Partners in food formalizes longstanding partnerships from indiana's public, private, and nonprofit sectors to create hoosier grown, a new statewide food/farm nonprofit organization with collective…

The Partners in Food Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service will provide $1.24 million to establish Hoosier Grown, a new statewide nonprofit organization focused on Indiana's food and farm sector. Administered through the Regional Food System Partnerships program under the Local Agricultural Marketing Program, the three-year award will support Hoosier Grown in serving the needs of all Indiana farmers seeking local and regional sales channels, with a focus on historically underrepresented producers.

Key services include aggregating producers to strengthen market access, research on value chains and market impacts, and convening stakeholders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors that were previously organized under the Indiana Value Chain Network. The new nonprofit aims to reflect community needs and foster equity and sustainability across Indiana's food system so that producers of all backgrounds can thrive. Project activities will engage communities to shape conversations around health, equity and learning related to local food.

Partners in food formalizes longstanding partnerships from indiana's public, private, and nonprofit sectors to create hoosier grown, a new statewide food/farm nonprofit organization with collective action metrics tied to the indiana food charter. The proposed project builds on a previous USDA grant that established the indiana value chain network, an association of public, private, and nonprofit groups that researched and produced information on the roles, values, and impacts of value chain work in indiana. Though direct, intermediated, and value-added sales have increased in indiana, most recent data (USDA, 2017) indicate that, for each market channel, the majority of indiana's sales dollars are captured by a small percentage of the farm businesses reporting sales. To address this disparity, partners in food has two objectives: (1) serve the needs of all farmers seeking local and regional sales channels for their diversified farm production and aggregation businesses and (2) reflect the needs of communities and a diversity of farmers including those historically underrepresented. Rooted in equity and sustainability for all indiana producers, businesses, and eaters, project activities support the fulfillment of those two goals. Through project activities and aligned partner events, indiana communities will have the opportunity to contribute to the conversation around local food systems, community health, equity, and trauma-informed learning collaboratives. Proposed activities will bring state agency partners to the grassroots table to work together toward a more resilient, sustainable indiana food and farming system where producers of color, female-identifying, and non-traditional farmers and food businesses can launch, grow, and thrive.