An Open Letter to Van Jones and (mostly) others (Part 2: Food)

Black Lives Matter. I support everyone and their efforts to facilitate change to a system that perpetuates things like the murder of George Floyd by an officer of the law. I'd be remiss if I published something without first expressing that. I stand with you all.

As I watched my morning news, among the coverage of the righteous reaction to the murder of George Floyd; I watched a news story where yet another well-intentioned but tragically out of touch non-profit sees the plight of the Navajo Nation as a "charitable" cause. I grow weary of that sentiment. "We need spam and canned chicken" one of the kind-hearted souls said, against the backdrop of signs written in Sharpie, stuck to the wall of a chapter house, showing where to pile the donations.

Pardon my language, but the last God Damned thing our Navajo brothers and sisters need is your donation of spam and canned chicken. Nor do they need yet another non-profit that isn't changing the system, to which philanthropies can offer their charitable contributions in order to maintain the preferential tax rates that help preserve philanthropic assets.

It's not because food and charity aren't needed. By all means, give...give freely of your time, of your labor, and of your money if you have extra. Give healthy food if you have it. Do it because it's right. But be mindful that your contribution doesn't soothe that deep seated, lingering concern that exists in all of us - well, most of us at least - that right this instant, as we sit with our morning coffee, or as we are binge-watching the next "Tiger King-esque" attention grabber on Netflix, there are others that are going without for no good reason.

If we let our charitable actions satisfy our inclination to help, we may forget to exercise that most important of resources we still possess - our collective voice.

Indian Country hasn't been defeated, its been starved. We're going to change that with your help.

You see, the land and resources that Americans now take for granted as their own; from which the United States has grown to be the most powerful nation-state the world has ever known; is the land from which countless Tribes fed themselves with while building "civilized" societies, predating and surpassing anything Europeans were escaping from as they colonized this continent. What we actually do need in Indian Country is access to capital that would enable our management of those natural resources that do remain in our control, to feed ourselves.

?The Navajo Nation produces $87 Million worth of raw Ag products per year according the NASS Census from 2017. That same data indicates that only $158,000 is sold directly to the consumer or through retail markets, local institutions, and food hubs for local and regionally branded products.

The alarming nationwide post-COVID unemployment rates pale in comparison to those which are the norm for the Navajo Nation. These circumstances are repeated over and over throughout Indian Country. Resource rich, food poor - and poor by every other measure, as a direct result.

If anyone reading this can't see a golden investment opportunity, you might as well stop here and flip back to see what the Baskins crew is up to - you're not with us.

The rate on 30-year treasury notes is 1.5% today. Remember this percentage rate, it gets relevant again later. That is the rate the US government pays for long term investment its cause(s). Rather than continue to borrow from Japan, China, the tax payers, and others to fund programs to treat outcomes, let's fund a system that allows meaningful amounts of capital at these terms to flow towards Indian Country-based solution providers.

In my last open letter I named a few organizations that see not only that investment opportunity, but are actively trying to bring about the solutions needed in Indian Country. It bears repeating their names; Akiptan, Four Bands Community Fund, Lakota Funds; because they are working tirelessly trying to implement the solutions. Submitting countless applications, supported by dedicated staff, they stay afloat continue to address the need for the solutions, so starkly illustrated by the plight of our Navajo brothers and sisters. There are many, many others doing this work; and they offer solutions to the problem, not just treatment of the results.

Rebuilding our food economies is the best chance we have regain prosperity for our people. Decades of the same impoverished community maps in spite of many other efforts, make that perfectly clear.

I get to be a part of one of the Northwest Area Foundation, a leader in the field of philanthropy. The fact that someone chose to allocate their fortune in such a way that it has a lasting impact helps restore my faith in humanity. That being said, "funds" or "pools" created among ourselves to address urgent issues might not be the best solution. A group of philanthropies with common causes recently created a $211 million pool for food/ag funding in light of the COVID-19 exacerbated food shortages. While I understand that food and agriculture may not be the only cause they are supporting, and I do applaud that effort, I must point out that total assets managed by foundations in America were over $1 Trillion in early 2019.

Rather than offer charity, look for ways to invest your assets in the solutions.

In many cases philanthropies pay as much as 1.5% of the value their assets annually to fund managers, consultants, staff, and others charged with the shepherding of those assets. This is done in hopes of generating enough income to continue charitable contributions in perpetuity.

The lowest cost of funds I know of in the CDFI world is more than 1.5%. Lakota, Tawney, and Skya at our Ag CDFIs mentioned above, exist in a world where they pay organizations for the privilege of managing their assets. Maybe it's time to pay Native CDFIs to manage your assets and generate your investment income to serve your other equally worthy causes.

Until we build that system, let us use our voices. Continue to advocate for systemic change and solutions that actually affect new outcomes. Systems that create stable, long-term wellness - like home-grown food - as opposed to a metaphorical junk food high of resources, here today, gone tomorrow.

We must be able to feed ourselves. The Intertribal Agriculture Council needs your voice, and your investment; not your charity.