Montana’s ranchers and farmers are major producers of a wide range of foods, including meat, lentils, grains, and vegetables. Even so, in many communities, particularly in rural Montana, there are opportunities to improve access to affordable, healthful, locally produced foods.

Over the past several years, we have invested more in building local food systems as a pathway to better health. We launched the Healthy Montana Communities Initiative in 2023, building on related work in the Reducing American Indian Health Disparities Initiative. Our goal: to help build a more connected, sustainable food system that ensures all Montanans can access healthful, locally produced food.

One thing has become increasingly clear: many strong community-led projects exist across the state. For example, FAST Blackfeet has built and grown programs that increase food access, reduce food insecurity, and improve nutritional intake and knowledge in the Blackfeet Nation. The Northern Cheyenne Food Pantry is expanding its services by building a new site and developing a community garden, which will help improve food security in its community.

Connecting the Dots

In some cases, there are opportunities to reduce costs and improve food access by helping connect producers, distributors, buyers, food pantries, and advocates. Simple challenges can complicate these efforts. A producer in one part of the state may not have a strong local market for their products or a way to transport them to communities that need them. We are working to help connect these pieces. By fostering relationships and supporting coordination, we are helping siloed efforts begin to align.

In the past year, we awarded nine grants to expand access to affordable, locally produced foods and build connections with producers, purchasers, distributors, and communities.

• The Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger is training food service directors in scratch cooking and sourcing food locally. This work has already helped schools like Richey, Geraldine, and Elliston upgrade their kitchens and begin offering scratch-prepared school meals, often using local meat and produce.
• Farm Connect Montana (which serves as a connection between local farmers, institutions, and consumers) is developing a plan to secure the long-term viability of Montana’s Double SNAP Dollars program, which promotes SNAP purchases of local produce.
• In Harlowtown, the Central Montana Food Hub is planning a facility to help regional producers sell and distribute their products to other Montana communities.
• Hopa Mountain is building a Local Food Marketplace web portal that helps food hubs, producers, and institutional purchasers (e.g., schools or hospitals) find each other and meet local needs.

We are also supporting tribes and native-led organizations on projects that draw on traditional knowledge of food systems. In 2024, for example, the Little Shell Tribe launched a food distribution program to provide more nutritious, Indigenous foods for its tribal members. In 2025, we supported Rocky Boy’s food sovereignty program, which is working in partnership with Livingston Food Resource Center to introduce Kamut flour for a community bread program working with schools and food pantries.

The impact of this work is both practical and systemic. From enabling a food pantry in Cut Bank to adopt a self-service model to supporting feasibility studies for regional food distribution, these projects are improving how food moves through the state and to people in communities that need it most. What defines our approach is our focus on systems, ensuring that improvements are not isolated, but interconnected and sustainable. Ultimately, success means more than funding individual programs; it means building a stronger, more coordinated food system that increases access to food, supports local economies, and improves health outcomes across Montana.