The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition (GLIFC) was honored with the 2024 Marbleseed Changemaker of the Year award for its efforts in strengthening the intertribal food system by providing Tribal Elder Food Boxes to all 11 federally recognized Tribes in Wisconsin. At the 35th Annual Marbleseed Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Gary Besaw, Director of the Menominee Nation’s Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, accepted the award on behalf of GLIFC. Besaw highlighted the importance of re-establishing intertribal commerce to support regional and localized food systems, ensuring that Native communities have access to healthy, sustainably grown foods that are also part of their cultural heritage. Dan Cornelius of the UW-Madison Law School and CIAS’s Hanna McIntosh are among those involved in the program and honorable inclusion was given to Administrative Specialist Frankie Anderson for her ancillary work in related efforts.

The Tribal Elder Food Box Program, initiated in 2021, delivered 10,800 boxes to three Tribal communities in its first year, with the goals of providing nutritious and culturally relevant foods to Tribal Elders and supporting Indigenous, local, and small-scale farmers and food producers. The program began with food from seven Indigenous producers, including wild rice, beef, bison, and fish. By 2023, the program expanded to purchasing from 23 Indigenous and 32 non-Indigenous producers, adding products like Tuscarora White Corn mush flour, maple syrup, and various meats and vegetables. This growth has fostered a broader Indigenous food network, leading to the establishment of GLIFC in 2023, which has since secured several grants and developed a regional strategy for tribal food sovereignty.

GLIFC’s initiatives include supporting Indigenous food producers with grants for essential agricultural supplies and promoting access to culturally significant foods like hand-harvested wild rice and Tuscarora White Corn mush flour. The coalition also aims to create an Indigenous Agriculture Cooperative to facilitate the wholesale purchase of products from small-scale producers. The success of these programs relies on the collaboration of numerous tribal, state, and federal partners, as well as dedicated food producers in the region. GLIFC continues to work towards a sustainable and culturally relevant food system that benefits both Indigenous communities and the environment.