Year Awarded 2023
Total award amount $450,000
Location Tempe, AZ
Grantee Institution University of Arizona
Climate change is compromising highly nutritious, localized food grown by Indigenous societies, which has led to detrimental health disparities for American Indians, including higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson aims to ensure crop biodiversity and increase access to nutritious food through partnerships with tribal communities. Kotutwa Johnson is examining water conservation practices that increase Indigenous food production, analyzing Indigenous foods’ nutritional value to integrate these foods into USDA and other food programs and developing safeguards to protect Indigenous groups data rights.