Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the project includes Lakota youth, the Cheyenne River Youth Project, farmers, ranchers, gardeners, aspiring and active agriculture entrepreneurs, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and affiliated tribal programs, food related business, schools, social service organizations, food distribution organizations, community development organizations, and the health services organizations and agencies on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?CRYP is currently examining ways to distribute the results of the research. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
CRYP hired Sweet Grass Consulting and Indigenous Impact Co. to conduct the research and complete the report. 30 in-person and virtual interviews were the primary formof data collection. A literature review of secondary data was conducted and incorporated existing reports, policies, news articles, and the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Census of Agriculture. Results 1. The viability and approach to getting our food into the schools and other institutions like the tribally owned Lakota Thrifty Mart; and how and where we can expand our value-added processes There is demand for local foods on Cheyenne River from other programs and businesses. The Lakota Thrifty Mart and Eagle Stop both expressed interest in sourcing foods from CRYP, and other options include Dupree YMCA, Veterans' Services, and Dupree School. CRYP can start by selling in-season produce and as capacity grows, offer value-addedgoods. CRYP can work with Lakota Thrifty Mart and Eagle Stop to develop a small display stocked with our products. CRYP should also seek to work with local schools, school food service directors and nutrition managers, and community feeding programs to provide produce through micro-purchasing regulations. 2. Where are the gaps in service to youth so we can have more impact on their nutrition and health Study participants agreed about the importance of food sovereignty, but we also asked them how much they think the community supports food sovereignty on a scale of one to five. The average response given was 3.6, indicating there is a perceived interest in food sovereignty but with room to grow. Lack of access and information/education (29%) were the primary barriers preventing our community from supporting food sovereignty. When asked what increased support for food sovereignty would look like, 43% mentioned opportunities for the community to participate in the food system, and 43% said learning traditional uses and ways to prepare food and medicines. These responses demonstrate that there is community interest in food sovereignty, but that people need more opportunities to increase their knowledge and gain hands-on skills. CRYP needs to continue to engage families in food sovereignty programming to increase their understanding, while larger efforts need to happen at the tribal, community, and service levels to bolster the work we are doing with youth. Another gap is service includes the need for partnerships to expand opportunities for youth to participate in food enterprise and garden related initiatives. Building levels of participation and various internship and apprenticeship opportunities into our programming can help build the next generation of food producers. One possibility for CRYP to deepen our food enterprise and agricultural programming is the development of advanced internship tracks for youth who have already completed the food sovereignty, indigenous cooking, and social enterprise internships and would like opportunities for further training. Potential internship tracks could include variations of Master Gardener, Master Food Preserver, Permaculture Design Certification, Culinary Training Program, and Beginning Farmer/Rancher themes. 4. What are the food based entrepreneurial opportunities for CRYP and youth Mobile food sales were identified as an area of need and entrepreneurial opportunity. There are many remote communities on the reservation where transportation remains a barrier to accessing food. In the future, CRYP can seek to expand our current aggregation efforts to source more products from local producers to offer through a mobile farmers' market. More broadly, aggregation possibilities for local producers to supply larger markets and expanded retail, wholesale, mobile, and online marketplace access for small scale producers on Cheyenne River exist. Expanding marketing efforts to reach a greater number of people could help solicit potential customers by raising local awareness of what CRYP has to offer and was an identified need. There is a large demand for additional lunch options in Eagle Butte, which was noted by a pop-up food vendor and was demonstrated by the success of CRYP's Keya Café, which closed during the early days of the pandemic. Re-opening the café with the addition of healthy grab and go items can help generate revenue to support CRYP's food and agricultural programming and will provide training opportunities for interns and new staff. Launching our food truck will also help expand food access in more remote reservation communities as well as meeting the community's demand for healthy prepared meal options. Dairy Queen, Subway, and Taco John's, all based in Eagle Butte, have a total sales volume of $2,222,000, which is 69% of the total restaurant sales volume on the Cheyenne River Reservation. CRYP can boost and claim a share of this revenue through its food-based enterprises. Broadly, there is a need for community food networks that promote food security and accessibility. These networks could include community gardens, food preservation education, home garden support, and more that can help increase entrepreneurial food related efforts. Apart from entrepreneurial opportunities there are also job opportunities. At CRYP alone, additional staff include Food Sovereignty Director; Food Sovereignty Internships Manager; Garden Manager; Keya Café General Manager; Keya Café/ Food Truck Associate Manager; Café, food truck, kitchen, and customer service staff; and Market Manager. In the long term, CRYP can continue to "grown their own" future staff and create pathways to hire for CRYP youth interns as well as supporting youth in becoming food entrepreneurs. 