This article tells the story of an organic farming initiative started by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to make healthy produce more accessible and affordable.
It discusses how one community uses traditional knowledge and an environmentally and socially conscious agricultural approach to improve the well-being and health of individuals.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article provides evidence of a grassroots initiative started by individuals to benefit their community and the environment.
This article is a great way to learn about the important role of Indigenous peoples in leading environmental solutions.
Additional Prerequisites
To provide context, students should have a general understanding of the experiences and hardships endured by Indigenous people in the United States and the significance of preserving traditional knowledge.
Differentiation
This article introduces numerous concepts like soil regeneration, Native American reservations, local farming, and public health, which the teacher can choose to build upon for different lessons.
This article can be used in health classes during lessons about nutrition and access to fresh food and in science classes during lessons about the impact of agriculture on the climate and local environment.
To extend the lesson, have students go through this interactive slide show about nutrition and the environment to connect this topic to climate change.
Scientist Notes
This resource examines how the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) implements an ambitious organic farming initiative, Choctaw Fresh Produce, to provide healthy, organic food to its community, regenerate soil that has been farmed conventionally for generations, and restore the agricultural tribal identity of MBCI. Projects that provide needed nutrition for the elderly and school children are highlighted. This article features multiple interviews with Choctaw Fresh leaders and is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Economics
D2.Eco.1.9-12 Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.9-12 Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
