INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A meeting of the Indy Food Council on March 20 near the site of the farmers’ market in downtown Indianapolis celebrated the gains and ambitions of local urban agriculture efforts, while learning about similar programs in Michigan.
Indianapolis is home to more than 100 urban and community gardens, supplying food for residents and restaurants as well as food pantries and other nonprofit organizations.
"There is no single entity that is the Indy Food Council," said Todd Grain, deputy director of Local Initiatives Support Corp. and an IFC board member. The council is made up of more than 20 member organizations and individuals, who contribute to an advisory board, with support from the Purdue University Extension and the Indianapolis mayor’s office.
"The idea," Grain said, "is to take what have been some amazing, incredible food work happening in different sites in Indianapolis and make sure that we’re all looking in the same direction."
According to the council’s vision statement, its purpose is "to create a food system that provides everyone access to healthy, nutritious food, enhances ecology and creates meaningful economic and civic opportunities."
The council’s actions are guided by three core initiatives, Grain said: "Increasing access to good food; expanding the market for local food; and increasing nutrition and cooking education."
Grain noted that a number of areas scattered around Indianapolis and the rest of Marion County, Ind. are considered "food deserts," where there is a lack of access to fresh foods. "There’s (an approximately) $300 million unmet market demand for fresh fruits and vegetables in Indianapolis," Grain said. "So why is the market not meeting that demand; that’s the key question we need to figure out.
"One of the reasons is that we don’t have enough farmers, perhaps we don’t have the right land. But here’s an opportunity: urban ag availability. In Marion County, there are 3,700 acres of available farmland that could potentially be used to produce vegetables. As farmers in the room know, farmed well, an acre of land can expect between $40,000 and $50,000 net. There is potential for economic development, job creation and tackling the vacant property problem."
One farmer who is already thriving in this setting is Amy Matthews of South Circle Farm, a little more than a single acre in its fifth year of production just "walking distance" south of the downtown center of Indy.
"Our goal is to become economically viable as a business and to use the most up-to-date methods of organic farming so we can grow as much as possible on that acre," Matthews said. "We do have a lot growing right now."
South Circle sells its produce at the farmers’ market and at local retailers. The farm also has outreach programs with the local community center, including Kids Grown Green, which teaches children to garden. Funding for the program came from the IFC Indy Food Fund.
The council also provided funds to Andrew Hart at the Paramount School of Excellence, an Indianapolis charter school with 3,000 square feet of gardens, including an apiary and orchard. Hart remarked on the eagerness of the students to learn, as they initially greeted him with shouts of, "The farmer’s here, the farmer’s here!"
"It’s pretty remarkable that young people are really enjoying it and loving it at all levels, from the youngest to our eighth-grade students," Hart said. The kids learn where their food comes from, with gardening and basic beekeeping, as well as how to cook the food.
Hart hopes to change perceptions of agriculture, relating them to the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse, in which only the former is the industrious farmer.
"We want to break down barriers," he said. "We don’t want to be city versus country. You don’t have to be an ‘urban farmer,’ you can be a farmer. Have young people understand that it’s not just about creating these barriers – these definitions of what is urban versus what a country person would be. We are all people, and we can all enjoy the fruits of our labor."
The Indy Food Council also provided seven Food Fellowships to students of area universities. Each worked a different urban farm or food organization.
Blake Moskal, a student at Butler University, used his time with Fall Creek Gardens to conduct research that could help citywide. He was concerned about how past uses of the land, such as by industry, had affected the soil.
"What I’m doing at Butler is going out to these sites, collecting soil samples, bringing them back, and seeing whether or not soil contamination is there, and if it’s getting into the growth medium that we’re using to grow these fruits and vegetables that we are then distributing out to the community," Moskal said. "Through this research I just hope to create a ‘best practices.’ A lot of places use mulch techniques, so really this is just seeing if that is an effective way of stopping contaminants – again, that’s if they’re even there – from getting into the food supply or just the growing medium that we’re all interacting with every day."
Keynote speaker Ashley Atkinson, co-director of Keep Growing Detroit, was impressed with Indianapolis’ efforts, so far. "You guys have some really good market farmers in the city," she said. "You should be very proud of that. You have some highly skilled individuals that are very productive on small spaces.
"I think that everybody needs to be more forward-thinking and forward-looking," Atkinson said. "I think that we undeniably see some things coming our way, whether that’s population change, climate change, elements of our economy that are playing themselves out now as we speak. I think that we have to be really creative and motivated to create a more resilient system starting with better relationships, not social media relationships, but better relationships."
