OST Food Code Research Proposal

November 21, 2024 

Subject: OST Food Code Research Proposal

On November 20th, Oceti Sakowin Food Systems Alliance (OSFSA) Director, Tierra Baird, was invited to present a collaborative research proposal on developing the Oglala Sioux Tribe(OST) Food Code at the OST Environmental Health Technical Team Meeting. This eight-page document was composed by Tierra Baird and Mallory Moore, a staff attorney at the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative. The proposal highlights key information on the significance of an OST Food Code, food code definitions, concise objectives, five food code recommendations with sample code language, and process of implementation. 

While this proposal is not all-inclusive or comprehensive to what will go into an OST Food Code, it provides a starting point for developing one. The five food code recommendations shared relate to both the work of Makoce Agriculture Development and the tribal departments part of the Environmental Health Technical Team. The five code recommendations are Traditional Foods and Seeds, Agricultural and Food Safety, Land Use, Water, and Conservation. 

The objectives of the proposal are as follows: 

• Provide specific food code recommendations applicable to food sovereignty, environmental justice, and land and water conservation efforts on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

• Have local organizations and communities work with OST EHTT on developing an OST Food Code

• Have EHTT advocate for the development of a food code

• Incorporate our elders and knowledge keepers voices and perspectives 

• Involving young people to define their food system for the future

• Highlight Lakhol wichoun

So why an OST Food Code?

A food code would let us steward the land informed by our language, teachings, values, and ceremonies. The significance of implementing this food code would prepare our people for the upcoming impacts of climate change and provide a strong infrastructure for our future generations to express their sovereignty. 

Throughout the proposal, it is made clear that the OST Food Code will reference and seek guidance from IFAI’s Tribal Food Code Model. If it were not for the work of the legal team at IFAI for developing this crucial model for Indigenous nations, this proposal would not have happened. With guidance from the model and the legal team at IFAI, Makoce is ready to take on the responsibility to research and do the community outreach in order to create a food code that understands the needs and lifeways of the Oglala Lakota Oyate. 

Words shared by our OSFSA Director, Tierra Baird: “I would like to say wopila to Mallory Moore for helping in creating this proposal. We will continue to work together and I look forward to advancing this work. I also would like to say wopila to the EHTT for giving me the opportunity to present the proposal and for their support to continue with it.”