Harriet Moran: Indian Program manager - commodity food program director for Inter-Tribal Council in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Harriet Moran: Indian Program Manager

As commodity food program director for the Inter-Tribal Council in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Harriet Moran ensures that needy Indians receive USDA commodities through USDA's Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. But, as Moran will tell you, her job does not end once the food is distributed.

Since the Inter-Tribal Organization (ITO) began issuing food in April 1982, Moran has been working to educate program participants about good nutrition, food preparation, and new recipes using USDA commodities.

"Although a lot of these things are not required, I do them,' Moran says. "It helps make the program a little bit better and helps the participants make better use of the commodities.'

Through the Food Distribution Program, USDA donates a variety of foods to Indians living on or near reservations, and to people who are not Indians but who live on reservations. Moran supervises food distribution on four reservations throughout Michigan.

"Basically my job as director is making sure that the commodity program is running smoothly at the tribal level and that there is an adequate supply of food on the reservations,' Moran explains. "If there are difficulties, I have to find out what the problem is.' She says she is fortunate to have good workers at the tribal level and problems are infrequent.

The distance between Moran's council office and the warehouse and reservations complicates her job as program director. The warehouses are 200 to 250 miles from Sault Ste. Marie, and the four reservations are scattered throughout the state. She likes getting out to the program sites, however, and usually plans at least one trip per month, depending on the weather and the reservations' needs.

Helping familes use commodities

Moran orders USDA commodities in bulk for the four reservations on the basis of the foods participants request. USDA offers a list of about 50 different foods from which she can order. They include canned meats, vegetables, fruits, and juices, dried beans, peanuts and peanut butter, egg mix, milk, cheese, pasta, flour and grains, corn syrup, and shortening.

"Participants like the program because of the variety of foods that are available to them,' Moran says. Each participating household receives approximately 70 pounds of food per person per month. Currently, an average of 800 people in 260 households participate on the four reservations.

To ensure that participants are getting foods their families will eat, Moran periodically conducts food preference surveys. She also holds food demonstrations to help participants become familiar with commodities they may not feel comfortable preparing.

The demonstrations, she feels, are a good way not only to introduce new foods, but also to encourage the men and women to be more creative in using the commodities and to prepare more nutritious meals for their families.

Moran recently held a food demonstration in which she prepared Spanish rice, biscuits, and fruit punch using commodities. While she was preparing the food, she talked with the group about the recipes and the nutritional value of the foods. "Nutrition is very important and we try to stress it during the food demonstrations,' she says.

Cookbook is in the works

Moran is planning a cookbook focusing on the commodities, to provide more recipes for participants. "We plan to have recipes in the four basic food groups from the women in our tribal communities,' she says. "I have already broken it down into the areas we want to cover and put up posters requesting recipes from the community.'

Moran and the nutritionists with whom she works will review the recipes before they are included in the cookbook. "This is the big project of the year, but it will be fun,' she says.

Moran says she is interested in nutrition information from a personal and professional standpoint. She is not a nutritionist but gets information from nutritionists and from printed materials. She enjoys reinforcing the importance of a good diet in her work with families participating in the commodity food program.

Seeing a need to provide nutrition information when the program began in April 1982, Moran gathered nutrition information printed by various governmental and private organizations for distribution to program participants during the monthly food pickups.

She now produces a pamphlet, Commodity News, which is available to participants. The pamphlet, published about six times a year, includes easy-to-prepare recipes, general nutrition information, and facts about the food distribution program.

A special interest in helping Indians

Being three-quarters Chippewa and having always lived near a reservation, Moran has a special interest in helping Indians. Before becoming director of the food distribution program, Moran worked with the elderly on the reservations.

"We assisted the elderly by providing food packages and information on keeping warm in the winter, and we connected them with programs that could assist them,' she explains.

"I try to help the Indian people in other areas I know about,' she says. She still makes sure that the elderly are kept aware of programs from which they can benefit, and recently took a course in volunteer income tax assistance to help the Indians in completing their tax forms.

As commodity program director, Moran uses her talents to help young and old alike. Managing a food assistance program is a challenge, she says, but the reward is knowing she's helping hundreds of families improve their diets. There's no question, it's worth the effort.

Photo: Part of Moran's job is making sure USDA-donated foods are properly stored and distributed. Here she goes over recent records with one of the warehouse managers on her way to a reservation.

Photo: Moran shares a new recipe with the cook at a recreation center serving meals to the elderly. Later, she will show a group of people how to make the same meal for their families.

COPYRIGHT 1984 U.S. Government Printing Office
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group