A group of people stand in a garden with a small cabin-like shed in the background

Nutrition & Community Food Systems

What We Do

The Nutrition & Community Food Systems Team is working in multiple areas to increase access to healthy, traditional foods to support Tribal members’ overall health and well-being.

Tribal Partners

Developing Career Pathways

The Community Food Systems Team is working to develop and map career pathways to InTribal food sovereignty in Wisconsin. The development and expansion of Tribal farms and food processing creates new opportunities to reclaim and renew Tribal foodways while creating culturally rooted and place-based jobs. They are working to ensure that Tribal youth and young adults seeking careers in Tribal food sovereignty can access training and professional development to lead this work.

This includes hosting events, such as the three-day Milwaukee Urban Indigenous Agriculture Tour in July 2024.

Nutrition Programs

The Nutrition Team is working to align public benefit-nutrition related programs and Food Is Medicine efforts with Tribal food sovereignty efforts. The team is building on existing nutrition programs in Tribal communities by working with Tribal nutrition educators affiliated with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council and the Extension Health & Well-Being Institute.

A group of people stand in a garden with trees and a house in the background — Touring the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Whirling Thunder Ranch. Photo by Hannah Arbuckle.