State’s Largest Farm Organization Teams Up with Grocery Store-Led Food Distribution Non-Profit

By Lura Roti for South Dakota Farmers Union

Months before more than 74,000 South Dakotans caught up in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) uncertainty due to the government shutdown, South Dakota Farmers Union contributed to Team Buche Cares, a non-profit focused on feeding the hungry in rural and tribal communities and led by RF Buche, the owner of a local grocery store chain, Buche Foods.

"These farmers and ranchers are no different than me, they are stewards of the land, and they really care about feeding the hungry," said Buche of the August meeting with the South Dakota Farmers Union board of directors.

Dollars donated by South Dakota Farmers Union will aid in distributing $100 certificates to SNAP households to help cover grocery costs.

"The average South Dakota household receiving SNAP gets about $400. So, this certificate will help cover a week of food," Buche said. "The most basic need there is, is food. People need food to live. They need food to thrive. They need food to keep everything important to them."

When the family farmers and ranchers who serve on the board learned about Team Buche Care's mission to help feed hungry families in the most underserved communities in South Dakota, they were eager to help, explained Scott Kolousek, a Wessington Springs cattle producer.

"Team Buche Cares is about helping keep local communities alive. This is our focus too," Kolousek explained. "Farmers Union is about more than the farmers' bottom line - we are focused on keeping rural communities alive and vibrant and helping those in need."

Located in Gregory, Mission, Oacoma, Pine Ridge, Wagner, Lower Brule and Wanblee, Buche Foods Grocery Stores and Buche's Gus Stops have been serving South Dakota's Tribal communities since 1905. Along with the business of selling groceries, Buche said the family has always focused on caring for those in need.

He references a childhood memory of watching his dad, Robert Jr., reaching into his pocket to pay cash for the groceries of a young mother who did not have the money to cover the balance to feed her family.

"Dad said, 'When you're in this business, it's our moral obligation to make sure no family goes hungry. That's what we do,'" Buche said.

"Do the Right Thing," is among Buche Food's core values. "Doing the right thing is the most important of our core values. I don't care if it's how we treat a customer or if it's how we treat a team member, I have to look at myself in the mirror everyday and ask, 'did I do the right thing?'"

And even though his great-grandpa was able to overcome adversity, Buche understands not everyone has the resources or support to overcome circumstances that impact their food security.

Buche explained that doing the right thing is a core value with deep roots. "My great-grandpa had 18 stores when the Depression hit and he lost all but three of them. But not only did he pay every invoice, he paid every invoice on time. That's doing the right thing. That's the integrity I grew up with."

"Not everyone is capable of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps," Buche said. "I have learned that poverty is not a choice."

The fourth generation to take over the family grocery business, Buche is a strong advocate for independent, community grocery stores. He is an active member of the National Grocers Association Legislative Committee.

"Rural communities need their grocery stores. They are the backbone of the community. My dad always preached, that if you lose your school, you lose the bank and you lose the grocery store, the town is going to die."

The core values of Team Buche Cares align with the grassroots policy of South Dakota Farmers Union, explained Doug Sombke, a fourth-generation Brown County farmer and President of SDFU.

"To me as a farmer, helping feed hungry people is the most natural thing. Feeding people is what we do as farmers and ranchers," Sombke said. "Because our members are farmers and ranchers, we have a real passion for feeding hungry kids and families."

To learn more about Team Buche Cares, visit https://teambuchecares.org/donate.