Organic Food Security is Sovereignty for First Nation Community Members of Payahunadu: Helping Nüümü (Pauite) elders on their farms and hiring native youth to support elders solves the problem of food deserts.

The founding organic farmers of the Made by Mother Earth nonprofit organization are invited each year to farm on tribally owned allotment lands and in Payahunadu. Our farms have expanded from one large-scale operation to two, providing 10,000 fruit and vegetable plant starts to over 100 Native families across the Eastern and Western Sierra regions, supporting families and elders’ backyard farms or gardens.

We offer fruit and vegetable plant starts for elders, mothers, fathers, children, teens, youth, and families on every reservation from Bridgeport Indian Colony, Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe, Big Pine Tribe, Fort Independence Tribe, Lone Pine, and Timbisha Death Valley tribes, California, Yosemite Miwok, and surrounding communities.

According to one of our mentors and advisors, Steve Sprinkle, a former California Organic Certifier and Eco Farms President, since each fruit and vegetable plant yields 8-10 pounds of produce, our Food Sovereignty Program and community members collectively grew $100,000 worth of produce, which equals over 70,000 pounds at an average of nearly $1.50 per pound.

Native Leadership

We recognize and honor the inherent right of Native communities to lead and make decisions about their own food systems. This is why our organization is predominantly 85% led by Nümü Native landowners/Nümü farmers, Native farmers from other federally/state-recognized tribes, and indigenous women. Most of our hired ranch hands are Nümü Native youth, Native youth of many nations, working together with our diverse team of community members from all nationalities and backgrounds.

Our work supports a whole-community rooted in food sovereignty, ensuring that food security is grown on tribally owned land, providing food for local native families, and where the entire community benifits from the local food movement in line with the values, needs, and health of all people in our community.

Our programs are grounded in honoring the diverse cultural traditions of the many Native communities living in Payahunadu, who help farm on Paiute reservation land. By honoring traditional foodways, we strengthen cultural identity and maintain deep connections between people, land, and food.

Community Empowerment

We develop initiatives that holistically support entire communities and all cultures—economically, socially, and culturally. By teaching youth regenerative agricultural skills, growing seed-to-table farm, ranches, and gardens ©. Growing food from seed, harvesting, preparing, and sharing meals with their families from the food they grow. Also, by providing opportunities for tribal members to grow organic foods and then create organic products from the farms they tend (such as Chris’s Pickled Peppers, a local sensation), we help communities take ownership of their food systems and build pride in the local economy.

We believe strong relationships create strong food systems. This is why we are expanding!

Intergenerational Knowledge

Traditional knowledge is carried across generations. This is why we are growing farms at the request of elders. We prioritize sharing and revitalizing ancestral food practices that elders teach our communities, which are then passed on to youth, so future generations remain connected to the wisdom of the land, all within the foods grown in their own backyard reservation community gardens and tended in the wild.

Food Security

We are committed to advancing fairness and justice throughout the food system. Our work acknowledges historical inequities while advocating for policies and practices that support inclusive, healthy, and sustainable food systems for all Native communities. Made by Mother Earth is devoted to expanding organic food sovereignty within tribal communities, enhancing food security in food deserts, and educating communities about wild horse ecology. Rooted in respect for nature, we foster earth-based skills for all ages and champion land protection to ensure a sustainable future for all.

Dedicated to land protection, a proven track record in support of advancing land acquisition to tribal members, organic food sovereignty, and wild horse ecology, we inspire and equip communities to protect the land and secure their food futures through funding to support California’s Eastern Sierra Native, First Nation, and diverse surrounding communities by building farms rooted in culture, not just agriculture. Respecting the inherent right of Native and diverse communities surrounding the reservations to control their food systems. Centered on the needs of the entire community. We are accomplishing this through a knowledgeable team on staff, including PhD soil scientists, elders, and reservation landowners whose land we farm; tribal farmers; permaculture farmers; and other nonprofits working through the CA-NV Wild Horse Coalition.