Resources

Hoosier Farmer? Emergent Food Systems in Indiana (2012)
by Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource Center


Food business clusters have been emerging in Indiana since the mid-1970s.  They are now taking root in farm commodity producing regions. Young members of the Indiana Farm Bureau are positioning themselves for a future of farming that may be very different than the past, knowing that if each Hoosier spent less than $5 per week buying food directly from Indiana farms, this would generate $1.5 billion of new farm income for state farmers—a 20% increase in farm revenue. 
 
Several innovators have launched creative ventures: a cattle farmer who owns the entire supply web from pasture to retail, making a higher financial return than many banks; a hospital that “prescribes” fresh local food for low-income patients; a restaurant that helped create a tourist destination by fostering the growth of several small farms nearby; a deli that smokes exceptional meats from Indiana farms while helping revitalize an urban neighborhood; a new dairy farmer that milks only 25 cows; a thriving network of cooperative grocery stores that now expands into rural towns; a pork producer who taps high-end markets in Chicago; a young farmer who turns vacant hog barns into hydroponic vegetable greenhouses; and more!

NEW REPORT by Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center, commissioned by the Indiana State Department of Health, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity is available to download: