Tribal Food Producer Information Session
December 5, 2024 12:30PM - 1:30PM
Join the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition and Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center for a meeting on Thursday, December 5, 2024 to connect and learn.
December 5, 2024, 12:30 PM EST | 11:30 AM CST
Register: https://bit.ly/TribalFoodProducerSession
Resources are available for Tribal food producers. The Tribal Food Producer Information Session will provide updates on funding and other resources to support growing businesses in the Midwest.
The session will be facilitated by Jen Falck (Oneida Nation), owner of Kahulahele Farmstead and Partnership Program Coordinator, Menominee Tribe’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, and Dan Cornelius (Oneida Nation), owner of Yowela Farms, grower of heritage Indigenous crops, and Outreach Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jen and Dan will be joined by Julie Jesmer and Jamie Rahrig of Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems.
Tribal food producers will learn about resources available to them through the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition and Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center. One resource includes the first phase of the Business Builder grant program for food and/or farm businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Over $10 million dollars will be distributed across the region to assistance providers and through the grant program over the next four years.
Meeting hosts:
- Jen Falck (Oneida Nation) works for the Menominee Tribe’s Department of Agriculture & Food Systems. She has professional experience in environmental health, food safety, tribal administration, and tribal legislation. Her current projects include the Wisconsin Tribal Elder Food Box Program, developing a Menominee Food Code, and helping to rebuild Menominee foodways. Jen is married and has a twenty-one year old daughter in college, a few dogs, and a menagerie of farm animals. Jen and her husband manage Kahulahele Farmstead, an eight acre farmstead which focuses on food sovereignty, restorative agriculture, conscious animal husbandry, building community, and resilience through bartering.
- Dan Cornelius, owner of Yowela Farms and a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, grows heritage Indigenous crops, raises animals, makes maple syrup, and harvests wild rice. His overall approach seeks to balance modern equipment with inspiration from traditional practices with no-and-minimal tillage for crop production and animals to help cycle nutrients. Dan is also the Outreach Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as well as serving as a judge on the Oneida Appellate Court.
- Julie Jesmer, Business Builder Grant Program Manager, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems
- Jamie Rahrig, Food and Farm Outreach Specialist, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, MSU Product Center
Join us Thursday, December 5, 2024, 12:30 PM EST | 11:30 AM CST on Zoom, to learn and connect. This session will be recorded and shared at glm-rfbc.msu.edu and on Youtube.
Register by Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 11:59 PM
https://bit.ly/TribalFoodProducerSession
For more information, email glm-rfbc@msu.edu or visit glm-rfbc.msu.edu.
About the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition
The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition works to heal communities by strengthening Indigenous food networks. Their Tribal Elder Food Box Program provides nutrition, culturally meaningful foods for Tribal members over 55 years old. In 2022, the program reached all 11 tribes in Wisconsin, delivering over 24,400 boxes.
About the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center
The Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center is dedicated to offering coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building opportunities for small- to mid-sized or historically marginalized food and farm business entrepreneurs in support of a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems (MI) coordinates the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center that is comprised of network coordinators – Chicago Food Policy Action Council (IL), Northwest Indiana Food Council (IN), Food Finance Institute of the University of Wisconsin System (WI), and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Food Systems – who seek to take a transformational, rather than transactional, approach. Learn more at glm-rfbc.msu.edu
This institution is an equal opportunity provider. USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
Print
Email