Blue Lake Rancheria seeks to expand its nutrition programs and strengthen our local food systems through local food purchasing from socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and distribution of Fresh Food Boxes to underserved communities. The existing Elders Nutrition Program provides free meals to 85 Tribal Elders and Native community members living in the region. This Local Food Purchasing project will expand upon the existing Elders Nutrition program to reach more community members in need of food and not being served by other food programs.
This cooperative agreement will support the Program Coordinator to perform outreach to ensure socially disadvantaged farmers/producers are receiving most of the procurement and that underserved communities are receiving fresh local foods through the program. We expect to purchase from at least 10 local farms, 5-10 of which will be socially disadvantaged farmers. We will deliver monthly fresh food boxes to at least 100 households in need of food in our remote, rural community.
We anticipate purchasing 11,000 pounds of local produce and 4,400 pounds of local meats through this program, a significant increase in local food consumption for recipients. We will be sharing about our program and the local farmers participating to encourage local food purchasing and strengthen our local food systems.