Frederica Freyberg:
In related news, it began as an emergency response to the pandemic but the Tribal Elder Food Box program has grown into a vital source of nourishment and cultural pride for Wisconsin’s Native American elders. Now, with federal funds running out, the program’s future and the health of those who depend on it faces new uncertainty. “Here & Now” reporter Aditi Debnath has the story.

Marlon Skenandore:
Whenever you eat any indigenous foods that were culturally appropriate to who you are, it actually speaks to your DNA. It actually speaks to who you are as an individual.

Aditi Debnath:
The Tribal Elder Food Box program, launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to address food insecurity among Native American elders in Wisconsin’s tribes.

Marlon Skenandore:
Our very first distribution here, I don’t even know if it was 2021, but we distributed 400 boxes in I think an hour and a half. And so from there, the program just keeps growing and growing.

Aditi Debnath:
The program provides elders healthy, culturally relevant food from producers that use sustainable practices.

Marlon Skenandore:
We had twenty-something indigenous producers. Now we’re up to like 40 or 50 indigenous producers.

Aditi Debnath:
Today, dozens of indigenous farmers, food makers and processors supply food for the boxes, creating new markets for native farmers. Initially serving just three tribal communities, the program quickly expanded to reach every indigenous tribe in Wisconsin.

Tara Roberts-Turner:
We’re going all the way from the top of Wisconsin, Bayfield, all the way down to Milwaukee and down to Madison to Ho-Chunk.

Aditi Debnath:
Tara Roberts Turner is the manager of the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative, a statewide organization that helps local farmers sell and distribute their product.

Tara Roberts-Turner:
It’s definitely more difficult.

Aditi Debnath:
This year the loss of federal funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance, or LFPA, sent shockwaves throughout the country, disrupting vast networks of producers, distributors and recipients. The Food Hub, which provided distribution for many food bank programs under LFPA, found its infrastructure caving in.

Tara Roberts-Turner:
We had a lot of back hauls from the tribal elder runs, so we would go all the way up to Bayfield, and then we would pick product up all the way back. Now we’re left bringing an empty truck all the way back.

Aditi Debnath:
The funding cuts have forced logistical changes, increased costs and left trucks empty on return trips, straining the entire operation. The challenges extend beyond food delivery, impacting local economies and farmers, including indigenous farmers.

Isaiah Skenandore:
It’s been a great partnership to really grow together over the past couple of years.

Aditi Debnath:
Isaiah Skenandore oversees a 50-cow herd on his beef farm in Seymour, Wisconsin. He joined the LFPA program to supply beef and chicken directly to tribal elders.

Isaiah Skenandore:
One thing that was unique with that program was you got to pick where your product would go to the end user, and so I was able to have all of our beef and chickens that was purchased through that program, under contract, get sent to the elder box program.

Aditi Debnath:
Skenandore, a member of the Oneida Nation, uses regenerative farming techniques like rotational grazing, which mimics natural grazing practices and promotes healthier soils and livestock. He says the program’s focus on fresh, sustainable food is a major shift from the past, when federally-funded food boxes known as tribal commodities, were often filled with processed items like canned meats and powdered milk, which were high in preservatives. For many native families, these foods were a lifeline, but they also contributed to health problems that still affect native communities today.

Isaiah Skenandore:
When I was a kid with my grandma, I remember going and picking up the tribal commodities, which is right down the road here, and you’d get the government commodities, which would be the flour and processed cheese and processed foods and it’s led to a lot of the epidemics we have, you know, throughout Indian country. And to come full circle now and be able to provide high quality protein and a sustainable food source to our elders, we take a lot of — really, you know, makes you pretty proud.

Aditi Debnath:
Indigenous people are one and a half times more likely to develop diabetes, and up to three times more likely to experience heart failure. For elders like Kathy Hughes, the food boxes make a difference.

Kathy Hughes:
And I find when I don’t have stuff like that in my refrigerator, then I’m doing the fast food. I’m doing a lot of sandwiches and, you know, cold cuts, that kind of stuff. Not really healthy for you. Versus the boxes, I’m cooking and I’m getting healthy stuff when I cook.

Aditi Debnath:
Beyond physical health, the program helps foster connection between Indigenous people and their culture. Marlon Skenandore is an Oneida councilman who brought the food box program to his tribe.

Marlon Skenandore:
I ran a food pantry for six years, and in the beginning, a majority of the people that we seen was just single elders, 65 plus, living off Social Security. They don’t have enough to pay their bills. And so, if some of the items that you would get in here are going to be expensive items, the things that they wouldn’t be able to afford, or they would just walk by in the grocery store. So for us to provide this nutritious, good, wholesome food to them, I think is vital for their longevity in life and being a part of this community.

Aditi Debnath:
For the past two years, the Tribal Elder Food Box program has received funding from the state’s biennial budget. For 2026, Governor Evers has asked the state legislature to approve $2 million for the program. The end of the federal LFPA program leaves a $1.5 million gap in the program’s budget come 2026.

Gary Besaw:
We’ve looked at incorporation as a nonprofit and starting to look for some of the philanthropic funding out there. There are many who want to see us succeed and thank God they’re there.

Aditi Debnath:
Gary Besaw, one of the program’s founders, says the funding challenges are daunting, but the farmers say they need help.

Gary Besaw:
They’re coming forward and saying, we were depending on that. Is there room? Do you need product? If you can, that’s going to help keep us, keep us going. This will keep us from going bankrupt.

Aditi Debnath:
The fate of the Tribal Elder Food Box program will signal not just the state’s commitment to its native communities, but also its vision for local food systems, rural economies, and the dignity of its elders.

Kathy Hughes:
I know my doctor is probably pleased.

Gary Besaw:
I always tell people we’re not smart. The old people were smart. We just parrot them. And people might think, these guys know what they’re doing. That’s because we listen. We listen to the old people.

Aditi Debnath:
Reporting from Oneida, I’m Aditi Debnath for “Here & Now.”