompletion in the first cohort fora variety of different reasons, we didn't spend down the Intern Subsistence line item the way we had expected In order to make up for this, we have hired9 interns for cohort #2 and plan to hire 9 in cohort #3 as well to get the number of interns through the program that we had originally planned. The pandemic affected the on-farm hours approach in the first year, but we are back to in-person the way originally planned, with safety precautions in place. Another major changefrom the original framework is the way the Classroom hours are being completed. These have been made completely virtual so that folks don't have to be in a classroom together, and makes it more flexible for the interns to complete those hours which will hopefully prevent having the same dropout rates that we experienced in the first year. We also expanded our recruitment strategies in order toreacha larger recruitment pool this time and had much more and stronger applicants than we did in Year 1. Put a hold on the Outreach parts of the grant activities due to the pandemic - figuring out how we want to pivot these activities to be held safely. We were able to hire Michelle Haukaas as the Market Manager in January 2020. Our original plan was to hire earlier to get the Market Manager position on board with the project from the beginning. Our Market Manager was working with our Garden Manager through the Spring. However, due to personal circumstances, our original Garden Manager, Ed Her Many Horses, was not able to fulfill his responsibilities as the Garden Manager. Michelle Haukaas was able to step up and take on the both responsibilities of the Garden and Market Manager starting May 2020. Michelle's position was covered in full by other funding sources due to absorbing the roles of both positions. Therefore we did not have any expenditures for personnel for year 1. Goal 2: ?Due to the pandemic, travel restrictions and health concerns limited the ability for Sicangu FSI and Dakota Rural Action to physically come together. The community led projects that are rooted in face to face connections and convenings; project leaders and support staff have had to develop tools and systems to facilitate training(s) in a virtual setting and while practicing social distancing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Objective 1.1: The presentations that were provided with steering committee members and other players in the local and regional food system or through training services: Farm tour of Rez Raised Beef, a local native-owned cattle ranch Chicken butchering workshop with FSI staff Financial literacy training with Taffy Lafferty, Financial Literacy Consultant (formerly of Tatanka Funds) Intro to Marketing with Buster Isennock,REDCO Marketing Director (at the time) Homesteading process, access to land and water with community members Carlos Jarrett and Deanna Eagle Feather Box elder tapping with community member Levi Eagle Feather Ag Business Planning day-long class through Lakota Funds Backyard chickens, financials and record keeping presentation with Stephanie Peterson, Fruit of the Coop Small business start-up and ownership, and value-added goods presentation with Megan Schnitker of Lakota Made Fruiting Trees and Shrubs presentation with Rhoda Burrows of SDSU Ext Growing herbs and seed saving presentation, Q&A with Trish and Jeremy of Cycle Farm Business management, planning, budgeting, and land acquisition Q&A/discussion session with Alex Frederick of Rez Raised Beef Growing hemp and the history of it presentation with Alex White Plume Food handling and safety presentation with Rhoda Burrows of SDSU Ext Square foot food system development presentation with Nick Hernandez, Makoce Ag food system consultant Food preservation workshop with Lisa Iron Cloud, community member from Pine Ridge, and Eowyn Corral, of DRA Value added goods presentation with Frank James, director of DRA Other training via course material provided on the following topics: Planting plans Holistic farm planning Food systems and inequity State of Food Sovereignty on Rosebud - report that was done for us by a consultant and provides numbers on the local food market Business Management Financial framework for small business owners Water accessibility Soil health and conducting at-home soil tests Business planning for organic farmers Enterprise budgets Putting together a business plan Cash flow Feasibility analysis Market research Marketing 101 Record keeping, business structure, and tax prep for small business Basics of personal finance and building credit In addition to the classroom curriculum, presentations, and farm tours that the interns participated in, they also got hands-on experience with growing methods in the garden with our garden manager, which covered the following: Poultry care Starting seeds Transplanting Performing tillage and field prep Irrigation Weed control Pest control Harvesting Post-harvest handling Selling at farmers' market Selling out of a mobile market unit Objective 1.2: Through our partnership with Dakota Rural Action (DRA), we have beenconnected with various producers across the State of South Dakota. Trish and Jeremy of Cycle Farms (Spearfish, SD) have been mentors for the past two years. They serve on our steering committee and give valuable input and direction of the program. This summer wetraveledto Spearfish to tour their farm. They traveled to our farm to facilitate a seed keeping workshop. They came in 2019 for a farm assessment on best practices. Stephanie Peterson of Fruit of the Coop (Brandon, SD) is another mentor that we were able to get connected with through DRA. Other opportunities through DRA were weekend farm tours in the Black Hills and the Sioux Falls area this past season. We metRick and Michelle Grosek of Bear Butte Gardens (Sturgis, SD) who own a farm,onsite farm store and commercial kitchen. The Groseks explained