Insights

Indy PL Seed Libraries

The Indianapolis Public Library is committed to enriching informal education and nurturing healthy and vibrant communities. Two branches, Glendale and ... Read More

The Campus Kitchen at IUPUI

The Campus Kitchen at IUPUI (CKIUPUI) is a student-led food rescue organization that fights hunger in Indianapolis.  Founded in October ... Read More

Mobile Garden Center

project description  The Mobile Garden Center is a community green space on wheels for food production, education, creativity, and neighborhood engagement. It ... Read More

Lawrence Community Gardens

“Our 10 acre garden is located on 46th Street, just east of Post Road.. We have partnered with Monarch Beverage ... Read More

Urban Farm Incubation Project – Purdue Extension

Purdue Extension – Marion County is establishing Indianapolis’ first farm incubator project! Farm incubators aim to support new farmers by providing access to land ... Read More

Through a child’s eyes

One of our instructional goals at Park Tudor is to engage children in problem and place-based learning experiences; to develop ... Read More

Shalom Zone Buddy Bags

The Shalom Zone churches (Allisonville Christian Church, Cross & Crown Lutheran Church, Epworth UMC, First Friends Meeting & St. Pius ... Read More

Purdue Extension Master Food Volunteers

Purdue Extension Master Food Volunteers contribute at least 30 hours of volunteer service during their training to share their knowledge ... Read More

“Far” East of Eden, yet resilient and ever ready to grow

There is memory of tilled land behind the gargantuan emptiness that used to be a school at 42nd Street and Mitthoeffer ... Read More

Losing a Grocery Store Changes a Neighborhood

More than just improving food access, markets provide significant social capital within neighborhoods and impact residents when they close. “The ... Read More

Affordable Health Food Can Replace Food Mirages

I work with older adults that want to stay in their homes, age in place, by lobbying and developing  affordable, accessible ... Read More

Garden on the Go

Garden on the Go was a mobile produce program operated through a partnership between IU Health and Green BEAN Delivery. ... Read More

The Grocery Gap: Who has access to food and why it matters (The Food Trust)

Key Findings: 1. Accessing healthy food is a challenge for many Americans—particularly those living in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and ... Read More

Seven Steeples Farm

Seven Steeples Farm introduced a new and somewhat unique land use to Indianapolis’ near Westside in 2014. This 3.5 acre ... Read More

Indiana Healthy Food Access Video

The Indiana Healthy Food Access Coalition travelled around the state and collected some unique stories about how Hoosiers in urban ... Read More

2014 Walk Score Report Ranked Indy as Nation’s Worst Food Desert

Only 5 percent of Indianapolis residents live within a five-minute walk from a grocery store: https://www.redfin.com/blog/2014/03/do-you-live-in-a-food-desert.html...

Definitions: Food Access v. Food Security

Consumer choices about food spending and diet are likely to be influenced by the accessibility and affordability of food retailers—travel ... Read More

How DO you get healthy food at a good price?

At the Pop-up Community Listening Session at Shepherd Community Center, we asked local residents how they succeed in getting healthy ... Read More

Doritos or Fresh Fruit?

As part of the Pop-up Community Listening Session at the Shepherd Community Center, we offered residents a choice between a ... Read More

#1 Challenge: Transportation

When local residents entering the Shepherd Community Center were asked what their challenges to accessing healthy and affordable food were, ... Read More

A story of desired healthiness

This couple used to weigh over 300 pounds. Their trigger to become healthy involved both a serious illness in the family ... Read More

Meg’s Story: Community gardens

Meg has always been a gardener, and is interested in gardening in an open space next to the Wheeler Mission. However, ... Read More

EBT versus Sushi

This image at an Indy grocery was really striking. The bland colors of the EBT (blue sticker) approved choices juxtaposed ... Read More

The Stories and Truths of the Residents of Marion County Food Deserts : Listening, Understanding, and The Transportation Divide

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting dozens of men, women, and children at The Shepherd Community Center. ... Read More

Inside Indiana Business: Food Desert Bills

Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick — on Food Desert Bills: Efforts are under way to curb Indiana’s food desert ... Read More

Why it takes more than a grocery store to eliminate a ‘food desert’

PBS Article – “The problem may not lie solely with food accessibility; it could also be due to people’s shopping ... Read More

City of Indianapolis Urban Garden Program

The City of Indianapolis, through its Office of Sustainability, supports urban gardens in Indianapolis with its Urban Garden Program. This ... Read More

Purdue Extension Provides FREE, Evidence-Based Nutrition Education Programs

The Purdue Extension Nutrition Education Program provides FREE, evidence-based nutrition education programs which are fun, hands-on, and easy to understand.  ... Read More

Community Wellness Coordinators Help Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

Purdue Extension’s Community Wellness Coordinators help make the healthy choice the easy choice. Instead of focusing on direct nutrition education, Community ... Read More

Fresh Stop

Fresh Stop provides a variety of beautiful, fresh, seasonal, sustainably grown fruits and vegetables, purchased directly from local farmers.  How ... Read More

Brandywine Creek Farms/Flanner Farms Partnership, Largest Urban Farm in the State of Indiana

Brandywine Creek Farms is a large scale vegetable production farm in Greenfield, Indiana, just 11 miles from from the Indianapolis ... Read More

