Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians receives $5.5M to purchase, distribute locally grown food

The Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians will receive $5.5 million in funding from the federal government to purchase and distribute locally grown food from underserved producers, the tribe announced in a news release Tuesday.

Andrea Reich, tribal chairwoman of the Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians, stated the funding comes from the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture’s $400 million Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, part of the “Build Back Better Initiative” under President Joe Biden that’s aimed at making the nation’s food system more equitable and resilient to supply-chain disruptions.

Reich stated the agreement with the USDA’S Agricultural and Marketing Service division will allow the tribe to develop a food distribution program to purchase food from socially disadvantaged farmers and producers.

The tribe will then be able to give that food to its members and Native American families living in a five-county area that includes Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Amador and Mariposa counties.

One of the program’s objectives is to support local, regional and underserved farmers and producers by making non-competitive agreements with state and tribal governments to purchase food produced in the state or within 400 miles of its delivery destination, the release stated.

“Building partnerships in our rural community has always been important to the Tribe,” Reich stated.

More information about the program is available online at www. ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/ lfpacap.

To sign up for the tribe’s food distribution program, send an email to infofoodbox@mewuk.com, or call Gretchen Johnson at (209) 928-5322.