CRST Buffalo Authority Corp. awarded grant to create Farm to School program

The project will give local producers the opportunity to make their beef and buffalo available to over 2,200 children who attend schools on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

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The full version of this article can be seen here CRST Buffalo Authority Corp. to help create Farm to School program

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The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Buffalo Authority Corporation has been awarded a $49,983 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, according to a press release from the Tribe.

The project will give local producers the opportunity to make their beef and buffalo available to over 2,200 children who attend schools on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

The Tribe’s Farm to School Program has been developed to provide locally sourced beef and buffalo to the School Lunch Programs at Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, Dupree, Timber Lake, Takini, and Tiospaye Topa schools.

The Farm to School Program’s mission is to improve communities’ access to nutritious, affordable, locally grown, culturally significant foods by linking local food production to local needs. It enhances marketing opportunities for farmers, encourages family farming, farmers’ markets, and the preservation of agricultural traditions, informs public policy, and furthers understanding of the links between farming, food, health, and local economies.

The grant funding will provide financial means to develop an action plan to identify steps and processes needed to implement the program. Key partners will include the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, CRST Buffalo Authority Corporation, Bureau of Indian Education, the five reservation school administrations and school boards, USDA-FNS through the National School Lunch Program, South Dakota Beef Council, and local producers.

The CRST Buffalo Authority Corporation is one of four organizations awarded this grant in South Dakota. This grant is intended to develop a plan to implement a program that would then be eligible for another grant for implementation.

“We look forward to achieving our vision of supporting the nutritional needs of our children’s school lunches with locally raised beef and buffalo from Cheyenne River,” said Jayme Murray who oversees the program.

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The full version of this article can be seen here CRST Buffalo Authority Corp. to help create Farm to School program

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