Niman Ranch Donates Certified Humane® Meats to Pine Ridge Reservation
May 14, 2021Effort Builds on Niman Ranch’s Partnership with Native American Natural Foods
This month, Niman Ranch donated nearly 2,000 Certified Humane® Spiral Hams to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Facilitated by Niman Ranch’s partner Conscious Alliance, the hams were delivered May 6th, loaded onto community school buses and delivered to students’ homes just in time for Mother’s Day weekend. The donations were distributed via the Pine Ridge School, the largest and oldest school on the reservation, serving over 1,000 students, and Crazy Horse School located in the rural community of Wanblee, SD.
Niman Ranch’s recent donation builds on the brand’s efforts to support the Pine Ridge Reservation, including a multi-year partnership with the Tanka brand’s Native American Natural Foods and the Tanka Regenerative Agriculture Coop (TRAC). The organizations together collaborate on business development, operations and strategy to build stability for the Tanka brand and support regenerative economic opportunity for the Lakota people and the Pine Ridge Reservation.
“This generous delivery of hams was so special for Mother’s Day,” shared Kathryn Burleson, Conscious Alliance Program Director. “Because high-quality protein is often out of reach for people coping with food insecurity, knowing that so many families shared in this treat together is a Mother’s Day gift in itself.”
The Conscious Alliance, a nonprofit organization building a movement of artists, musicians, food makers and music lovers to end hunger nationwide, offered logistical support and on the ground relationships to deliver the donation to the Pine Ridge community. The Conscious Alliance has been coordinating food donations to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation since 2002, working closely with natural food brands to supply product.