Supporting Native communities to grow, access, and distribute healthy, culturally relevant foods through community gardens, mobile and farmers markets, and local food distribution programs that both alleviate hunger and restore self-sufficiency across Indian Country.
For over two decades, Running Strong for American Indian Youth has had a transformative impact on food sovereignty across tribal communities, strengthening local food systems, restoring traditional agricultural practices, and enabling Native people to feed their families and their nations. Since its founding in 1986 by Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota), Running Strong has emphasized sovereignty — empowering Native communities to define and sustain their own food systems. Beginning with gardens on the Pine Ridge Reservation, this work has grown into a network of community-based food sovereignty initiatives across Indian Country.
Organic Gardens and Local Food Production
The Medicine Root Garden Program, operated from the Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center, is Running Strong’s cornerstone food sovereignty initiative. The program combines education, economic opportunity, and community health:
Nine-month education program: Teaches families how to grow, harvest, prepare, and preserve food, with hands-on training and home garden starter kits.
Demonstration gardens and greenhouses: Serve as living classrooms for sustainable growing methods.
Mobile Market & Farmer’s Market: Distributes fresh produce across the vast reservation, where the nearest grocery store can be 80 miles away.
Economic empowerment: Graduates sell surplus produce through EBT-accessible local markets, creating small-scale income streams.
90 - 120
gardeners trained annually through the Medicine Root Gardening Program, including beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes.
Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Program (SD): Operating since the 1980s, this project tills gardens, distributes seeds, and teaches food preservation techniques, serving over 650 people annually.
Walker River Paiute Tribe (NV): Reviving the tribe’s community garden and orchard, employing tribal members, installing a drip irrigation system, and supplying the food pantry with fresh produce.
Crow Nation (MT): Supports partnerships like Apsáalooke Immíio, which advances food sovereignty and workforce development through local co-ops and greenhouse farming.
Food Box & Pantry Distribution: Building food pantries and supplying local food initiatives with quality fresh produce, protein, and grains.
Summer Youth Feeding Program: Ensuring children have access to nutritious food during the summer break on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
Backpack (Smart Sack) Food Programs: Providing weekend meals to families on Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, and Menominee Reservations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Running Strong increased distributions and transformed emergency food box deliveries into permanent food pantries.
Lbs of food distributed annually to tribal communities
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Families served each year
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Lbs of emergency food to partners across the nation during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Youth-Led Food Sovereignty
The Dreamstarter® Program has enabled Native youth leaders to advance food sovereignty in their own communities:
Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet/Cherokee): Created Indigikitchen, an Indigenous recipe and video platform using traditional foods to rebuild food systems and promote wellness.
Noah Proctor (Piscataway Conoy): Developed a 150×100 ft. community garden producing traditional crops and sharing seedlings with families.
Sara Powell (Navajo Nation): Reconnected Native students to food traditions through youth gardening programs.
Karli Moore (Lumbee Tribe): Founded the Lumbee Food Collective, teaching traditional farming and cooking and archiving food knowledge for future generations.
Explore More Stories From Our Gardens and Communities
Running Strong’s decades of work has embodied the principle of food sovereignty, ensuring that Native communities not only have food today, but the sovereignty to feed themselves for generations to come
