On the seventh episode of the first season of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative’s podcast, Rooted Wisdom, IFAI’s Director of Tribal Enterprise, Steven Shedd, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, highlights IFAI’s work to fuel Tribal food and agricultural development.

Steven’s love for agribusiness began at an early age, growing up on his family’s generational cotton farm.

His passion for Tribal prosperity through agriculture is evident in his work and the impact that IFAI’s Tribal Enterprise Development team provides through their key services.

“I’m a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and our people are kind of known for farming,” Steven said. “We have a plow on our seal. And I can say that as far back as I can trace, you know, my Muscogee family, we’ve always been farming. And so before they came to Arizona, they were farmers in Oklahoma. And before they were farmers in Oklahoma, they were farmers back in our original Indian Country in, you know, South Carolina and Georgia. So that’s just, you know, family background. And then myself, I got involved with agriculture at a young age. I worked with 4-H, and then I also started my own grass fed beef business in high school. And that was really fun, because I got to kind of be, you know, the boss of my own herd at a very, very young age. And so that really gave me an appreciation for how difficult agriculture can be and also how rewarding agriculture can be. And so I used that grass fed beef business to help fund my college education. And so in college, I went to Texas Tech University, where I majored in agricultural communications, after Texas Tech University, I got a job with the National Pork Producers Council for a little while, and then I actually decided to go to law school. And in law school, I studied federal Indian law, Indian law, and also environmental law as part of my law school curriculum. And during that time in law school is when I actually started interning for the Northern Arapaho Tribe. After law school, I took a position with the Northern Arapaho Tribe as a staff attorney, and I was involved really in day-to-day inner workings of the Tribe. Got to work with a lot of Tribal officials, program directors, and really got to get some hands on experience on how tribes work and operate. After that, I ended up at my current role here at IFAI.”

IFAI’s Tribal Enterprise Development team serve as boots on the ground, providing direct outreach with Tribes, Tribal producers, citizens and staff.

“When thinking about IFAI’s Tribal Enterprise Department, I think sometimes it’s easier to think and talk about the things that we don’t do. And, you know, we do a lot. I even, as I say that, it’s hard for me to think of the things that we don’t do,” Steven said. “But I think if anyone’s familiar with IFAI at all, you know, they know that we are doing a lot of really great work when it comes to legal research, research and agriculture, helping Tribes be included in discussions around policy making and things of that nature. But what the Tribal enterprise department does, and that I really like is, I think of us as the implementation arm of IFAI. We take what a lot of our other teams do and we make it directly applicable for Tribes.”

An important, key aspect to IFAI’s Tribal Enterprise team’s speciality is the ability for staff to help Tribes navigating deciding what their food and agricultural priorities are and identify potential funding streams, resources, contacts and more to help ensure success.

“And these one-on-one consultations really happen when a Tribe reaches out to us and says – it’ll take a bunch of different looks – sometimes it’s, you know, ‘We have, we have a lot of stuff going on, and we would love for you guys to come in and sort of help us strategize on what to hone in on,’ to, you know, brainstorm funding opportunities to help them navigate federal grants, and also to be make them aware of sort of, you know, unique opportunities that exist for them because of their status as Tribes,” Steven said. “And so a lot of that work is very rewarding, and it’s very different, and it takes, it’s really dependent on the Tribe’s needs. And so with that being said, I mean, I think that is sort of the bulk of our work really is contingent upon , you know, people not being afraid to reach out to us. We really are here. I think we’ve been reached out a few times with people, and they’ve said ‘We’re so excited. We got a grant. We’re looking for someone to help us with this. And we hear that you guys do this kind of a work.’ And we said, ‘Well, we’re so glad that you have a grant. But you know, our work is free.’ We do this for free, and I think it’s important for Tribes to know that. You don’t have to reach out to us. I think a lot of times they’re shocked that we’ll come in and sort of, do you know this one on one troubleshooting with them and all that sort of stuff and not expect a bill. And so, you know, we’ve worked with some Tribes that have, you know, reached out and said, you know, ‘Oh, we have this grant,’ and we’re like, ‘Well, save it for something else, because we’re free.’ And I think that’s one of the exciting parts about our one-on-one work.”

“So if anyone’s interested in working with us, please, all of our contact information is on our website,” Steven said. “My email is on our website. There’s also a lot of great resources that we have on our website. And I think that’s another thing. I mean, even if you know, you decide you don’t want to talk to us at all, or maybe you’re not ready to talk to us, there really is a ton of resources on our website that are just waiting for, you know, someone to lay eyes on them. And so I think that’s a great opportunity. And then on top of that, it’s really just as simple as reaching out. I mean, you know, my name is Steven Shedd. You can find me easily on our website. You know, I always check my email. We are very responsive. There’s also some other people on our team that will also be responsive and respond to you. So really, I mean, as far as you know, getting us out there to help with any kind of an issue, whether it’s, you know, big or small, where we’ve never said no to a request, however big or however small. So it’s really just a matter of reaching out.”

