NAVAJO FARM LIFE: supporting family farms on the Navajo Nation
SECONDARY BENEFITS OF SMALL FARMS
Small farms offer more than just health benefits. They are good for communities by boosting local economies. They provide healthy, productive, meaningful work in areas where employment opportunities are limited. They foster self-confidence and self-reliance. Small farms also provide impoverished families with a buffer against food insecurity. Lastly, small farms are places where families gather to tell stories and pass down traditions, places where they celebrate a bond to the earth which dates back centuries.
WHO WE ARE
Da'ak'eh Iina, meaning "farm life" in Navajo, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that supports family farms in the remote center of the Navajo Nation. Why is this needed? Because the loss of small farms has precipitated a health crisis.
HEALTH CRISIS
In the Chinle Valley and Canyon de Chelly, where we work, a prolonged regional drought has caused the abandonment of an alarming number of family farms: more than 90% in the last 20 years. Why is this important? Because the healthy traditional food grown on those abandoned farms has been replaced by unhealthy processed food. This dietary change is the main reason for the high rates of diabetes, kidney failure, hypertension and heart disease in the region. Particularly disturbing is the rise in diabetes, a disease virtually nonexistent prior to the change in diet: 30% of Navajos (Diné) in the region are now either diabetic or pre-diabetic.
FOOD ACCESS
Unfortunately it is not easy for those living on the Navajo Nation (an expanse larger than 10 US states) to maintain a healthy diet. In fact it is very difficult. The population is rural with a few under stocked grocery stores scattered few and far between. To access a good selection of healthy foods, residents of Chinle and Canyon de Chelly must travel several hundred miles. For a great majority this is not possible because the region is one of the most poverty stricken in the western world. 40% lack running water and electrical service; 50% are unemployed; Per capita income is $7300 (similar to India); Dirt roads are impassable when it rains and snows; Housing is often compared to the housing of a third world country.
ADDRESSING THE HEALTH CRISIS
Current efforts to address the health crisis on the Navajo Nation are mainly centered around diet and exercise. Unfortunately not many programs address the need to improve access to healthy food. Why is this unfortunate? Because without access to healthy food it is almost impossible to maintain a healthy diet.
IMPROVING ACCESS
Expanding small farm agriculture is a realistic approach to improving food access in remote places like Chinle and Canyon de Chelly. This is because family farms are widely accepted on the Navajo Nation, not surprising given the 400 year agricultural history of the Diné in the region. Other remedies, such as community gardens, do not enjoy nearly as much cultural acceptance.
SECONDARY BENEFITS OF SMALL FARMS
Small farms offer more than just health benefits. They are good for communities by boosting local economies. They provide healthy, productive, meaningful work in areas where employment opportunities are limited. They foster self-confidence and self-reliance. Small farms also provide impoverished families with a buffer against food insecurity. Lastly, small farms are places where families gather to tell stories and pass down traditions, places where they celebrate a bond to the earth which dates back centuries.
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