The Federal Trade Commission visited the Pine Ridge Reservation in December…“My customers should not have any less access to affordable food in this country than anyone else,” said RF Buche during a recent visit to Pine Ridge from Alvaro Bedoya, a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, “when we buy from a wholesaler, we don’t get the same prices that a Walmart or a Whole Foods gets, for those customers who can afford to travel to Chadron or Rapid City to get cheaper prices, we need to level the playing field for the majority of our customers who don’t have the means to travel.” Bedoya was in Pine Ridge to see firsthand, a grocery store in a rural community. We showed our costs and compared those numbers with big box stores, added Buche, there are probably four meatpacking companies that control 83% of the market and five grocery companies that control 60% of the market, Bedoya stopped here as he was traveling around the country, a fact-finding mission.
It is still cold out but not nearly as it was for the 2022 Wounded Knee Memorial Ride that took place under unprecedented weather circumstances. Temperatures during the ride were into the negative 20s and 30s, with some as low as -55°F in blizzard conditions, and five to six inches of snow in drifts as high as seven feet. The ride took place through a travel ban on all Cheyenne River roads, December 21-23. The conditions challenged the riders to be slow, deliberate, and prayerful in order to preserve life for horses, riders, and supporters. The route began on Dec. 15th leaving the Sitting Bull gravesite and arriving in Timber Lake. The ride concluded just before New Year’s Eve in Pine Ridge on Dec 29th.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI Newscenter.