In addition to the economic and business side of agriculture, the Tribal Enterprise team regularly facilitates food safety trainings and provides education which helps Tribal citizens, Tribal producers and staff, employ safe food handling and harvesting practices and comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act, Also known as FSMA.

“I think one of the reasons that IFAI got into food safety trainings to begin with, was first that there was sort of a need in Tribal communities for this,” Steven said. “I think a lot of our food safety laws were frankly written without Tribes in mind, and really the Feds kind of wanted to implement them through the states. But if you know anything about Indian country, and you know anything about tribes, you know, the state’s jurisdiction ends when Tribal lands start. And so that was just kind of not a system that was working. And there was really a big need for, you know, education in the Tribal communities, but also education in our other communities, such as like our federal and national or our federal and state regulators, federal and state or State Extension services and things like that, because there was just a huge component of this that they weren’t understanding, and that was important for them to understand. And I mean, I think that’s especially why our organization, with our sort of law and policy focus, really got into this, is because, you know, food safety in Indian Country is a law and policy issue. And in order, you know, first, I mean, you have to make sure you know that we’re getting, you know, Tribal producers are producing safe food, that Tribal citizens are consuming safe food, and that whole – you know, that’s one conversation. But then the separate conversation is you have to make sure that, you know, the right people are in charge of sort of enforcing those laws, implementing those laws, looking at those laws. And that really comes down to the federal government and Tribal governments working just sort of in that space and also working to be compliant in those spaces.”

These trainings not only ensure safe food handling harvest and production, they also serve as a catalyst for Tribal and rural economic development.

“Because a lot of the demand for food safety has really been brought about by business demand, and that’s because consumers want a safe product,” Steven explained. “So, grocery stores want a safe product. That means packing houses want a safe product. And if you’re that farmer, how do you ensure that everyone else down that, you know, chain of business knows that your product is safe? And one of the best ways to do that is just by being able to, you know, tell your buyers that, you know, we have, we have, our growers are certified in food safety. We, you know, follow the most recent food safety laws and really being able to, like, help assure your growers that you’re on the cutting edge of this. And one of the things that I think about a lot, especially in the terms of Tribes as producers, is that Tribes are, you know, we’re, we’re sovereigns that have existed since time immemorial. I think, you know, a lot of times when you hear of these big, large food safety outbreaks, especially in the produce area, if you kind of look, a lot of those brands end up sort of, or companies end up going under. But there’s no restructuring for a Tribe. There’s no ‘Oops. We made an oopsie, and now we have to, you know, we’ll just declare bankruptcy, you know, crash this one, and come back with new branding, and no one will be any the wiser for it.’ That’s not really an option. And so I think that’s the other thing that, you know, food safety trainings really are able to support, is they’re able to support that brand safety and to make sure that Tribes aren’t tarnishing their image with something like a food safety outbreak.”

IFAI serves as a key partner in the Tribal Food Safety Alliance, helping craft food safety curriculum by Natives, for Natives. This alliance is supported by IFAI through a joint partnership with the Intertribal Agriculture Council and University of Arizona tribal extension program funded by cooperative agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration.

“And that cooperative agreement with the FDA really focused on helping us create a curriculum that could be taught to Tribal growers, and you know, would be relevant to the unique nature of their operations, to them operating in Indian Country,” Steven said. “And also, I think, as a side note to it, I think it’s done a great job of also educating FDA on what their responsibilities are to Indian Country and helping them understand how they can best support Indian Country. And I think through our partner orgs, we’ve really been able to do a lot of good for Indian Country and also do a lot of good for food safety.”

While Steven finds many areas of IFAI’s work and his department’s impact inspirational, a recent Regional Tribal Conservation Advisory Council meeting in Alaska, that IFAI helped facilitate, highlighted why the work the IFAI and others are doing to support Tribal food sovereignty is so critical.

“One of my favorite memories at IFAI so far, it actually has to do with some of our other work that we do with the Natural Resource Conservation Service,” Steven said. “And as part of that work, we were up at the Alaskan Native Village of Tyonek. And NRCS has done a lot of work with a lot of the Alaska Native villages to help them implement conservation measures, and a lot of that work has helped them preserve salmon streams and salmon fishery habitats, and really help preserve salmon populations, which a lot of our Alaska Native villages and individuals really rely on. And as we were there, as is customary and Indian Country, we eat food. And the food that we were eating was the salmon. And one of the elders of the village actually got up and she expressed gratitude, because she said, through the work that we’ve been able to do with NRCS and other organizations such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, they’ve been able to revitalize their salmon population, and it’s the reason that they were able to have – or share that meal with them today. So it really made the work that we do very real in a lot of ways, and very impactful. And I mean, I think when that story was shared, you’d be hard pressed to find kind of a dry eye in the room, and just because it made it all very tangible, and it made it all very worth it. And so, I mean, I think one of the reasons I love working with IFAI and I’m really passionate about our mission is because I want to be part of more stories like that, for more Tribes.”

Listen to the episode by clicking the link below, and find information on IFAI’s Tribal Enterprise Team’s work here.