Initiatives Promote Farming in American Indian Communities - Higher Education: Though the number of American Indian farmers has soared in recent years, many of them still have difficulty getting access to credit. Despite a growing number of American Indian youth joining their local chapters of Future Farmers of America, few young Natives are enrolling in food and agricultural programs in college. And in spite of food production taking place on many reservations, there is little access to healthy and nutritious food, leaving many American Indian reservations as food deserts.
The Indigenous Food and Agricultural Initiative at the University of Arkansas School of Law is on a mission to reverse these trends.
The program, the first and only one of its kind in the country, was launched two years ago. The initiative takes a multidisciplinary approach to research, education and service. Law school officials say their goal is to become a resource on issues like health and nutrition, land law and policy and financial markets for American Indian tribes.
