The New Mexico State University Agricultural Science Center at Farmington has consistently provided programs and support to the area's Navajo communities. A recent $500,000 grant will help the center continue that support by addressing food sovereignty and related health issues within the Navajo Nation.
The center recently received a grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture for a project titled "Seeds of change: Training elementary educators to implement the Yéego! Healthy eating and gardening program." The program will train 60 elementary school teachers serving Navajo students in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah over the next three years to increase knowledge and skills in healthy eating and gardening practices in their classrooms using Yéego!, a Diné word that translates to work hard and persevere.
"Navajo communities are working to increase food sovereignty and address related health disparities such as childhood obesity and diabetes. However, they face unique challenges," said Kevin Lombard, research director for the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Farmington. "Fresh fruits and vegetables are difficult for families to access on the Navajo Nation due to their high cost and the need to travel long distances to purchase them."
Lombard said Navajo families have expressed interest in growing their own fruits and vegetables, but face harsh growing conditions, lack of water and limited knowledge of how to maintain gardens, especially around schools. Elementary schools can play a major role in teaching Navajo children about healthy eating and gardening while sustaining cultural traditions, but teachers often lack the knowledge and skills to incorporate those topics into their curricula, or are unfamiliar with technologies like drip irrigation, greenhouses and hydroponics, which can be found in school campus gardens.
"Our project team and the science center have over 20 years of experience in collaborating with Navajo community partners to address food sovereignty and health inequities," Lombard said. "We bring expertise in agriculture, gardening, health and education that strives to respect regional cultural values."
Lombard said he expects the program to reach more than 1,500 Navajo youth over three years, and result in increases in gardening and healthy eating behaviors. To do this, the center will host workshops on how to deliver the Yéego! Healthy Eating and Gardening curriculum in classrooms. Teachers will be recruited from 86 schools in the Navajo Nation and neighboring towns with significant Navajo student populations to participate and receive travel reimbursement and a stipend to attend the workshops. The first cohort completed the Seeds of Change program earlier this month.
The Yéego program was developed and rigorously tested by a research team from NMSU, Diné College and the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in collaboration with Navajo Nation community leaders. It is a school-based intervention to promote healthy eating behavior among elementary school children in the Navajo Nation.
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-receives-grant-to-help-navajo-communities-increase-food-sovereignty/s/3f470b73-3d97-4056-805b-b4b3842cf9c8
