Danielle Antelope says a new garden program in Browning is a way to reclaim knowledge and build her community’s food system. Antelope, a recent graduate of MSU’s program in sustainable food and bioenergy systems, won MSU’s 2020 Newman Civic Award for her leadership in helping organize FAST Blackfeet’s food pantry and for her work to bring healthy snacks to the university’s American Indian Student Center. Photo by Lailani Upham.
How a new garden program in Browning is helping to reclaim knowledge and build a community’s food system
The Growing Health Tea Project has finished up its first season with tea sales to the Ō´yō´•ṗ´ Food Pantry in Browning. Ō´yō´•ṗ´ is the Blackfeet way to say “we are eating,” and is representative of the pantry’s vision to give everyone plenty of healthy food to eat, while also recognizing the social relationship of food in Blackfeet culture.
The Food Access and Sustainability Team Blackfeet began the project last spring with 10 participants in Browning. Each participant was provided raised garden beds, gardening tools, and traditional Blackfeet tea plants to care for. Throughout the season they were taught how to grow, harvest, and dry their teas. They were given the option to sell excess tea to the food pantry to be shared with the community. These teas included sage, yarrow, peppermint, bergamot, rose, elderberry, and raspberry, all chosen because of their relation to the Blackfeet people and the environment. The participants learned the Blackfeet names, uses, and stories of these plants.
Danielle Antelope, the Growing Health Tea Project lead, explains the process of the tea once it leaves the grower’s hands: “First we make sure the tea is dried fully and safe for use, then we choose blends and order packaging supplies so we can package the tea bags and distribute them.” Over the winter, FAST Blackfeet hosted cooking classes that included tea blending. Tea project participants and cooking class participants blended the teas and packaged them for distribution. The teas will go to pantry clients as well as Food Pharmacy clients, who receive free nutrition counseling and meal kits from FAST Blackfeet.
This successful pilot project has led to the creation of a new program at FAST Blackfeet: The Growing Health Program is FAST Blackfeet’s first step in directly promoting the production of local food by educating individuals on how to grow, harvest, process, and sell herbal teas. This creates a source of income for tea producers and increases availability of Indigenous teas in the community. The program was designed in response to community feedback from surveys at the Ō´yō´•ṗ´ Food Pantry. Visitors at the pantry expressed an increased interest in drinking herbal teas for wellness during the COVID pandemic. At the time, there was limited availability of these teas in the community.
The participants from the 2021 growing season will continue their tea gardens and build their knowledge of wild harvesting. During the 2022 growing season, the Growing Health Program will expand to include vegetable gardens, with plans to add 10 to 15 new participants.