how they scaled their business and their experience working with the South Dakota Department of Labor on developing a farm apprenticeship program. They gave insight onfarm skill core competencies which we were able to apply for the project for year two. Budding Moon is a small farm located five miles west of Spearfish, SD.Currently, they grow on a half acre, with plans to expand no larger than a full acre. Theyuse farming practices that protect and work in harmony with the natural world,an area that is important to our own farm. Theirproduction is focused on growing a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and using season extension practices to produce even in winter. Their market is geared towards CSAs. Jamie at Fretless Farm (Spearfish, SD) has started the 1st year of her small scale farming enterprise. Fretless Farms provides their community with fresh, sustainably grown vegetables. In their first season, the focus was on salad mixes and greens, baby root vegetables, and tomatoes. Jamies enterprise is more geared to the restaurant scene of Spearfish which also poses its own challenges. Objective 1.3: We were not able to gain traction by interacting with potential market outlets this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Buffalo Brew Coffee Shop in Mission, SD had transitioned to new management. The Buffalo Brew was on track to be our first market outlet to serve local produce such herbs, including tea herbs, and salad greens. This transition has delayed our ability to sell to them as we have to now start over with our relationship building with their new management. Sarah Valandra and her partner were also another potential market outlet. Valandra had expressed their need to source salsa produce locally. Their Caribbean restaurant unfortunately is yet to open due to the pandemic. Prairie Hills Steakhouse in Mission, SD, was also a potential new market outlet that we have been discussing ideas with. The steakhouse was supposed to transition to our parent company to manage. However, this transition never took place and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe still owns the property. The restaurant and bar is closed and does not seem like it will be open again for the foreseeable future. Boys and Girls Club of Rosebud who has been one of our strongest partners was also affected by the pandemic. The club was closed for several months at the start of the pandemic. The club was not able to safely conduct in-person programming with youth. The clubs serve meals to youth, which we were hoping could be a way to get produce to community members. Currently, the local school district is operating via distant/remote learning. The Boys and Girls Club has moved to having limited in-person programming again. Goal 2: Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and leaders took part in trainings and leadership development alongside with DRA staff through Farm Beginnings Collaborative facilitation meetings There are now opportunities to go out within the Farmer Network communities to present on the inequity within the food system and highlight the wealth of knowledge from Black Indigenous and People of Color growing food and farming. Organized and hosted on-farm skill shares and events in Mission and around South Dakota for Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and program participants to attend Facilitated informal mentor/mentee relationships with Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and DRA member leaders to continue to broaden the knowledge and experience of DRA member leaders. As a result of Covid 19 response and shiting of work plans and how to continue community led projects that are rooted in face to face connections and convenings; project leaders and support staff have had to develop tools and systems to facilitate training(s) in a virtual setting and while practicing social distancing. Establishing best practices for peer to peer learning environments during a global pandemic Establishing best practices for new and beginning food entrepreneurs to interact and establish direct markets with consumers and general public. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Objective 1.1: So far since the curriculum, course flow, and internship framework are still being developed and improved upon for year 2 of this three year project, we have not disseminated our results yet. However we have consistently shared updates on the curriculum and internship framework with the steering committee and gotten input and feedback from them on various aspects of the program. The steering committee has also been an audience to the business plan and farm plan proposal presentation of our intern who completed the Y1 cohort and were able to hear about her progress in the program and about her future plans for food production. Objective 1.2: Steering committee: some of our mentors serve on our committee Give quarterly updates on project and needs We continually work with most of our mentors around building internal capacity to become a regional training site. Objective 1.3: Results have not been disseminated due to lack of progress in this area. For year 2, we will be putting more of a focus on working with potential market outlets digitally. We will reach out to current and potential food entrepreneurs and invite them to presentations and professional development around topics that are relevant to their needs such as food safety and handling. Goal 2: Our project is still in the first year of a three year project and we've had to drastically shift gears during the global pandemic; a) we are still gathering results and will do so for the next 18 months and b) we are in contact with a professional media operation to facilitate dissemination of information With consulted media professionals we have initiated the data gathering process and hope to have content to distribute Winter 