Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town’s (AQTT) purpose is to provide the AQTT Tribal enrolled elders (87) and Tribal enrolled children (83) with unprocessed and/or minimally processed food from local Oklahoma ranchers and producers. AQTT’s has an operating Title VI Elder Nutrition Program operating and it consists of AQTT Tribal members over the age of 55. The AQTT child enrollment population will serve children who are 17 years and younger.

Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas is pursuing the LFPA Plus grant to support local socially disadvantaged farmers/producers by purchasing and distributing food to the underserved community. As the tribe is located in a food desert, food insecurity is a valid concern for many tribal citizens, and supporting the infrastructure to break this cycle will benefit all parties. Using LFPA funds, foods will be purchased on a bi-weekly basis and stored on-site to promote freshness in a freezer/cooler purchased by the Tribe. Intended beneficiaries will be tribal citizens and community members.

Summary

From the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook (OECD, 2023), global population is projected to grow from 7.9 billion in 2022 to over 8.6 billion people in 2032.  To keep up with the growing population, global agriculture is witnessing the rapid implementation of new digital-based technologies to increase agriculture and food production. In respect to Agriculture 4.0, the expansion of new technologies such as robotics, aerial imaging, digital mapping of seeds, and GPS are just a few examples of the expansion of technology in agriculture.