First Nations Development Institute Receives $13,000 from Newman's Own Foundation to Support Native American Farm-to-School Efforts

LONGMONT, Colorado (April 22, 2016) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) today announced it has received a $13,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation to support First Nations’ work in promoting farm-to-school food efforts in Indian Country.

First Nations funds and promotes many farm-to-school programs and other projects through its Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI). NAFSI is designed to help tribes and Native communities build sustainable food systems such as community gardens and kitchens, traditional farms and ranches, and other agriculture- and food-related projects that will help eliminate food insecurity and enhance economic development in rural and reservation-based Native communities.

The Newman’s Own Foundation grant is being utilized, along with additional funding from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s “Seeds of Native Health” campaign, to create, host and provide travel scholarships for a two-day, New Mexico-focused farm-to-school training workshop in Albuquerque during June 2016. At the event, speakers will showcase best practices for developing a farm-to-school program and successful Native farm-to-school models, present resources available (including USDA programs and grant opportunities) to initiate and further develop farm-to-school programs, and provide an open forum to discuss potential challenges to such programs in Native communities and how to address them. A limited number of travel scholarships are being provided for New Mexico-based Native American food producers (individual farmers and ranchers as well as representatives of tribes and Native organizations) and schools that serve primarily Native American students.

About First Nations Development Institute

For more than 35 years, using a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating for systemic change, and capitalizing Indian communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native American communities. First Nations serves Native American communities throughout the United States. For more information about First Nations, visit http://www.firstnations.org.