Food Sustainability

Published: 2020
By Hillary Maxwell

It’s been a busy year, with wrapping up the community gardens and research orchard, and teaching food preservation classes. Approximately 150 home gardens now exist on the Fort Belknap Reservation, in addition to four productive community gardens. We are continuing to work on building our capacity for food security at Fort Belknap. The Well-Connected Communities Project through MSU Extension supports the training of food preservation “mentors” in the form of local people (6 adults and 2 youth) trained to offer expertise about canning, pickling, drying and freezing food. These mentors reach out to all community members who may need information on safe and approved methods of food preservation, as we anticipate a future where food security skills and knowledge will remain essential to our community’s well-being. In a new partnership with the Western Ag Research Center, a fruit tree grafting project was instituted, allowing tribal members to learn new methods of propagation. This recent initiative has positively impacted the community’s ability to expand private orchards, potentially generate larger amounts of locally-grown fruit, and enhance economic opportunities for small-fruit market growers.