5. How do we become certified organic and is it necessary This question was not answered through the research. 6. Is it feasible to sell our value-added products via our E-store With expanded marketing, CRYP can expand the volume of sales via our E-store. However, currently it is not feasible to expand into interstate or intrastate online sales. Impact Statement-Change in Knowledge Through this study, our community members have re-affirmed that food truly is medicine and that they are eager to support local food producers and learn how to grow and produce local and traditional foods. CRYP has the tools to expand our already strong agriculture and food programs to continue to be a part of the movement that is building a local food economy on the Cheyenne River Reservation. There are a multitude of ways that CRYP and other organizations can work to bolster the local food system and expand access to local foods, both through economic means as well as community partnerships and programs. For CRYP, hiring additional staff should be a key priority and is necessary to achieve many of the other recommendations outlined throughout the report. Further building out the agricultural and food enterprises and programming at CRYP will allow us to increase knowledge and train youth to become future innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs in the Cheyenne River Reservation food system, thereby 'growing our own' workforce in the immediate future. Through this report, a vision for the future of Cheyenne River Reservation's food system began to emerge. This vision includes more gardens in communities, more buffalo, and increased poultry production. Benefits from the tribe such as increased access to buffalo meat replace benefits like SNAP. Community members access buffalo more easily because price will not be a barrier. Families will have the resources and education to cultivate home gardens. In 50-100 years, there will be a strong, self-sustaining food system on Cheyenne River that prioritizes Indigenous ingredients and traditional foods. To achieve this vision, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Councilneeds to take a vested interest in building food sovereignty.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Cheyenne River Youth Project, "Community Foods Project Report", July 2023.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Case studies will be further researched andcompiled in November and December. A list of partners, assets, and resources will be compiled for inclusion in the final report. KOL interviews with Julie Garreau, Executive Director and Jerica Widow, Director of Programs are scheduled for November 2022 to more deeply understand and assess CRYP's goals, current capacity, and existing programming. An in-person visit in January 2023 will facilitate data collection related to infrastructure assets and needs. Secondary data related to CRSTlands and food systems has been assessed and will be included in the final report. Market data for potential customer and competitor businesses will be analyzed in December 2022. Conduct remaining 3 KOLs.For individuals local to the Cheyenne River Reservation, data collection will be attempted up through the in-person January 2023 visit. Continue to reach out to schools and follow up at January 2023 visit. Remaining data collection on food entities. will take place during in-person visit in January 2023. Community focus groups will take place in-person in January 2023 and data will be analyzed in January and February 2023.KOL analysis will begin once interviews are complete in January 2023. Analysis will begin once data collection is complete Conduct research and analysis necessary to determine costs and needs related to selling agricultural and value-add products via online marketplace Once data analysis is complete in February 2023 we will begin compiling the narrative report. An Executive Summary of the draft report will be written once the initial draft is complete. Data will be compiled and provided to CRYP upon completion of the narrative report. Agricultural Assessment of Reservation Resources and Economic Leakage will take place answereing: What is grown, where, and by whom?Where/how do they sell it?Revenues? How much tribal taxes and economic multiplier effect is being lost by selling reservation grown foods off-reservation?Inventory of all commodities produced on the Reservation (total acreage, yields, total revenue captured locally, breakdown of expenses for production, harvest, processing, transportation). Supply chain analysis for each major commodity (to understand possible benefits ofkeeping local). Produce adynamic data dashboard that pulls together key variables tracking food self-sufficiency on a yearly or semi-annual basis. Review and assess inventory, vendor policies, needs and strengths of existing grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, and community organizations.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Existing CRST food systems research has been reviewed. An excel spreadsheet matrix related to the existing CRST food system and organized by theme has been created and will be used as secondary data sources in the final report. Review of CRST internship data and performance reports is in progress. Three separate interview assessment tools for key opinion leaders, schools and other mealproviders, and food distributors/entities have been created along with a digital consent form. No e-version of the tools was created since it was decided to collect data via interviews rather than surveys. In place of a community survey a focus group or groups will be conducted during an in-person visit in January 2023. Case study organizations have been identified and KOLs have been conducted with two out of five case study organizations. Market data for potential customer and competitor businesses has been accessed. 11 individuals were identified for KOLs by CRYP; all were contacted; 4 are complete. Schools have been contacted 1 - 2 times via email. 13 food entities were identified and contacted; 2 interviews have been scheduled.
Publications
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