Building Engagement Across The Food System

Notes on AERO’s Montana Food Economy Initiative 2020 Project

This next-level food systems work is gathering momentum. Our incredible advisory board made the time to gather this spring and summer, clarify the group’s vision and values as a team, and outline priorities for short-term projects that participants can select and bring back to their farm and/or community to carry out.

Each project comes with mini-grant funds, advisory board mentorship and support, and opportunities to report out and share learnings at MFEI Network Meetings. Projects are designed to build on the assets within a community food system, develop partnerships and connections across the system, provide technical support (engagement, facilitation, outreach, digital storytelling), and enhance community leadership.

The design for the MFEI 2020 Project came out of the regional food system assessment work AERO did between 2016-2018, where a big gap identified was a lack of cross-sector engagement. We like to think this 2020 Project design also has its roots in the AERO Farm Improvement Clubs of the 1990’s. We certainly hope it is as successful. You can learn more about the MFEI 2020 Project here and here.

Meet the team:

Our Network of distinguished and leading thinkers in the movement who care and advocate for a better Montana (affiliation descriptions provided by AERO; any errors or omissions are AERO’s error alone):

ANNA JONES CRABTREE
Vilicus Farm & Training Institute, Havre

BOB QUINN
Quinn Organics, Farmer, Big Sandy

BRIANNA ROUTH
MSU Extension Food & Nutrition Specialist

ELEANOR ROSS
Helping Hands Food Bank & Farm to School, Hardin

EDWIN ALLAN
MSU Food Product Development Lab Graduate Student

JACOB ZIMMERER
Native American Studies Graduate Student & Teaching Assistant

JOSEPH KIBIWOTT
Timeless Seeds Agronomist, Ulm

KATE BURNABY WRIGHT
Open & Local Coalition Chair, Non-profit Consultant, Bozeman

KEI MATSUNAMI
Montana Local Foods Specialist, National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte

LOGA FIXICO
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Specialist, Bozeman

LYNN CLIFF JR.
Ft. Belknap Indian Community

MADISON BOONE
AERO Board of Directors & Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Bozeman

MARK JUEDEMAN
Canyon Cattle Ranch, Craig

NATALIE BERKMAN
Milton Ranch Apprentice, Roundup

RACHEL LEISSO
Western Ag Research Center, Horticulturist, Corvallis

SHANNLYN SPOTTED ELK
Dietitian-to-be, Northern Cheyenne

SLOANE REAL BIRD
Big Horn Valley Health Center & Absaalooke Abundance is Here, Crow

SUSAN ELDER
Charter Ranch Apprentice, Billings

TODD ULIZIO
Two Bear Farm, Farmer, Whitefish

WAN-YUAN KUO
Director, MSU Food Product Development Lab

WILL SEELEY
Blackfeet Ag Resource Management Plan, Food Policy Planner

The advisory board is in various stages of project framework development for the following project priorities:

Fertility & Renewable Energy Inputs for Community Food Production– Pilot: building a biochar kiln @ Fort Belknap for home and community gardens
Early Care Education Cooperative Food Purchasing Group: connecting small-scale institutions with affordable local food access and the resources to enhance local food consumption for ECE-sites
Montana food connections – helping producers feed their communities — Pilot: Community Carrots Gallatin Valley
Community Food System Assessment
Local Food Processing Technical Assistance
Translational Model of Food Sovereignty – Networking, listening, and storytelling

The full project list and details on how to apply to participate will roll out at the upcoming virtual Expo. Stay tuned for details.