Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:This project focuses on three geographic regions, and our work has targeted a few differnet demographics within each region. Grand Ronde, Oregon: A rural community located on the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR) with a diverse population of Tribal members and Non-Tribal residents. - Tribal employees: we aimed to draw employees from a wide variety of CTGR departments to join our cohort of "Tribal Food Preservation Educators." Our work has reached employees from Education, Health and Wellness, Cultural Resources, and a member of Tribal Council. - Food pantry volunteers and employees: we have two food pantry volunteers in our cohort and many food pantry volunteers. Warm Springs, Oregon: A rural community on the reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. - Tribal members: we have conducted outreach with a broad cross section of Tribal members. Portland, Oregon:A large metropolitan area with Native and Indigenous residents with membership in Tribes across North America and beyond. - Native food preservers: outreach has focused on Native individuals working in the food system or working for Native-serving non-profits. Changes/Problems:In consultation with Tribal authorities, the PIs of this grant are waiting to conduct research on Tribal traditional foods until final data sharing agreements are signed. The draft DSA clarifies that our partner Tribes or Native-serving agencies are the owners and stewards of data concerning traditional foods, and any research or education conducted concerning these foods under this grant will be at the request of and will be subject to review by the Tribal entity. This approach recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge and helps ensure that OSU can be a good partner to Tribal nations and cultures. The impact on the project has been (1) a necessary hold on research into preservation of traditional foods and (2) a predicted limitation on the general use of information on traditional foods, subject to Tribal approval. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The core of this project is a training opportunity for Tribal members and Native-serving agency employees to learn culturally reponsive methods for teaching food safety and food preservation skills. Course sites have been established in Grand Ronde, Warm Springs, and Portland to implement this training, with 31 individuals enrolled for the pilot course. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Preliminary results from the project have been shared with: - Associated Tribes of Northwest Indians 2023 Conference, Portland OR - Northwest Tribal Food Sovereignty Coalition 2023 Gathering, Coeur d'Alene ID - OSU Extension FCH Spring Conference 2024, BendOR Progress reports have also been regularly offered to our key Tribal partners, including: - Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Culture and Heritage Committee - Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Cultural Resources Department - Native American Youth and Family Center, Portland - Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year 2 of this project will see four major activities: - Completion of Gather, Preserve, Store, Share: all 10 modules of the curriculum series will be drafted, reviewed, and finalized. - Training of 3 regional cohorts: up to 31 participants will complete our pilot GPSS training program. - Community workshops: each regional cohort will be responsible for offering a minimum of 6 community workshops on topics relating to food safety and food preservation for Tribal audiences. - Evaluation: pre and post surveys of the GPSS training will be completed and PIs will conduct a thorough evaluation of program strengths and areas for growth to share broadly with Tribal partners.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major accomplishment of this project to date is the launch ofthe pilotprogram, "Gather, Preserve, Store, Share," a food safety and preservation training program that aims to prepare members of Tribal communities and Native-serviving agencies to offer their communities food preservation workshops that are culturally responsive. Under Objective 1, the PIs of this project formed a curriciculum working group that met regularly over the course of the first grant year, analyzing the strengthsand weaknesses of OSU Extension's existing food preservation training program, Master Food Preserver. This group conducted a thorough revision of the format of the existing training program, using techniques borrowed from Popular Education theory and responding direclty to feedback from members of Tribal communities. The new curriculum combines self-study of food safety texts with interactive dialogues exploring the ways that food safety information intersects with traditional practices. 4 out of 10 modules of this new curriculum have been drafted and are undergoing pilot implementation. Under Objective 2, the PIs of this project consulted with relevant Tribal authorities and the Indian Health Board on best practices for creating curricular materials relating to traditional foods. A data sharing agreement was drafted and is still under final consideration for adoption. This agreement will allow for the creation of curricular materials relating to traditional foods by members of the Gather, Preserve, Store, Share cohorts, but these materials will be reviewed, approved, and ultimately owned by the Tribal authorities partnering with us at each of the three course sites. Under Objective 3, each of our course sites has recruited widely from the Native community and from Native-serving agencies to form a cohort of food safety and preservation educators-in-training. We have a total of 31 participants enrolled in the program, which launched in person classes August 2024. Under Objective 4, PIs have yet to establish a mechanism for soliciting feedback.
Publications
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