Evolution of the Project
The Indigenous Food Systems project at William & Mary started with seed funding from the Commonwealth Center for Energy and the Environment in 2020, and subsequently received generous funding support from the Jeffress Trust Awards Program in Research Advancing Health Equity in 2022.
The project began with the following objectives:
Since then, the project has expanded into some exciting new areas:
-
Indigenous food business survey and mapping
-
Indigenous food database (IndigiFoodDB)
-
Indigenous food production initiative mapping
-
Indigenous food producer database
This project is supported by the Jeffress Trust Awards Program in Research Advancing Health Equity
01
Develop geospatial models to identify suitable tribal lands for sustainable food production
02
Develop biophysical models to estimate the number of people that can be fed a healthy diet from food grown on Indigenous lands
03
Develop user-friendly computer software that integrates the geospatial and biophysical models to create a decision-support tool for dissemination to community partners
04
Incorporate novel geospatial data into an educational course titled Pilot GIS Training for Native American Tribes in Virginia hosted by the Institute for Integrative Conservation
This project included an Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) that provided 1) regular input on the cultural appropriateness of the study design, 2) information on crops of interest to their communities, and 3) confirmation of tribal land boundaries based on on-the-ground observation. The IAC members were appointed by their respective tribal nations: Chickahominy Indian Tribe – Eastern Division, Nottoway Indian Tribe, and Upper Mattaponi Tribe. We welcome greater representation on the IAC from other tribes, so please contact us if you are interested in becoming involved.