Fort Belknap Red Paint Creek co-op close to opening

The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation region will soon have a commercial kitchen and grocery cooperative with a farm-to-table style business through the Red Paint Creek Trading Post, thanks to a $35,000 grant.

The point of the kitchen is to satisfy the healthy food needs of the Lodge Pole, Hays and Fort Belknap communities, a press release for the project says.

“The commercial kitchen will allow for locally grown food preparation, preservation techniques, culinary classes, that will satisfy the needs of having healthy foods for a longer period of time,” the release says.

The kitchen, to-be store manager Josie Cliff has said, is scheduled for a grand opening in July.

The $35,000 grant came from the Fort Belknap Community Economic Development Corp., which had received it from the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado.

First Nations Development Institute supports tribes and Native communities aim to build sustainable food systems that improve health, strengthen food security and increase the control over Native agriculture and food systems.

A press release issued this week by the Island Mountain Development Group on Fort Belknap updating the progress on the store said the cooperative has had some delays. Among the reasons was the difficulty in getting a commercial refrigerator, as there are few refrigeration commercial contractors in Montana and the various requirements as a result of a project that is funded by many different funds.

A timeline of the progress listed in the release included:

• Installation and hookup of waste water treatment system set for today.

• Installation of store signage set for next week.

• Leveling of gravel in parking lot and fuel island and tank area set for next week.

• Installation of the fuel island and tank is pending the contractor’s schedule.

Installation of the commercial refrigeration is tentatively scheduled for week of May 29, dependent on ability to obtain a new commercial contractor.

• Store soft opening tentatively planned for June 3.

• Store grand opening tentatively scheduled for July 31.