Cultivating Equity through 638: How Tribal Self-Determination Projects Can Impact Local Economies Through Food Procurement Preferences

Keywords: Tribal Food Sovereignty, Food Policy, USDA, Policy Equity, Agricultural Policy
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

The 2018 Farm Bill authorized funding to implement P.L. 93-638 self-determination contracts within the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). The USDA awarded seven contracts to eight Tribal Nations, with two partnering together, and began implementing the 638-pilot project in October of 2021. The pilot project allows self-procurement for Indian Tribal Organizations administering FDPIR to purchase food commodities from any commercial vendors, eliminating the exclusion to only USDA certified vendors. This research proposes three primary deliverables to determine the impact of the first round of 638 self-determination contracts on procurement practices and outcomes: visual mapping showing food procurement radius, classifying purchase orders to determine the ratio of tribal, local, state, and national contracts to identify how and where tribal nations purchased foods, and an analysis of types of food purchases to compare the variety of foods offered before the 638-pilot project and after. This research will utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping tools to express distance and direction from sites, and qualitative contentment analysis to condense purchase order data into categories. The goal of this proposed research is to show potential benefits from allowing tribal self-determination contracts within FDPIR, such as locality of food systems and relevance to traditional diets. By showcasing the positive externalities associated with 638, there is evidence to support its renewal and continuation of Federal appropriations in perpetuity.