Indigenous Food Sovereignty: How Minnesota utility Conservation Improvement Program participation pathways can enable greater food security for Minnesota Native Nations

Indigenous communities pursue food sovereignty for many reasons, including a commitment to uphold traditional culture and value systems and to ensure their communities can access healthy, local food. Slipstream and our partners at the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, St. Croix Institute, and Healthy Share GBC conducted research using the lens and framework of Minnesota's Conservation Improvement Program to understand the energy-related challenges Minnesota's 11 Native nations face as they pursue food sovereignty initiatives. This report recommends strategies that utilities and Minnesota policymakers may use to create and strengthen CIP offerings to better support Native food sovereignty work.

This project was supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.

Project Manager: Dan Streit.
Jeannette LeZaks, Deb Dynako, and Doug Ahl contributed to this report.