Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

First Nations Now Accepting Grant Proposals for Native Communities to Conduct Food Sovereignty Assessments

LONGMONT, Colorado (July 13, 2016) – First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) is now accepting proposals from Native communities interested in conducting food sovereignty or community food assessments. Under the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI), generously supported by the NoVo Foundation Fund at the Tides Foundation, First Nations plans to distribute up to 20 grant awards averaging $20,000 each to Native communities looking to conduct food assessments and gain a better knowledge and understanding about the historical, current and future state of their local food systems.

All applications are due by Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at 5 p.m. Mountain Time.

A food sovereignty assessment is a community-based data-collection process that can provide a variety of information about the evolution of the local food system; help quantify individual, household or tribal program/government spending on food; Native dollars spent off-reservation on food purchases; potential for food-business development; traditional food access; community desires for local food-system development; food policy desires or needs; and more.

In 2004, First Nations released the Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool (FSAT), a tool for Native communities to utilize in developing local community food assessments. The FSAT was updated in 2015 and First Nations has provided many other resources, tools and grant support to assist Native communities in conducting food assessments. A food sovereignty assessment has been a starting point for many communities to develop mechanisms to increase local food-system control. Thus, this grant opportunity is intended to support efforts of Native communities looking to gather information and data to understand the evolution of their food systems and make data-informed decisions about the future.

Desired proposals will have clearly defined goals and objectives for a potential food assessment; a plan to publicize and carry out the assessment within a reasonable timeline; a defined plan that uses multiple methods to collect information from and about the community; and a plan for use of results and dissemination of assessment findings. The grant period will commence September 1, 2016, and end August 31, 2017.

Organizations eligible to apply include U.S.-based Native American-controlled 501(c)(3) nonprofits, tribes and tribal departments, tribal organizations, or Native American community-based groups with eligible fiscal sponsors committed to increasing healthy food access in rural and reservation-based Native communities and improving the health and well-being of Native American children and families.

For full information, a list of additional resources, and to begin an application, please visit http://www.firstnations.org/grantmaking/2016NoVoFSA.

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, visit http://www.firstnations.org.

 

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