2020/2021 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1.1: During year 2 of this project, we are conducting the second year of this internship program with a larger cohort, taking the lessons and feedback received from year 1 to improve the program, and adapting the classroom component to be more flexible by making it all virtual. We have recruited 9 highly motivated and dedicated interns to the program and are conducting pre-assessments with them so that we can have an accurate picture by the end of the program which areas they have been strengthened and which ones to improve upon in year 3. We are planning the first steering committee meeting of year 2 and in that meeting will roll out all of the improvements that have been made to the curriculum and ask for further feedback and recommendations. The steering committee membership has changed slightly and we believe it to be extremely well-rounded, with members of different perspectives and backgrounds, and a majority of them being from and living in Rosebud at the time so that we can ensure that the program is as relevant and applicable to the local culture and context as possible.We anticipate year 2 of this program being highly improved upon from year 1, and look forward to learning further lessons and receiving further input and feedback from our interns and steering committee to continue improving and growing year to year. All of the interns selected for this cohort have visions of how their food production will contribute to Rosebud as a whole, as well as their individual communities, and we look forward to seeing how the goal of establishing tribal member owned production enterprises will pan out with this group. Objective 1.2: Our goal for this objective is to explore the possibility of expanding our program for ranching. We have reached out to one of our sister companies within REDCO to start having discussion around how this could look. The REDCO Wolakota buffalo ranch was launched earlier this year. They recently released their first 100 buffalo onto the 28,000 acre property. Once fully stocked, they will become the worlds largest Native owned buffalo herd. We will also be expanding our current one acre to four acres, which we will be reserving one acre for our beginning producer interns. Another area that we are looking to expand is our business planning. The Director of Tatanka Fund, Shere Wright, will be joining our steering committee and will be facilitating more sessions around personal finance, financial literacy, and business plan development. Objective 1.3: This year will be hiring a market personnel to work with food entrepreneurs and businesses to create market outlets for our beginning producers. We will be contacting the original list of businesses to get updates on their businesses to understand their needs during the pandemic We will also be inviting entrepreneurs to join our online professional development and training. We are planning on launching our Farmers Market earlier, shooting for a May start date. We will also be launching an aggregated CSA program where we can source produce and food products from beginning producers. Goal 2: With or without a global pandemic, this work is relationship-based and every year we are building on the foundations that we have been building during the previous years. By implementing our current actions and navigating the changing world as well as we can while observing safety precautions, we will accomplish our goals because we are constantly working to build upon these relationships and strengthen our regional and statewide network of growers who will continue to support one another in whatever way they are able, as conditions allow.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1.1: One intern has successfully completed the program with a business plan and a home site space that she is starting to develop out for her enterprise. This internship has given her the tools and the space to develop out these ideas and to get feedback on them from individuals who have already been through this process in one way or another, while receiving the classroom education on technical side of starting up and running a small business. This intern has already begun sales on the first phase of her enterprise which will continue to generate profit while she builds the infrastructure needed for the next phase. Her plan both taps into a niche market that is not being claimed in the area yet, in order to grow produce for a very specific customer base on Rosebud; community members who need produce that is appropriate for health-restricted diets. Due to the resources she now has as well as the growing space, knowledge, and motivation, we fully expect this intern to become one of the 8 new farm entrepreneurs on the Rosebud Reservation in the next couple of years. Year 1 curriculum was completed and compiled to be updated and further developed for year 2 based on lessons learned and to account for increased flexibility during the pandemic Successfully recruited the 5 interns that we had wanted to have for year 1, but for various reasons only one out of the five completed the year-long program; one intern made it most of the way through the program before family demands required her to step down. We conducted exit interviews with the intern who successfully completed to get feedback on what we can do to increase retention. Due to the pandemic and the pause in in-person activities for multiple months in the spring, our intern is still completing her on-farm hours and will have them completed as much as possible by the end of the calendar year. However, the Rosebud Indian Reservation has been experiencing frequent lockdown orders from the tribal president lately which has been making it difficult for our intern to make it to the garden. She has done as many hours as possible. Her classroom hours have been completed in their