Traditional and Local Food Procurement Motivators, Barriers, and Desires from Foodservice Directors in South Dakota Schools with High Enrollments of Native American Students

Purpose/Objectives: The objectives of the study were two-fold: 1) Determine the motivators and barriers to local food and local traditional food procurement among Food Service Directors (FSDs) of South Dakota (SD) schools serving Native American (NA) students, and 2) determine what traditional foods are desired for local procurement by the same population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. An online survey was emailed to SD FSDs at 42 schools with high enrollments NA students. Eligibility was determined by 1) participation in National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and 2) \u3e50% enrollment NA students. Motivators and barriers were determined by averaging Likert-scale responses and ranking by highest score. Desires were determined by averaging ranked interests in local procurement from each meal component. Specific traditional foods of interest from each component were then determined by summing frequencies of foods selected. Results: Most FSDs were from Western SD in districts serving K-12. Twenty-seven FSDs started and 14 completed the survey. All motivators and barriers for both local and local traditional food procurement were more than ‘somewhat’ a motivator or barrier. The highest motivator was to improve overall health of students (3.50 and 3.55, respectfully). The highest barrier was lack of producers from whom to purchase (3.60 and 3.58, respectfully). Highest desire was given to local vegetables followed by fruits, then meats. Traditional foods most desired included traditional potato and carrot varieties, raspberries, wild plums, strawberries, bison, wild rice, and syrup. Applications to Child Nutrition Professionals: This study revealed that FSDs desire nutritious local traditional foods for child nutrition programs (CNPs) that are not currently available in the market. Providing grant and funding opportunities for CNPs and local producers to increase FTS capacity could help initiate FTS programming and facilitate a change to a more sovereign food system. More research is needed to determine local producers’ motivators and barriers to facilitate production for FTS. FTS programs are very personalized to school needs. More research is needed to determine the traditional foods of interest in other regions and for other cultures served by CNPs