WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday that it will in the very first instance, offer grants to harvest, process and storage of Indigenous meats like bison reindeer, moose salmon and elk, providing an incentive to tribes that work to boost the food security of their communities.
The changes will broaden USDA funding, which has been restricted to meats under the department’s control, like pork, beef or chicken.
“We are extremely pleased that we’ll invest in Indigenous processing of animals,” said Heather Dawn Thompson Director of the USDA’s Office of Tribal Affairs. for the Office of Tribal Relations. “We have been able to hear clearly in our discussions of tribal government representatives that they would like to make sure that they have protein made from Indigenous animals that they can use for their tribes. For the very first time our funds will be available for these animals. We’re transforming the course of human history together.”
This department’s Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant Program will grant the equivalent of $50 million in order to enhance the food security of tribal communities and resilience to agricultural supply chains through the development and expansion of infrastructure for meat products from Indigenous animals. The program will finance projects that aim to increase local capacity for harvesting and processing, as well as making, storing, transporting or wholesaling of meat from indigenous peoples.
“USDA is delighted to announce this funding to tribal nations resilient food chains as part of USDA’s larger efforts to bring back Indigenous traditional food practices,” USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small said in an announcement. “By increasing and improving the processing capabilities of local communities These projects will ensure the most appropriate and culturally-appropriate food and food security for the tribal communities.”
The tribes that are eligible for grant applications are as well as fully-owned instruments and arms, and multi-tribal or joint tribal government entities. There is neither a minimum or maximum amount for an application for a grant, nor is there any minimum. There are also no match fund requirements. The deadline for submitting applications is the 19th of July.
The grants announced on today are part of the USDA’s Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative, which promotes traditional ways of eating, Indian Country food and markets for agriculture, as well as Indigenous health through food choices that are that are specifically designed to meet American Indian/Alaska native (AI/AN) diet requirements.
The USDA collaborates with tribal-serving organizations in the initiatives to redesign the federal programs for agriculture and food using an Indigenous perspective, and help inform the future USDA policies and programs officials have said. It is the USDA Food Sovereignty Initiative was first announced in 2021.
“USDA is dedicated to empowering the autonomy of tribal communities and to incorporating Indigenous perspectives to food production, agriculture as well as food,” the USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The story first was published in Indian Country Today and is reproduced here with permission.
