ASSESSMENTS
Assessments are one of the many tools an institution can use to better understand the needs of the community it serves. What an educational institution believes it knows about a community and what the community actually needs can be different. That is why taking the time to research, assess, and listen to key stakeholders can be beneficial in ensuring programming is being conducted effectively.
Defining Menominee Food Sovereignty
Indigenous food sovereignty is a powerful phrase used throughout Indian Country to generally describe food systems, relationships, and values within a Tribal community. There are a number of definitions that exist, including the following from a First Nations Development Institute publication: Native food sovereignty is the right of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians to produce their own traditional foods on their own lands to sustain themselves, their families and their communities. Native Americans had food sovereignty for thousands of years before the first European contact in the Americas. Food systems have dramatically changed to the detriment of Native peoples’ health (2018). As Menominee food sovereignty projects, programs, and activities grew and evolved, the College of Menominee Nation and its extension division wanted to understand what food sovereignty meant to community members and service providers. Service providers included higher education faculty and staff, elected leadership, and administrative leadership. The work that service providers were engaged with varied and it was not clear whether food sovereignty projects, programs, and activities were either based in community need or service provider-defined initiatives. In efforts to focus the work, the College of Menominee Nation and its extension division co-facilitated a number of convenings, or gatherings, to engage community and service providers to gain a better understanding of food sovereignty and to co-create a local definition for the Menominee community. Participants included community members, College of Menominee Nation students, participants of the Menominee Wellness Initiative, and elected leadership, to name a few. Two resources were used to create the format for this community engagement process. First, questions from the First Nations Development Institute’s Food Sovereignty Assessment Tool (Bell-Sheeter, Segrest, A-dae Romero, & Foxworth, 2014) were selected. This important resource has a host of community engagement tools that are culturally appropriate and useful in helping Tribal communities understand their local food system. Once questions are selected, the next step was to decide how the questions would be asked. For Menominee, it was decided to use a group facilitation process. The design of the convenings was semi-structured yet allowed for open thinking. The goal was to gather as much input from each participant in a manner that was equitable and respectful. The constructive discussion was designed to give every participant a voice and prevent any one person from dominating the discussion.
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