WHEREAS, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), established in 1972, serves all Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health care delivery to AI/ANs, as well as upholding the Federal government’s trust responsibility to AI/AN Tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, the unmet health needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives are severe and the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives is far below that of the general population of the United States, resulting in an average life expectancy of 4.2 years less than that for the U.S. all races population; and

WHEREAS, rural and urban Tribal communities are nearly all food deserts and continue to be plagued by scarce access to traditional and healthy foods, resulting in negative, nutrition-based health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and shortened life expectancies; and

WHEREAS, according to the Declaration of Nyéléni made at the Forum on Food Sovereignty in Sélingué, Mali, “food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems”; and