CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Turkowski, Marielle Hana |
|---|---|
| Title | Implementing Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States: Reforming the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations |
| Summary | Industrialized food systems in the United States are failing Native Americans. Indigenous people face food insecurity at twice the rate of other demographics, are more likely to live in “food deserts”, where fresh, affordable groceries are hard to come by, and thus experience higher rates of malnutrition, nutrition-related illnesses, and premature death than other Americans. Government initiatives such as the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations have attempted to ameliorate this public health crisis by increasing food security through delivering grocery packages to rural Native American communities. Major critiques of this program cite a lack of local agency, claiming that without independent governance at the regional level, FDPIR is merely a “Band-Aid solution”, not invested in long-term remedies for Indigenous public health or cultural restoration. In recent decades, grassroots activism for Native American food access, culturally appropriate diets, and public health has centered around a reclamation of Indigenous food sovereignty, wherein communities have the right and resources to decide their own food systems. Through five Indigenous criteria for food sovereignty, cultural relevancy, health improvement, non-exploitation, consumer choice, and sustainable economies, this thesis analyzes the Food Distribution Program to discover how it can be functionally reformed to better support Indigenous food sovereignty. The findings show that while FDPIR has begun to engage with all five goals, it fails to meet any due to the over-centralization of the program. Recommendations to reform FDPIR revolve around furthering food security by stratifying packages based on need, regionalizing by reinstating a modified version of the Vendor Pilot Program, incorporating more traditional foods, and increasing contracts with Native producers. |
| Supervisor | Aistara, Guntra and Lixinski, Lucas |
| Department | Legal Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/turkowski_marielle.pdf |
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