tribal nations

What kid doesn’t enjoy eating their favorite dish in the school cafeteria? As a kid, I was always excited when broccoli cheese soup was on my school lunch menu! But, what if the foods that kids eat at home and in their community aren’t served in school? This is a challenge that some children face across the country, especially in schools serving students from the Federally Recognized Tribes and/or Native Hawaiians.

November is Native American Heritage Month. This is a time to celebrate Native American history and culture while also exploring the ongoing contributions, achievements, and hardships of Native people in the United States. This month’s theme, Indigenous Foods: The Intersection Between Land, Food, and Culture, highlights a challenge that many Native Americans face—food insecurity. USDA recognizes this and the importance of empowering Native Americans by building back sustainable food systems that strengthen food security and increases their control over Native agriculture and food systems.

Each opportunity to engage directly with the people we serve through our programs provides moments to learn and reflect. For far too long, decisions about the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, also known as FDPIR, were made for tribes rather than with tribes or even by tribes. But USDA is committed to turning that tide and making the future of FDPIR one marked by listening, understanding and collaboration. Last month’s National Association of Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, was the perfect occasion for FNS to discuss recent and upcoming changes to FDPIR with our tribal partners and hear feedback directly from those who would be impacted.

Summer is a beautiful time to travel the country and visit with partners, and I am delighted, humbled and honored to have visited the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe last month. It was inspiring and impressive to see how the tribes are dreaming big in terms of food sovereignty - delivering healthy, fresh, locally sourced, and traditional foods to their members in their communities through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Cindy Long, Administrator, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and Regional FNS leadership visited New Mexico last month to recognize several FNS nutrition assistance programs in action and learn how FNS can support their work. Advancing nutrition security is a key priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, so we are excited to be working with local partners to promote the overall importance of child nutrition. New Mexico is one of the first States to offer healthy meals to all children, ensuring more kids have access to the meals they need to thrive at school and beyond.

Tribal nations across what we now consider the Great Plains relied for millennia on their buffalo relatives for food, medicine, clothing, tools, and shelter. Yet today it is hard to find buffalo meat on school meal trays in the very areas where they once sustained Native communities. The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is working with tribal partners to figure out why and to remove the barriers we can.