The Choctaw Nation's Growing Hope Program.

This article focuses on the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s Growing Hope Program, a food sovereignty initiative led by the Historic Preservation Department (HPD) in partnership with the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE). The program aims to restore traditional Choctaw gardens and foodways by distributing ancestral seeds, providing gardening education, and supporting intergenerational knowledge transmission to improve community health and food security. Growing Hope incorporates Choctaw cultural values and history, including the impact of colonization and the Trail of Tears, and seeks to revitalize Indigenous food practices through seed sharing, cooking demonstrations, and youth internships. The program is evaluated using culturally relevant methods to assess its effects on traditional food consumption, food access, and food insecurity among Choctaw families.