Tribal Producer Information Session – December 5, 2024
December 18, 2024 Jamie Rahrig, Julie Jesmer
Print
EmailThis virtual meeting hosted on December 5, 2024 offered a space for Tribal food producers from across the Great Lakes Midwest to gather and learn together.
The session was facilitated by Jen Falck (Oneida Nation), owner of Kahulahele Farmstead and Partnership Program Coordinator, Menominee Tribe’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, and Dan Cornelius (Oneida Nation), owner of Yowela Farms, grower of heritage Indigenous crops, and Outreach Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Additionally, Stephanie Dodge joined to share her insights as the Intertribal Food Coordinator of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. She is the purveyor of much of the food for the Tribal Elder Food Box program.
Resources discussed during this webinar:
- Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition
- Tribal Elder Food Box
- USDA Increasing Land, Capital and Market Access
- Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center
They were joined by Jamie Rahrig and Julie Jesmer of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems and Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center who shared more about the upcoming Business Builder grant program. The first phase of the Business Builder grant program will soon open for food and/or farm businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Over $10 million dollars will be distributed across the region to assistance providers and through the grant program over the next four years.
Additional sessions for Tribal producers will be held throughout 2025. Stay tuned for more information.
For those who missed the live event, a recording of the webinar is now available here:
This event was cohosted by the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition and the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center.
About the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition
The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition works to heal communities by strengthening Indigenous food networks. Their Tribal Elder Food Box Program provides nutrition, culturally meaningful foods for Tribal members over 55 years old. In 2022, the program reached all 11 tribes in Wisconsin, delivering over 24,400 boxes. Learn more at https://greatlakesintertribalfood.org/
About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center
The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for small- to mid-sized or historically marginalized food and farm business entrepreneurs in support of a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu.
Support for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Regional Food Business Centers Program. The 12 USDA Regional Food Business Centers support all 50 U.S. States and Territories, and are inclusive of all types of agricultural products produced locally or regionally.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider. USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
