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SLIM BUTTES AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM |
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Kids help out with seedlings in the greenhouse.
• increase local food production
• improve the nutritional quality of food
• promote self-reliance among the Oglala Lakota.
On the Pine Ridge Reservation, diabetes is rampant and there are few grocery stores. Most people can only afford an unhealthy diet, with few fresh fruits and vegetables.
SBAG is a community-based organic gardening project that addresses these problems.
SBAG provides soil preparation, seedlings, and other gardening assistance to families across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, free of charge.
Families sign up to host a garden, and with the support of SBAG, begin growing their own food while developing an active lifestyle from tending the garden.
Founder Tom Cook (right) helping gardeners on Pine Ridge.
Tom Cook (Akwesasne Mohawk) is the full-time director of the project and a Running Strong Field Coordinator. Tom employs only local residents and is able to achieve outstanding results.
Each year, SBAG assists with over 200 gardens in eight of the nine districts of Pine Ridge Reservation by:
• tilling plots for families to farm
• delivering seedlings
• distributing packages of seeds
• installing more than nine miles of irrigation systems.
Gardens in the project grow tomatoes, potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips, beans, melons, peppers, lettuce, spinach, squash, artichokes, and corn.
Each year, produce from SBAG feeds over 3,000 people.
Running Strong for American Indian Youth is the base financial support for the Slim Buttes Agricultural Project.
From six community gardens, this program has grown into an agent of community change.
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