SOUTH BEND — The Indiana Grown logo is popping up in more places locally.
Unity Gardens has it on a sign above its new booth at the South Bend Farmer's Market. Kercher's Sunrise Orchard in Goshen can add the logo to its eligible produce and products.
Indiana Grown is a branding initiative set up by the Indiana Department of Agriculture to help Hoosier growers and producers market their products. Membership in the program is free to anyone whose products meet the Indiana Grown guidelines.
"I think it helps to motivate people to pick up an item that they might not have otherwise when they see it was produced locally," said Bill Kercher, one of the fifth generation of Kerchers to work at the farm market.
Especially in a supermarket, he said, it shows the store is trying to promote a local grower or producer. "It also means less food miles traveled, which helps saves money."
While Hoosiers spend $16 billion per year on food, only 10 percent of that food is grown or made in Indiana. The state wanted to change that and with the demand for locally made products increasing, it decided to launch Indiana Grown in July of 2015.
Already, the program is approaching 500 members throughout the state.
"We're gaining momentum because folks see that we are really helping them get things accomplished," said David King, the program director of Indiana Grown. "It's growing faster than we anticipated."
The initiative gains about 10 to 15 new members each week, he said. "We have made just tremendous headway."
One of the initiative's roles is to create a way to designate which products are truly farmed, produced and processed in Indiana and to help consumers identify and find those products.