How Native communities use food as medicine

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month. | [Feeding America.]( [DONATE]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Our nation has a troubled history when it comes to the treatment of Indigenous People. As a Native American with roots in the Southwest, I want to both celebrate Native people and address the harmful policies that have led to high rates of poverty and food insecurity in Native communities. Native Americans face some of the highest rates of hunger and during the pandemic, those rates increased—and yet the lack of access to healthy, nutritious food still exists to this day. Native Americans have faced centuries of discrimination—Many whose land was stolen or taken were forced to relocate into reservations or other lands that they were not familiar with. This impacted their ability to hunt, forage, farm or gather resources for food to build and sustain their communities. Instead, the government provided commodities that included wheat, dairy, processed sugars and meats that were never part of the ancestral diet for Native Americans. My top priority as the Director of Native/Tribal Partnerships is to help food banks build relationships with Native and Tribal communities. I want to help food banks understand, respect, and celebrate the many Native American cultures and history. In honor of Native American Heritage Month, I wanted to spotlight one of the food banks in [Feeding America's network that is partnering with one of the Paiute Tribes in Northern Nevada.]( [Food is Medicine]( is a program that partners food pantries and health clinics. To reduce food insecurity, some health clinics have added food distribution sites to their locations, and some health care providers work to connect patients to nutritional assistance programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). This program is providing both healthy foods that help manage common diseases like obesity and diabetes and foods with cultural significance to Tribal communities. Often these two go hand-in-hand! But these same foods—items like fresh beans, squash, and other fresh vegetables and fruits, honey, and bison—are especially hard to come by in rural places like Northern Nevada, and when found, carry a hefty price tag. Through the trust developed between food banks and Native and Tribal communities, food banks can now serve food that tribes need and find meaningful. I am proud of the work that Feeding America has been able to do to support Native and Tribal communities by supporting partnerships between the food banks and Native communities. Feeding America has provided over $100 million in grants to network member food banks to support communities of color, including Native and Tribal communities, as well as rural communities disproportionately impacted by food insecurity. [Learn more about the ways the Feeding America network of food banks and Indigenous tribes work together to address hunger.]( We have a long way to go in reversing the impacts of colonization and mistreatment of Native Americans, but Feeding America is committed to supporting Native and Tribal Nations in their effort to bring healthy, nutritious, and culturally connected foods to their citizens. Ashagoteh (A heartfelt thank you), [Mark Ford signature.] [Mark Ford.] Mark Ford Director, Native/Tribal Partnerships Feeding America P.S. I sat down with my team to talk about the ways the Feeding America network of food banks and Indigenous tribes work together to address hunger. [You can read the full conversation on the Feeding America blog.]( [facebook link]( [twitter link]( [instagram link]( [FeedingAmerica.org]( | [Donate Now]( | [Contact Us]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( 161 North Clark Street, Suite 700 | Chicago, IL 60601 | 1-800-910-5524 © 2022 Feeding America