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.
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.
Teaches families how to grow, harvest, prepare, and preserve food, with hands-on training and home garden starter kits.
Serve as living classrooms for sustainable growing methods.
Distributes fresh produce across the vast reservation, where the nearest grocery store can be 80 miles away.
Graduates sell surplus produce through EBT-accessible local markets, creating small-scale income streams.
gardeners trained annually through the Medicine Root Gardening Program, including beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes.
of fresh produce grown yearly through hoop houses, greenhouses, and gardens, supporting local families and markets.
Operating since the 1980s, this project tills gardens, distributes seeds, and teaches food preservation techniques, serving over 650 people annually.
Reviving the tribe’s community garden and orchard, employing tribal members, installing a drip irrigation system, and supplying the food pantry with fresh produce.
Supports partnerships like Apsáalooke Immíio, which advances food sovereignty and workforce development through local co-ops and greenhouse farming.
We ensure that no elder goes hungry, and no child goes to bed with an empty stomach.
Immediate Relief
Running Strong pairs long-term sovereignty initiatives with immediate food security programs
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.
The Dreamstarter® Program has enabled Native youth leaders to advance food sovereignty in their own communities:
Created Indigikitchen, an Indigenous recipe and video platform using traditional foods to rebuild food systems and promote wellness.
Developed a 150x100 ft. community garden producing traditional crops and sharing seedlings with families.
Reconnected Native students to food traditions through youth gardening programs.
Founded the Lumbee Food Collective, teaching traditional farming and cooking and archiving food knowledge for future generations.
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
