BROWNING — It may look like a regular trip to the grocery store, but it's much bigger than that.
"The types of food that we eat is even more important because then, that connects us to where that food comes from or what's the importance of that food. Here, it's the connection to the Blackfeet culture,” said Danielle Antelope, executive director of FAST Blackfeet.
Watch the full story:
Having access to healthy and culturally significant food like bison isn't always as easy as running down to the grocery store. But FAST Blackfeet in Browning is hoping to fill that gap.
"You know, it's been hard times ever since COVID hit. I've probably been coming here over a year,” said Gay Bennett who regularly uses FAST Blackfeet.
FAST Blackfeet is dedicated to improving food security, providing nutrition education, and reclaiming and building food sovereignty within the Blackfeet Nation. FAST stands for Food Access & Sustainability Team.
Bennett's family is just one of 400 households served by FAST Blackfeet each week.
“The bison you know — you go to buy it in the local stores and it's really expensive but it's free here,” Bennett said.
FAST Blackfeet provides buffalo meat and other traditional Blackfeet foods, working to provide food access and nutritional education.
"If you don't have access and they’re not affordable, and if you can't afford to buy that buffalo meat, then you're not going to be able to have the opportunity to experiment with recipes and introduce that food into your family's plate,” Antelope said.
"So, this was — 2024 was our first year having buffalo meat in the pantry for the entire year,” Antelope continued. “Whether that was through our purchasing or doing local bison hunts here on the reservation."
Focusing on traditional Blackfeet ways of life is one way the program works to sustain culture.
"Sustainability really happens in the growing health program of like, supporting local producers when we're doing buffalo harvests and helping people be on the land and harvest their own foods and medicines,” Antelope said.
Building cultural sustainability ensures that even those in remote areas have access to essential, affordable, and culturally relevant food resources.
"We're not sovereign if we're not eating our own foods. We're not working towards food sovereignty until we have people that are providing the food, teaching about the foods, and then providing the opportunity to connect with those foods as well,” Antelope said.
For more information, click here to visit the FAST Blackfeet website.
