The Crow Tribe requests $2,250,00 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement Program for the purpose of supporting locally raised and tribally owned cattle and buffalo producers, while providing Tribal members with greater access to food products within their own communities. The Crow Tribe will directly distribute local cattle and buffalo to Tribal members, while supporting the development of Tribal producers and local food systems.
During the two-year period of performance, the Tribe proposes to identify at least 50 Tribal producers, purchase their food items, and establish the distribution methods, which should include district-level “markets”. This would provide a venue for other local food producers to sell their products, and simultaneously address the extreme shortage of grocery stores and food access on the Crow Reservation for more than 8,000 Tribal members living there.