Every person deserves to have access to fresh, affordable food. Yet that isn’t the reality for many Minnesotans.
According to the Food Empowerment Project, food deserts are geographic areas where access to affordable and nutritious food options are limited or non-existent. In the U.S., food insecurity disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities — nearly every reservation meets the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition of a “food desert.”
A lack of access to nutritional food leads to a higher risk of food insecurity and chronic conditions like diabetes in these communities.
To combat food insecurity and diet related illnesses, tribes and Indigenous-led organizations across the state are working to fund food sovereignty — the rights of Indigenous communities to create their own food systems that are rooted in cultural values and rebuild relationships between people and the land.
To help with this effort, the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has launched The Food Sovereignty Funding Initiative. The initiative supports local organizations to strengthen food systems within tribal nations and increase access to Indigenous foods. The Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and White Earth Nation were the first recipients of the Food Sovereignty Funding.
“Food is medicine, and when people have access to food that is not just healthy but also deeply connected to their culture and lifeways, they are giving their bodies nutrition and healing,” says Jill Chamberlain, community health and health equity senior manager at The Center for Prevention. “We recognize the importance of investing in Indigenous community-led solutions and that food sovereignty is essential to improving community health outcomes.”
To learn more about this initiative and other ways the Center for Prevention is supporting communities throughout the state, visit centerforpreventionmn.com.