Indigenous Food Share (IFS) CSA

“This was my first CSA share and I love receiving it! It makes my week. I have a ten month old son who recently started eating solids and he has enjoyed so many foods from the share! It has been wonderful to know he’s eating locally grown, organic produce. The fact that we are able to support an Indigenous farm means so much to me. Pinagigi!”

-IFS Member 2022

“I really enjoy the wonderful IFS boxes and that they are culturally curated. This year the cost was covered and I'm grateful for having continued access to healthy food while I'm on a budget. Pinagigi for all you do!”

-IFS Member, 2022

"It was fun to get some of the processed foods like the sun-dried tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, and herb-infused oil. This got me excited about processing some of the things I grow at home."

-IFS Member 2017

"Having access to fresh produce is extremely important on the path to leading a healthy lifestyle. It’s also given us the opportunity to try a larger variety of vegetables that we might not otherwise buy on our own."

-IFS Member, 2017

Indigenous Food Share (IFS)

Our Indigenous Food Share program serves Native families within the greater Twin Cities metro.

Non-Native allies: We welcome you to shop from our stand at the Four Sisters Farmers Market from June - October. We'll have plenty of delicious produce to offer everyone who visits our stand!

You may also contribute to the cost of another family's share by clicking the IFS Donate Button Below.

Donate!

New and Previous IFS Members, signup in just three easy steps!

Step 1: Create or Log-in to your existing Local Line account.

Step 2: Request access to our Indigenous Food Share price list.

Step 3: Send an email with your Tribal Affiliation along with any IFS and/or membership questions to anthony@dreamofwildhealth.org (copies of Tribal documents not required).

We will provide access to our IFS price list after the completion of Step 3.

*Previous members do not need to resubmit their Tribal Affiliations.

New in 2024:

Share Size

As the land calls us to raise our plant relatives in increasingly sustainable ways, we’re adapting our previously “Large” and “Small” Indigenous Food Share options into a single, smaller sized box that we’re calling our Harvest Basket.

Our Harvest Basket will come with a variety of 6-8 vegetables, fruits, grains and/or legumes each week for the 16 week season, delivering to our relatives the freshest available food from Dream of Wild Health’s farm. We are also offering a Fall Harvest Basket in a Large box, to fill your pantry with storage crops, as well as fresh harvested foods. We are making these size changes for the following reasons:

Climate change is keeping our fields wetter for longer into the spring; We’re starting our growing season slightly later and with different plant relatives.
Our soils need rest and rejuvenation; We’re planting some of them with cover crops instead of food to replenish nutrients and support pollinators.
Our community is asking for more traditional Native foods; We’re putting emphasis on deepening relationships with relatives including: beans, blueberries, chokecherries, corn, highbush-cranberries, peppers, potatoes, serviceberries, squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, sunchokes, tomatoes, and wild plums.
Our community is asking for more ways to engage with our farm; We’re deepening relationships and finding different opportunities for Native organizations to continuously shape our programming – including the foods and medicines that we grow.

Payment Plans and Sliding Scales

We were happy to continue offering a sliding scale payment model and payment plants for our Indigenous Food Share program. This reflects part of our mission, which aims to increase food access to Native families in the Twin Cities. We also offer a work share option where IFS members can trade work on the farm on pre-arranged dates as another way to pay for their share.

Ashòògè (Apache), Ho’hou (Arapaho), WetAXkoosšteéRAt (Arikara), Pidamaya (Dakota), Ahéhee' (Diné), Pinagigi (Ho-Chunk), Miigwech (Ojibwe), Kherkhem (Tiwa), Chiokoe (Yoeme)

The Dream of Wild Health Team

Types of Shares:

IFS shares begin June 13 and go through October 2, 2024. *No shares the week of 7/4/24.

IFS Harvest Basket: $345

A box every week (16 boxes)

6-8 Items per week

IFS Fall Harvest Basket: $40

1 box on October 10, 2024

12-14 different fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes.

Free and reduced priced shares are available. To make our shares accessible to program families and community partners, we offer a variety of flexible payment options, including: payment plans, sliding scale rates, workshare plans, and other options. We are committed to working with families on a case-by-case basis.

WHOLESALE ORDERS

If you are interested in placing a wholesale order for your organization, institution, restaurant, etc., please contact anthony@dreamofwildhealth.org or jason@dreamofwildhealth.org for more information and availability.

2024 Indigenous Food Share (IFS) Information:

What is an IFS Harvest Basket?

The mission of Dream of Wild Health is to restore health and wellbeing in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy, Indigenous foods, medicines and lifeways. Our Indigenous Food Share (IFS Share) is one direct way we fulfill that mission.

A weekly IFS share brings healthy, fresh produce from the DWH Farm to your home. Each week our farm team will harvest, wash and pack a mix of 6-8 fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and herbs into a box and deliver the share to one of our four pick-up locations.

With each share you will receive a newsletter (print and/or email) including cultural teachings, language translations, storage, cooking and preservation information.

What’s in an IFS Harvest Basket?

Each Summer Harvest Basket (box) includes a variety of seasonal produce; usually around 6-8 items. While box contents change by the week, we aim for a good balance in each box, and as many traditional food items as are available from the garden.

Early Summer, Baskets Might Include: wild-rice, spinach, salad, scallions, strawberries, turnips, summer squash, peas, beets, garlic scapes, bok choy, kale, cilantro, dill

Mid Summer, Baskets might include: summer squash, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, basil, thyme, dill

Early Fall, Baskets might include: hominy corn, dried beans, winter squash, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, radishes, cabbage, carrots, sage, thyme, oregano

Our Fall Harvest Basket will include a variety of seasonal produce items, many of which will store well. These shares are larger with 12-14 items, and might include: wild rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, hominy, dried beans, winter squash, pumpkin, cabbage, carrots, onions, spinach, thyme, sage, dried tea

Where Will I Pick Up My Box?

We have 4 pick-up locations to choose from:

Dream of Wild Health Farm

16085 Jeffrey Road, Hugo

8:30am - 2:45pm (Thursdays and Fridays)

Mississippi Market Co-op on East 7th

740 East 7th Street, St. Paul

9:30am to 9pm Thursdays

Indigenous Food Lab at Midtown Global Market

920 East Lake Street, Minneapolis

10am - 5pm (Thursdays)

Four Sisters Farmers Market at Pow Wow Grounds

1414 East Franklin Ave, Minneapolis

10am to 3pm (Thursdays)

If you’re unable to pick up within these times/locations, please let us know what you need; we’re committed to working with families on a case-by-case basis. Having someone else pick up your share is always an option (like a family member, friend, co-worker, etc.).

What day will shares be delivered this year?

How do I use what's in each share?

At the start of the season, members will receive a Welcome Kit with information on foods they’ll meet over the season, along with information on basic food storage and preparation. Additionally, each week members will receive a newsletter, which includes:

A labeled photo to help you identify each item in your basket

Simple Indigenous recipes that are easy to prepare

Nutritional highlights on included foods

Native language and cultural lessons, whenever possible

Information on how to store each item for best quality

How Is Your Produce Grown? / What Are Your Farming Practices?

How Is Your Produce Grown? / What Are Your Farming Practices?

All of our produce is grown using blended, multi-Tribal Indigenous farming practices; we believe in reciprocity, and follow organic, relational, and regenerative farming methods – everything we grow is non-GMO, and free from non-organic pesticides and herbicides. We seek to be a part of restoring the health of our soils as well as the health of our human and non-human communities by rebuilding our connections to Indigenous foods.

Unique to our program is a specific emphasis on growing, distributing, and educating the community on Indigenous foods and medicines Native to Turtle Island (North America).