BOX ELDER — A project nearly a decade in the making is providing food sovereignty on the Rocky Boy's Reservation through a new flour mill that processes locally grown Kamut wheat.
Tribal and agricultural leaders recently celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the mill on the Stone Child College campus, which overcame challenges, including COVID-19 delays, to mill an ancient grain that legendary farmer Bob Quinn made famous on his ranch near Big Sandy almost 40 years ago.
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"It's the ability to take care of our own people with food, and it's cultural foods or natural foods," said Rocky Boy sustainability coordinator Jason Belcourt.
The mill processes organically grown Kamut wheat into flour, now supplying neighboring tribes at Fort Belknap.
"It's all organic, and they make it into flour, and now they're supplying neighboring tribes at Fort Belknap," said Quinn Institute director Bob Quinn.
Tribal leaders hope the mill will put members on a path to better health by providing access to nutritious, locally-produced food.
"What has diabetes cost the tribes in terms of medicals, treatments and medicines? Why not put some of that money into the prevention side and let's eat healthier," Belcourt said.
Quinn emphasized the economic and health benefits of investing in better food production.
"Imagine if we could pay the farmers a little more for growing better food, and then save a lot more on health care by being well instead of being sick," Quinn said.
The mill represents the latest step in food sovereignty efforts. With more than $30,000 in grant money secured, a bakery might follow soon.
"We've already got orders. We didn't even make any bread yet, but we've already got people wanting to order, so it feels good," Belcourt said.
State agricultural leaders praise the project as an excellent example of value-added agriculture.
"We have the farmer here that's growing the grain. We have the mill here that's milling the grain. We have them working on creating the flour that's going to create the bread that is value-added," said Montana Department of Agriculture Director Jillien Streit.
With the operation based on campus, the tribe is cultivating the next generation of entrepreneurs and agricultural leaders.
"We want to build a whole curriculum around food. We want to build a whole curriculum around the world. The agriculture industry there to grow our own foods here," Belcourt said.
