The Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition: reclaiming Intertribal food sovereignty in the Great Lakes Region

This case study details the historical context, formation, growth, and impact of the Great Lakes Intertribal Food Coalition (GLIFC), a Tribally-led coalition dedicated to strengthening Intertribal foodways and trade routes across the Great Lakes Region. GLIFC's governance, which is founded on trust and collaboration between Tribal nations and partners and strong cross-sectoral leadership, has supported the restoration of a complex Intertribal food system that had not existed in the region for a 100 years. GLIFC offers several key takeaways for others engaged in similar efforts. These include the importance of trust-building through incrementally scaling intertribal collaboration, implementing a collaborative and Tribally-led governance model, and establishing cross-sectoral partnerships that support the use of existing resources and diverse funding sources and policy pathways. GLIFC's collaborative, values-centric, and holistic approach to food systems planning and governance demonstrates the economic, social, and cultural benefits of building food systems that center responsibility to community and to the earth and reunite traditional foodways with land-based identity. GLIFC's success demonstrates that food sovereignty is a viable governance model that can build equity and prosperity and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), and Life on Land (SDG 15).