Community-Based Gardens Address Nutritional Needs on the Navajo Nation

Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) is an Indigenous-led sister organization to Partners In Health (PIH), working across Navajo Nation and based in Gallup, New Mexico. Navajo Nation is the largest Indigenous sovereign nation in the United States, occupying portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.  

As its guiding mission, COPE believes that the power to overturn long-standing, historical health inequalities lies inherently in Indigenous communities themselves. In recognition and appreciation of that power, COPE works with local health care teams and communities on Navajo Nation to develop programs that address structural barriers and bridge gaps in the health care system.  

COPE started collaborating with Navajo Nation partners in 2010, and its bold approach and relationship-building have enabled the organization to respond to community-identified priorities with high-impact programs that address food access and nutrition security, reducing the burden of chronic diseases, improving patient-centered cancer care, and strengthening community access to health care through community health workers and other frontline health workers.    

One of COPE’s core areas of focus is to increase access to healthy and traditional foods across the Navajo Nation. To address this need among Navajo communities, COPE takes a holistic approach by partnering with families, growers, store owners, and health workers to achieve the following goals:

• Increase access to, and consumption of, healthy and locally grown foods  
• Provide culturally relevant nutrition education and outreach to Navajo families  
• Strengthen economic growth by promoting the local sales of healthy foods on Navajo Nation
• Enhance collaboration among clinic-based and community-based health teams to better support Navajo families at all stages of life
• Build a rigorous evidence base to catalyze policy and system change

One way COPE is hoping to achieve these goals is by supporting community-based demonstration gardens.

Over the past year, COPE has collaborated with local partners, including the Indian Health Service, community food and nutrition leaders, and Navajo Nation Chapter houses to develop demonstration gardens across the Eastern region of Navajo Nation. The goal of these gardens is to provide hands-on, garden-based health and nutrition education for community members.  

At eight different locations, COPE helped prepare and plant garden beds alongside community members and partners. All beds included a mixture of vegetables, herbs, and flowering plants that encourage pollinators. Many also included regional varieties of corn and squash that are traditional to Navajo and other Indigenous Nations in the Southwest.  

The gardens now provide engaging outdoor learning spaces where health educators and community leaders are able to highlight Navajo food and nutrition teachings. They also help promote healthy lifestyles through physical activity, community building, and stress reduction. As the herbs and vegetables ripen, community members have been encouraged to harvest and use the fruits of their labor—pun intended.  

This initiative has been particularly unique in its vision of working collaboratively across eight sites and continually seeking feedback from the community and partners. These community gardens have the potential to nourish families in the surrounding area for many years to come, but only with community ownership and buy-in. By developing the gardens through a community-based, collaborative model, this program promotes sustainable access to locally grown, nutritious, and traditional produce for Navajo families.