Osage Community Supported Agriculture Study (OCSA)

"The Osage Community Supported Agriculture Study (OCSA), led by Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, DrPH, MPH, through the Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy (CIHRP) at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS), is a five-year, community-driven research initiative to implement and evaluate a Tribal Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program within the Osage Nation. Funded by a $3.5 million Tribal CSA grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the project partners CIHRP with the Osage Nation and the National Congress of American Indians to test whether CSA participation combined with culturally tailored nutrition and cooking education can improve diet and health outcomes among Osage citizens. The program will provide participating Osage households with a weekly share of freshly grown farm produce for six months, integrating food provision with education adapted to local cultural contexts.

OCSA aims to generate rigorous evidence on the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of this combined intervention in an Indigenous community. The study will measure diet and health outcomes among participants, assess the economic implications of delivering the CSA plus education model, and evaluate feasibility and scalability within tribal settings. If the intervention proves successful, the project will compile a multimedia, web-based toolkit designed to support other Indigenous communities interested in implementing similar programs, offering practical guidance based on the study's findings.

Jernigan emphasizes that CSAs have previously improved diet and health in non-American Indian populations and are recommended by authorities such as the CDC and the Institute of Medicine to reduce health disparities. OCSA therefore seeks to adapt and test this evidence-based strategy within the cultural realities and priorities of the Osage Nation, placing community leadership and priorities at the center of study design and implementation. The project reflects CIHRP's broader mission to restore Indigenous food systems and traditional food practices as a pathway to promoting healthy eating and eliminating diet-related disparities.

Embedded in a larger set of awards to CIHRP, OCSA sits alongside efforts to build an interdisciplinary Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE), highlighting a coordinated approach to education, research, evaluation, and dissemination focused on Indigenous health. CIHRP's work with tribal partners underscores a commitment to Native-led investigation and capacity building, supporting tribal nations to conduct research that directly benefits their communities. By coupling practical food access through CSAs with culturally tailored education and a plan for dissemination, OCSA intends not only to test an intervention's health impact but also to create tangible resources for scaling effective, culturally congruent food-system interventions across Indigenous communities."