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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Resources for Tribal Individuals, Families, and Communities

Learn about federal food assistance programs and other resources to promote food security for tribal individuals, families, and communities. 

Financial Support: Federal Programs and Grants

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service that helps supplement the diets of low-income Americans, including older adults, by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. While tribes cannot enter into direct agreements with USDA to administer TEFAP, they may be eligible to participate in TEFAP as recipient agencies.

USDA: Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)

Tribes can promote nutrition security by accessing the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, which provides USDA foods to income-eligible households on Indian reservations and to Native American households in designated areas near reservations or in Oklahoma. USDA distributes both food and administrative funds to participating Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies to operate FDPIR.

Tribal organizations can develop nutrition education programs with FDPIR administrative funds and grant opportunities:

  • FDPIR Administrative Funds for Nutrition Education: Beginning in 2022, USDA received a $4 million annual increase in funds to support Tribes and State agencies administering FDPIR to provide nutrition education activities. Funds support the needs of each FDPIR administering agency in developing and delivering nutrition education, while empowering tribes to determine and build their nutrition education capacity.
  • FDPIR and SNAP-Ed Grants: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) is a federally funded grant program. SNAP-Ed supports evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects through direct education, as well as community and public health approaches to improve nutrition. FDPIR participants are eligible to receive services through SNAP-Ed if the State SNAP Agency and agency administering FDPIR work together. 

USDA: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) safeguards the health of infants, children up to age 5 years, and pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women who are at nutritional risk. WIC provides nutritious foods to supplement diets, nutrition education (including information on healthy eating), and referrals to health care.

USDA: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 

Families can access nutrition benefits to purchase healthy food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

Online purchasing with SNAP benefits is now available in thousands of retailers in nearly all states. Learn more about SNAP waivers and flexibilities put in place to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Federal Initiatives and Projects

USDA: FDPIR Self-Determination Demonstration Project 

Some FDPIR tribal organizations also participate in the FDPIR Self-Determination Demonstration Project. Through the demonstration project, participating tribal organizations can enter self-determination contracts, as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, to purchase foods for the FDPIR food packages distributed to their tribe. This is a significant change from normal program operations in which all USDA foods provided in the FDPIR food package are purchased by USDA.

Through the demonstration project, participating tribes:

  • Select one or more foods that they would like to procure for inclusion in the food package
  • Identify the food(s) in the food package that they would like to replace with the tribally procured food(s)
  • Establish contract(s) with a vendor(s) to procure the selected food(s)
  • Distribute the tribally procured food(s) alongside other USDA-provided foods in the FDPIR food packages distributed to their tribal members

To date, USDA has awarded approximately $10 million to tribal nations participating in the demonstration project. Learn more about the project and current participants. 

USDA: Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative (IFSI)

The Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative (IFSI) promotes traditional foods, Indian Country food and agriculture markets, and Indigenous health tailored to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) dietary needs. USDA is partnering with tribal-serving organizations on projects to reimagine federal food and agriculture programs from an Indigenous perspective and inform future USDA programs and policies. 

For more information about the IFSI and the deliverables that have come from it, visit the IFSI website.