CTUIR is excited to implement the Nixyaawii, Don’t Throw It Away! Project to address food waste and strengthen materials management for our Tribal community!

Our project focus is on post-consumer food waste: food waste that comes at the very end of the food system, in community prep and home kitchens primarily. This means the food left over on your plate at the end of a meal, food that has spoiled in your fridge, and scraps from meal preparation, all of which end up in the landfill unless intentionally diverted elsewhere.

This food waste has a tremendous potential to be part of the solution, instead of contributing to the problem of the climate crisis as it currently does. This project aims to address some of the barriers that currently exist to transition our community towards being part of the solution, and respecting our living and non-living relatives better in the way we manage our materials. You will find detailed information about the project and its activities at the pages below.

Goals of the Project

1. Understand food waste types and volumes
2. Build community capacity to improve materials management
3. Implement research/demonstration effort for biogas using food waste

We are hosting various events for the Tribal community and regional partners to learn more about the outcomes of the project, as well as build skills and knowledge related to composting, recycling, repair and reuse, and other approaches to reducing waste created by our community. Many of these events are open to everyone, and some require registration so we can make sure participants are compensated for their time. Please contact the First Foods Policy Program at FirstFoods@CTUIR.org or (541) 429 – 7247 with questions or to register for any of our events!

Out of respect for the families experiencing loss, we are cancelling our Wed Dec 18^th meeting for longhouse cooks, thanks for being flexible. We do still have an opportunity for Longhouse cooks ONLY to receive a $100 stipend by completing the feedback form and invoice form, and returning it to the First Foods Policy Program (FirstFoods@ctuir.org) or by dropping the finished paperwork off to the Nixyaawii Governance Center front desk by Dec 20th 2024. Below are the forms we will need, plus a current W9 to receive a stipend for submitting your feedback, and can be downloaded at the links at the bottom of this webpage. 

First Foods Policy Program would like to thank everyone for participating with our events and activities in November! We are anticipating placement of our project utility shed in December, and will have a short hybrid lunch meeting on Wed Dec 18th for those Longhouse cooks & chefs who missed the training, please let us know if you are interested in attending in person or virtually at FirstFoods@CTUIR.orgleave a voicemail with (541) 429-7247.

Initial Project Reception 

State Interest

Oregon Public Broadcasting wrote a wonderful story about our project launch, please read that story here:

Umatilla tribes to launch food waste reduction project in northeast Oregon reservation - OPB

National Recognition

The Nixyaawii, Don't Throw It Away! Project is also honored to have been nominated by the Harvard Kennedy School's Project on Indigenous Governance and Development for their 2025 Honoring Nations Award! We are grateful to Harvard for recognizing the potential of this project and look forward to submitting an application to the award in the future.

Past CTUIR projects that have received this award include DNR Cultural Resources Protection Program (2003), CTUIR Homeownership: Financial, Credit & Consumer Protection Program (2006), Kayak Public Transit Program (2010), and Čáw Pawá Láakni - They Are Not Forgotten (Place Names Atlas) (2016).

Please read more about Harvard's Honoring Nations Award here: Project on Indigenous Governance and Development

Past Presentations 

We are ALWAYS excited to talk about our project with anyone interested! We will archive past presentations here on this page, and link to any recordings available. Please find those past presentations below in the downloadable materials.

Funding Agency Disclaimers

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2024-70510-41990.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, any reference to specific brands or types of products or services does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for those products or services.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Webpage updated: Dec 10 2024