Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Network

Bridging Communities & Cultivating Connection

The Oregon Farm to School & School Garden Network (OFSSGN) partnered with Tahoma Peak Solutions to strengthen its connections with both rural and urban Tribal communities to improve Native funding opportunities and refine its application process for better accessibility.

Tahoma Peak Solutions started the project with a comprehensive Tribal engagement assessment for OFSSGN’s staff, which helped identify gaps in OFSSGN’s outreach, services, and coordination with Tribal communities and schools. The assessment’s findings were used to tailor a coaching session to OFSSGN’s needs, which highlighted touch-points for Native farm to school programs and provided recommendations for Native outreach and communications. Tahoma Peak Solutions’ coaching session was paired with a presentation on the history of Native foods and food systems, which equipped OFSSGN with an understanding of food and nutrition in Indian Country, with actionable steps towards strengthening Tribal relations.

Tahoma Peak Solutions further opened its training sessions to OFSSGN members in the areas of Native Foodways of the Northwest, which included an online salve-making demonstration. In addition to highlighting a healthful Native teaching using ingredients accessible and local to the Northwest, the salve-making demonstration centered Native Foodways as a valuable partner in OFSSGN’s mission to shift power and transform systems for Native farm to school accessibility.