entirety, including financial literacy and business planning workshops with Tatanka Funds and Lakota Fund. DRA and Farmer Network members have provided mentorship to the interns, as well as local food system players on Rosebud and our steering committee members. Our intern for year 1 has successfully completed her business plan and a farm proposal that was presented to the steering committee to be graded and reviewed for a potential seed money award; they have unanimously voted to award her the seed money that she asked for to move forward with the infrastructure plan to increase her growing capacity at her home site. Objective 1.2: 4 out of 5interns who started the program developed out their spaces in the garden by mapping them out and prepping beds. The two interns who made it all or most of the way through the programhad full plots planted out and harvested from during the season. They also conducted growing projects such as raised bed and container gardening at their homes to adapt to the changing world in light of the pandemic. Mentors presented and allowed for Q&A sessions with the interns on the following topics: poultry operations - laying and broiler; chicken butchering; seed saving; season extension models; diversifying and choosing enterprises to increase and strategize farm income and to meet the existing market; composting systems; ranching; box elder tree tapping; fruiting trees and shrubs; growing hemp; food handling and safety; square foot food system development; business management; land acquisition on the Rosebud; financials and record keeping; food preservation; homesite development Mentorships: Trish and Jeremy of Cycle Farms out of Spearfish, SD have been consistent mentors to the Food Sovereignty Initiative even before this internship program; they have been wonderful contributors as mentors and steering committee members for the internship. They have advised us on best practices in our garden space and provided mentorship on seed saving and herb growing. We have had the opportunity to tour their space and see their growing methods on many occasions. Dr. Paul Gaillard, who completed his PhD in agricultural research and worked at Good Roots Farms in Brookings has provided invaluable consultation to our garden staff on best practices in our garden space and has helped us to develop a plan for the expansion to four acres, including an orchard. Michelle Haukaas, our Garden Manager, has moved into that position this past year and brings her expertise of growing knowledge and having interned in the garden space for multiple years. Michael Prate, who completed a Master Gardener course, and established the garden space, continues to collaborate with Michelle and Matthew Wilson about best practices for continuing to develop the garden. Dakota Rural Action comes out for visits and helps us tap into a farmer network that provides opportunities for mentorship and to learn best practices for the KWG space. Stephanie Peterson, who owns an egg enterprise out of the Sioux Falls area, has been a mentor for our organization. Stephanie has been critical in helping us to start and expand our flock of chickens. She had facilitated an in-person session with our project staff this summer and we were able to learn how she operated her enterprise. We were able to see the different styles of chicken coops, pasture raised methods, egg candling, grading, and also shipping and labeling. Stephanie continues to be a mentor for our organization as we are preparing to winterize our flock. Objective 1.3: In early February 2020, we were approached by two community members who were in the process of opening a new eatery on the Rosebud Reservation. The couple asked if they could source locally for tomatoes, and peppers for their Caribbean Cuisine. However, due to the pandemic, the couple had changed their opening date. Although this was just an initial conversation, we believe that this is a potential market pathway and we will be working with the entrepreneurs once they are able to open their business. Another potential partner that our organization tried securing a pathway for local producers was with Sicangu Owayawa Oti also known as the Rosebud Dormitory. Our project staff had initial discussions about the possibility of sourcing produce to be used in the meals for the youth at the dorm. However we were not able to pursue this further due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In March, the Todd County School District had decided to suspend all in-person classes and opted for digital learning. Students had to return to their homes, and Sicangu Owayawa Oti had to close temporarily. With the start of the new school year in September 2020, the Todd County School District is still under remote education. Goal 2: Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff and leaders audited Dakota Rural Action's (DRA) Program for cultural relevance DRA and Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative staff documented feedback, researched, modified, and developed new curriculum and program concepts to be used at the Key Wakapala Community Gardens in training participants in Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative's Food & Ag Entrepreneur Program Working with our Farmer Network leaders to develop materials and training that focus on the history of farming in South Dakota, especially explaining the history of land theft and the critical role Indigenous communities play presently and historically. Working 1-on-1 with DRA member leaders to show how DRA's Farm Beginnings standard curriculum (and a fair number of DRA FB presenters operate(d) from and within a system built upon the realities of land theft and structural racism, maintains the status quo in terms of land ownership, access to land, and individualistic capitalism versus community based food
Publications
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