It’s a hot, muggy Tuesday morning in Charlevoix, yet community health members from the Little Traverse Bay Band are out picking green beans.
“It is a workout out here,” says Mindy Taylor, LTBB Community Health Manager. “It feels really good afterwards. It just feels so satisfying to be able to you know pick the food bring it to people and just know that we’re making a difference.”
Home Grown is a 17-year-old project designed to reconnect tribal members with the food they eat. It’s also another step towards food sovereignty.
Food sovereignty is a system in which people produce, distribute and consume food. The emphasis on growing local food economies.
“If something happens, ” says Marlene Gasco, a LTBB Community Wellness Advocate. “We have this. We know how to use the Earth to provide this you know nutrition and medicine and stuff like that in order for us to keep going and continue surviving.”
The program began with food being planted by farmer Dan Berg, and brought to the community’s clinic and government center for all tribal members.
They focus on diabetic, pre-diabetic and elder populations, and then it grew. Now, the community is able to pick and harvest the wide assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables they want, and families are able to come out and enjoy a tradition dating centuries back.
“I thought that was something that was really important in terms of getting this program,” says Taylor. “A lot of our elders were out harvesting, gathering, hunting and this is starting to bring that back to the generations, our little ones today, so that they can continue that on.”
“Our ancestors did this a long time ago. It’s all in our blood, it’s just a matter of us reconnecting and finding our way back,” says Gasco.
There are open pick opportunities on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Saturday for all tribal community members.
Community Health members are out in the field on Old US Highway 31 two days a week to pick for Elders and fill coolers at three of their distribution locations.
Community Health Representatives hand out garden boxes to tribal members in the spring so they can grow at home. Otherwise, harvest starts as early as June for fruits like strawberries, and doesn’t stop until late fall for some produce.
LTBB Community Health is always looking for ways to connect the tribal community to healthy food options, exercise and wellness.
Food preservation workshops are offered through a partnership through Michigan State University Extension to show how to extend the life of the produce. There will be a two-part series on sauerkraut in September and October.
“It’s an honor and privilege to be able to bring health and wellness of the community through this form and just to be a part of something like community health every day,” says Taylor.
Home Grown project is possible through grants made available through Indian Health Service and other organizations.
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