Established in 2013, North Leupp Family Farms (NLFF) is a 501c (3) non-profit organization on the Navajo Reservation with a mission to develop and present comprehensive solutions to address deficiencies in community food system, encourage healthy lifestyles, and improve food security through partnerships with local food producers, schools, and business entities. As a small farmers’ cooperative, NLFF is cultivated by over thirty (30) farmer families. NLFF provides continued traditional food education, field trips, and demonstrations to local communities. Currently, the Farm provides fresh produce and farm products to local schools, hospitals, and elder centers.
This grant will be used to develop a mobile market set-up of NLFF's on-farm "Sunrise Market". This includes store equipment/fixtures, inventory, supplies, materials, and mobile market vehicles. In addition, the project team will also help the tribal communities with engineering consulting services.
The program is also open to all Federally Recognized Tribe in Arizona (Arizona has 22 Federally Recognized Tribes).
The Overarching Goal of this proposed program is to develop a rural food hub providing wholesome food to more Navajos by aggregating and distributing more fresh produce and staple goods to further distances.
To achieve the overarching goal, this program intends to address the following objectives/purposes in the Navajo Nation as well as other tribal communities in Arizona:
Objective 1: Develop Retail Infrastructure to Support Local Produce Sales in Navajo Nation. NLFF will establish a mobile market complete with SNAP/EBT payment set-up. This includes support materials for community marketing events.
Objective 2: Community Healthy Food Outreach, Education, and Marketing. Increasing presence online and in-commerce is a broad way to outreach and market, especially outside of indigenous communities. NLFF will also host community marketing events and educational workshops and demonstrations.
Objective 3: Provide successful program management. The project team will provide all of the support listed above. We will also facilitate and provide all required federal reports to ensure all grant requirements are met for our constituents.
