On the outskirts of Pawhuska city limits, there is a farm, run by Osage Nation. Astride rocky hills and poor soils, in the heart of Osage County is a jungle of tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers, tropical houseplants and fruit bearing pineapples, tubs of tilapia, orchards, and ponds. In the middle of an economic and geographic food desert, they are striving toward food sovereignty, growing their own food, their own way.
Relationship with food
Osage Nation has a unique relationship with food. "We have not traditionally been planters here. People here were mostly on commodities. This is our return to growing and eating for ourselves," says Melissa Byers, a culinary specialist at Harvest Land.
Before the Osage people were removed from their homelands, they were nomadic, following different environments in the course of food. "We were moved three times by Europeans before we eventually bought this land from the Cherokee," says Byers. "This was an area we came to hunt at certain times of the year, and we knew it was very rocky and not good for planting. We bought this land because we knew we wouldn't be moved from it."
Growing food here is a story of techniques and technologies. The soil is filled with flint and shale stones and the hills are covered in trees. Farming is not feasible by normal measures. So Harvest Land uses controlled agriculture environments (CAEs) such as greenhouses, hydroponics, and aquaponics.
On one side of the lot, four greenhouses brim with vegetables: tomatoes: slicer, roma, cherry, and cookers, cucumbers, green beans, jalapeño peppers, bell peppers. Many grow in hydroponic systems — white buckets filled with water and perlite, fertilizer, added to the water to provide essential nutrients. Other vegetables grow in individual soil pots: The pots help retain moisture from watering, and encourage quick root development. In a semi-outdoor passageway between the greenhouses, there are soil beds for cold season vegetables, such as broccoli and carrots.
Thoughtful design went into the construction of the greenhouses to make the most out of energy and water resources. As water drains out of pots, it flows through the gravel floor and is captured in a drainage system underneath the greenhouses. The runoff is directed to an arrowhead shaped pond for reuse. Outside the greenhouses is a line of solar panels to power indoor winter grow lights, allowing for year-round fresh produce. Across the lot, aquaponic crops grow in a 44 thousand square foot room. Rows of leafy greens float on styrofoam boats next to three tubs of tilapia. A network of tubes redirects water from the tilapia tubs and filters out excretes to push clean, nutrient-filled water under the growing plants.
Food in a food desert
When food systems broke down during the pandemic, much of Osage County was a food desert. The county is Oklahoma's largest by land size, 2,304 square miles, yet there are only three grocery stores. In 2020, Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear spearheaded creating an independent foodway system, and with funding from the CARES act Harvest Land and Butcher House Meats were founded to provide fresh food for local people.
Harvest Land's goal is to make healthy food accessible and culturally relevant to people: Osage citizens and non-citizens. Prices are subsidized by Osage Nation, and a mobile market makes monthly or bi-weekly trips across the county for those unable to travel to Pawhuska. Much of the produce goes to elder care centers and school cafeterias, as well as local restaurants like the Western-themed cafe-saloon Dirty Laundry in downtown Pawhuska.
Source: FT Harvest Land (This website blocks access to EU residents)