Gleaning Garden

The Gleaning Garden grows and gives away fresh, locally grown, organic food. In doing so, we hope the Gleaning Garden ... Read More

Fresh Bucks

Fresh Bucks helps Hoosier families eat healthy while supporting local farmers. Fresh Bucks is a SNAP incentive program used at ... Read More

Fixing Food Deserts Is About More Than Building Grocery Stores

“Access to healthy food is about a lot more than proximity. It includes cultural and economic factors,” he explains. “You ... Read More

Dollar General provides groceries, but not produce or meats

There are many Dollar General stores in areas around the city, especially where there are not grocery stores. The Dollar ... Read More

Patachou Foundation

Thought of this local initiative, focused on feeding underserved children, after the event the other evening. From their website: The ... Read More

The “Cool Bus” and Gardens

The Cool Bus is a used school bus converted into a SNAP approved mobile grocery store. Using Veteran labor we ... Read More

Tear Down the Walls: Farm Fresh produce program

Tear Down the Walls Ministries of Indianapolis works to provide a variety of services, and I recently learned they have ... Read More

Urban Gardeners – Beware of Lead!

The popularity of urban gardening is on the rise but the level of lead contamination in our soil remains unchanged. ... Read More

Economic View of Food Deserts

Though specific definitions vary, a “food desert” is typically understood to be an area with limited access to affordable and ... Read More

Taxi or Uber

I do not have a car and take a taxi or uber to the grocery store. The buses do not ... Read More

WFYI No Limits Show: Indy Healthy Food Access Challenge

On Tuesday, February 7th, John Krull with the WFYI No Limits show discussed the Indy Healthy Food Access Challenge with ... Read More

Restoring Dignity in Low-Income Neighborhoods through a Food Co-operative Model

Dignity is often represented in the food pantry world as “dignity of choice.” Though I believe this is a critical move ... Read More

Sharing my backyard

I’m not sure if this falls under the initiative or story heading.  I have a big section of my back ... Read More

As easy as taking a walk

I moved to the Holy Cross/Westminister area 1/1/1973.  At the time there was a Marsh at (east) N. York & ... Read More

Aquaponics Led by Youth

Watch a video created by Kheprw Institute youth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4a8VGNa0Zk KI Aquaponics began in 2010 as a research project of one of ... Read More

Community Food Coop in Indy

After Double 8 grocery closed in fall of 2015, Kheprw Institute youth led a public forum about what we could ... Read More

Otterbein Free Food Box

Here in the Otterbein neighborhood, food access is rare so my wife and I have set up a Free Food ... Read More

Purdue Extension Urban Farm Incubator Network

The Purdue Urban Farm Incubator Network is a supportive network for new urban farmers. The network assists beginning urban farmers ... Read More

Food Fueled Justice (Short Documentary)

This film focuses on food injustice in Indianapolis. Particularly, it explores themes of food deserts, corporate responsibility, and community-based initiatives: ... Read More

Food Desert or Economic Desert?

One of the many hot topics throughout the nation currently is “Food Deserts”. In this piece we explore what food ... Read More

Higher reliance on canned/frozen food and planning

I used to live in a rural “food desert” where I had to drive 20-30 miles to the nearest grocery store, ... Read More

How Simple Dietary Changes Can Save Lives and Money, and How We Get There

This article from the Union of Concerned Scientists addresses federal and state policy changes that are likely to have a ... Read More

Food Co-op – Brookside Community Church

Brookside believes that individuals and families can use their own capabilities to provide food for themselves and their families. We ... Read More

Community involvement must be a part of any proposed solution to increase healthy food access in Indiana.

Healthy food access is an important and urgent issue in Indiana. People in underserved rural and urban communities across the ... Read More

Food Swamps: We need to ensure access to HEALTHY food

  A Food Swamp is a community/area plagued with a high-density of unhealthy and low-nutrient foods combined with disproportionate advertising ... Read More

The Kitchen Community

The Kitchen Community builds Learning Gardens in schools around the country. Our Learning Gardens are engaging outdoor classrooms that connect ... Read More

Mapping Food Access in Indianapolis – USDA-ERS Food Access Research Atlas

On May 2, 2011, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack introduced an Internet-based mapping tool that pinpoints the location of “food deserts” ... Read More

Indy Winter Farmers Market

The Indy Winter Farmers Market is the longest running winter market in Indianapolis with a mission to provide growers and ... Read More

Understanding Food Deserts

Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food-Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences: Report to Congress This report fills a ... Read More

Most Americans (regardless of income) shop at supermarkets: Is improving public transportation more useful than creating retail grocery outlets?

Most U.S. Households Do Their Main Grocery Shopping at Supermarkets and Supercenters Regardless of Income SNAP participants and households that ... Read More

Nutrition Environment Measures Survey – Corner Store (NEMS-CS) Study: A Summary of Findings in the Southeast Central Township

Indianapolis, IN is home to a growing number of community improvement and quality of life planning projects. In March 2016, ... Read More

Local Farmers Markets

Pogue’s Run Grocer

Pogue’s Run Grocer is a community-owned, open-to-the-public grocery store specializing in fresh, local and organically grown groceries, prepared foods, wine ... Read More