How Minnesota utility Conservation Improvement Program participation pathways can enable greater food security for Minnesota Native Nations
(07/01/2022)
This research uses the lens and framework of Minnesota’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) to understand energy issues related to food sovereignty and resilience in Indigenous communities in Minnesota. It also identifies the barriers that impede Native nations from greater success in food cultivation, processing, storage, and distribution.
The three primary objectives of the project are:
1. Understand energy issues related to Indigenous food sovereignty in Minnesota.
2. Identify potential non-energy benefits, including food desert mitigation, that may result from additional support from CIP offerings for Native food sovereignty projects.
3. Provide recommendations for how CIP offerings may support Native nations in advancing food sovereignty work.
Slipstream Group, Inc. is the primary investigator for the research and partnered with Indian Land Tenure Foundation, St. Croix Institute, and Our Healthy Share GBC (“Healthy Share”) to complete the project. This research strengthens CIP’s understanding of how the 11 federally recognized Native nations in Minnesota are engaged in food sovereignty efforts. It also explores common elements of the diverse work being done by each nation, including creating a clearer understanding of the tasks and processes that are used throughout the full food production process.
This paper considers how energy is used in food sovereignty work. It also recommends strategies that utilities and Minnesota policymakers may use to create and strengthen CIP offerings to better support Native food sovereignty work. To develop these recommendations, the project team explored the CIP offerings of the electricity and natural gas utilities that serve the 11 Native nations reservations and identified existing offerings that these communities can access in conjunction with food production activities. We also interviewed CIP managers from three utilities and from the Department of Commerce to better understand the utilities’ current awareness of, and support for, food sovereignty work. During these interviews, the team discussed current offerings and sought feedback on opportunities for additional CIP offerings that would support food sovereignty.
The white paper & webinar slide deck can be found here & here: white paper and webinar presentation.
Besides holistic systems approach to the project, Dr. Cain / St Croix Institute provided the primary macro-economic impact model for estimating not only the amount of money leaving each and all of the 11 Tribal Nations in MN, but the economic opportunity that emerges from moving toward food self-sufficiency, security, and sovereignty. Dr. Cain originally developed this model for the Aspen Institute Community Strategies group in Washington, DC through a Rural Livelihoods & Wealth Creation project funded by the Ford Foundation.
This research uses the lens and framework of Minnesota’s Conservation Improvement Program (CIP) to understand energy issues related to food sovereignty and resilience in Indigenous communities in Minnesota. It also identifies the barriers that impede Native nations from greater success in food cultivation, processing, storage, and distribution.
The three primary objectives of the project are:
1. Understand energy issues related to Indigenous food sovereignty in Minnesota.
2. Identify potential non-energy benefits, including food desert mitigation, that may result from additional support from CIP offerings for Native food sovereignty projects.
3. Provide recommendations for how CIP offerings may support Native nations in advancing food sovereignty work.
Slipstream Group, Inc. is the primary investigator for the research and partnered with Indian Land Tenure Foundation, St. Croix Institute, and Our Healthy Share GBC (“Healthy Share”) to complete the project. This research strengthens CIP’s understanding of how the 11 federally recognized Native nations in Minnesota are engaged in food sovereignty efforts. It also explores common elements of the diverse work being done by each nation, including creating a clearer understanding of the tasks and processes that are used throughout the full food production process.
This paper considers how energy is used in food sovereignty work. It also recommends strategies that utilities and Minnesota policymakers may use to create and strengthen CIP offerings to better support Native food sovereignty work. To develop these recommendations, the project team explored the CIP offerings of the electricity and natural gas utilities that serve the 11 Native nations reservations and identified existing offerings that these communities can access in conjunction with food production activities. We also interviewed CIP managers from three utilities and from the Department of Commerce to better understand the utilities’ current awareness of, and support for, food sovereignty work. During these interviews, the team discussed current offerings and sought feedback on opportunities for additional CIP offerings that would support food sovereignty.
The white paper & webinar slide deck can be found here & here: white paper and webinar presentation.
Besides holistic systems approach to the project, Dr. Cain / St Croix Institute provided the primary macro-economic impact model for estimating not only the amount of money leaving each and all of the 11 Tribal Nations in MN, but the economic opportunity that emerges from moving toward food self-sufficiency, security, and sovereignty. Dr. Cain originally developed this model for the Aspen Institute Community Strategies group in Washington, DC through a Rural Livelihoods & Wealth Creation project funded by the Ford Foundation.
