Tribal members grow culturally significant foods on Native lands of the Pacific Northwest.
A collaboration with tribal leaders, the local housing authority and community members: a grant secured, two geodesic domes built, and a one-third-acre micro-farm handed over to the people who asked for it.
1/3 acre
micro-farm established, managed and handed to the community
Net positive
energy, achieved through agrivoltaics
What was breaking
Remote Native American lands are often classified as food deserts.
Many tribal members drive long distances, carpooling where they can, to buy groceries, because local produce is scarce. Poor soil and inconsistent water availability make home and community gardening difficult. On Pacific Northwest tribal lands, extreme heat, drought and wildfire — all worsened by climate change — add a further layer of difficulty to localizing food production at all.
The farm was always going to be theirs. Our job was to hand it over cleanly.
What we did
Secured a U.S. Department of Agriculture SBIR-I grant for a feasibility study, and built the proof of concept it argued for.
A feasibility study, evidenced rather than modeled
The study showed the linkages among climate, cultural and economic impacts on Indigenous food systems, evidenced by an installed micro-farm rather than a model.
Launched on time, despite COVID-19
Despite pandemic disruption the initiative launched on time, opening with a well-received community ceremony.
Agrivoltaics took it net energy positive
A follow-on agrivoltaics impact assessment took the farm to net energy positive.
What we brought
- Macro scan — historical, social, economic, cultural
- Stakeholder map and influence matrix
- Funding sources directory
- Grant proposal, management and reporting
- Construction management for two prefab geodesic domes
- Partnership ecosystem blueprint for future initiatives
- Stakeholder presentations
What stayed with people
Tribal leaders, the housing authority and community members set the terms of what was grown and why — culturally significant foods, not a generic produce list. The micro-farm was established, managed through the grant period, and then handed over to the community outright, with a partnership blueprint for the initiatives that follow it.
What came of it
- USDA SBIR-I grantsecured.
- Two full-time jobsand multiple part-time jobs created for tribal members during the grant period.
- One-third-acre micro-farmestablished, managed, and handed over to the community.
- Walking-distance foodreduced food miles to the community’s doorstep.
- Spring 2022whole-system approach presented at the Intertribal Agriculture Council in Las Vegas.
- Net energy positiveachieved through agrivoltaics.