At a glance
Hoosiers spend $16 billion per year buying food. Indiana imports an estimated 90 percent of its food, so it is not unusual for a meal in Indiana to travel 1500 miles or more to reach the consumer.
The initiative plans to do three main things: educate consumers on the importance of buying Indiana Grown products; increase networking and sales opportunities for Indiana farmers; and expand support for Indiana processors in their effort to process more Indiana Grown products.
Consumers are encouraged to look for Indiana Grown decals, kiosks and logos highlighting those products grown and processed in Indiana in the near future and support locally produced food.
For more information visit, www.IndianaGrown.org.
(Information courtesy of the Indiana Department of Agriculture)
The state is catching up to what appears to be common knowledge here in Monroe County. That is, residents need to support food cultivated locally, growers say.
In an announcement earlier this month, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture launched its Indiana Grown Initiative, which seeks to put more locally grown food on Hoosiers’ plates. However, Teresa Birtles, owner of Heartland Family Farms, said the idea of providing consumers with the freshest food from local farmers and growers has been a staple of the community’s history for a long time.
However, not all Hoosiers take advantage of shopping locally for their food. More than $16 billion annually is spent on food in Indiana, but 90 percent of what is purchased comes from out-of-state, according to the ISDA. As a result, consumers can expect in the future to see decals, logos and other promotional material highlighting agricultural products grown and made in the state, the release states.
Cheryl Carter Jones, president of the Local Growers' Guild, said having this branding done makes it easier to introduce farmers to retailers, restaurants and individuals, thus helping them sell their products.
“Monroe County consumers are clearly some of the best educated in the value of locally grown food, but with the new support farmer members will receive, it could mean more local farmers, and certainly more locally grown food in retail stores, not just at farmers’ markets,” Cheryl Carter Jones, president of the Local Growers’ Guild, said.
Birtles said educating more consumers about the benefits associated with purchasing local produce is a win-win for the community. From the health benefits gained through eating more nutrient-packed food to reducing the carbon footprint by reducing the number of miles food travels from the farm to the plate, Birtles said a lot of good could come from shopping local.
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