Blog

In America’s farming community a 2012 Agriculture Census found that 8 percent of American farmers are minorities; of this 8 percent, less than 3 percent are African Americans. The history of these farmers is long and vibrant.

The Indiana Black Farmers Co-Op is an organization that unites Indiana’s Black farmers in their mission to improve the community through engaging youth, fostering community, and improving food access in the areas that are in need of it. The Co-Op’s members sell their products at the Indiana Black Farmer’s Market in Indianapolis and collaborate to ensure a wide variety of products are available.

Here in Southern Indiana is Lyles Station; one of the last remaining African American settlements in the state. It serves to preserve the heritage of this early 1800’s settlement with it’s museum, programs, and tours. Among it’s history is a tradition of agriculture which remains today.

On the national level is The National Black Farmers Association which represents African American farmers and their families in the United States. It’s education and advocacy have focused on civil rights, land retention, access to resources, agricultural training, and rural economic development.

These groups and the farming communities working alongside them are driving towards the betterment of our agriculture systems, the education of our communities, and improving the connections between farmers and those they serve. In preserving their heritage it carries their legacy into the future.

Urban Seeds is the lead organization for the new Community Food Buying Club (CFBC). Thanks to a generous grant from Welborn Baptist Foundation, we are able to collaborate with several community partners to initiate this project with the goal of diminishing nutrient-insecurity in the Evansville area. The CFBC has two key strategies:

• To provide nutrient dense staple foods via an online shopping platform at prices that will be, on average, 40% lower than big-box shopping, and
• To facilitate an educational series that will empower families to cook nourishing and culturally familiar meals at home.

There is a delicate balance between the importance of filling empty bellies and that of embracing our moral obligation to fill those empty bellies with foods that nourish–as opposed to deplete–our health and well-being. Families living with nutrient-insecurity are often relegated to the lowest nutritional value foods due to the low cost of those foods. Unfortunately, those foods happen to be highly processed with additives and chemicals, some of which are linked to diminished learning capacity and behavior challenges in children, as well as being associated with chronic disease states later in life, such as obesity and diabetes.

The goal of the Nourish is to increase access to more of the high nutritional value foods, more whole in their nature and lower in processing, to truly nourish the children in our community so that they may grow into our next generation’s leaders.

Nourish will increase access to nourishing food for our members by providing nutrient-dense foods at wholesale prices.

• Members will use an online procurement platform to order perishable and non-perishable foods. Ordering will close on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of each month at 5 PM. Food items will be delivered to 610 E Walnut Street, Evansville IN 47713 on the 2^nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month at 10 AM.

• Upon delivery by CRS One Source, the food items will be aggregated into temperature-controlled bags and/or boxes per each family’s order.

• Tri-State Food Bank will pick up the family-specific ordered bags and boxes at 2 PM to deliver to our two receiving sites – Ivy Tech and Dream Center, where members will then pick up their individual family order.

• Nutrition classes and cooking demonstrations will be provided on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of the month, to coincide with the ordering closure and rendering of payment for orders. Class attendance will be incentivized with points being awarded; these points will be redeemable for kitchen tools, with a quarterly drawing for more points providing the opportunity to redeem for small kitchen appliances such as a blender, insta-pot, pots, and pans.

• Following nutrition guidelines and SNAP staple food requirements, the following foods will be ordered in bulk and stored on site; shelves for the dried goods and refrigerator and freezer for the perishable items.

• • Legumes & grains
  • Pasta, bread, flour
  • Fresh, frozen, and canned produce
  • Meat, mostly frozen but some fresh
  • Eggs
  • Cheese
  • Various dairy produce to include milk, yogurt, sour cream, butter
  • Baking ingredients to include flour, sugar, yeast, corn meal
  • Condiments & sauces
  • Dried herbs & spices

• Staffing
  • The Nourish program coordinator is a 12-hour a week position. The coordinator will be on site for the entirety of the 10 AM – 2 PM shift on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays of the month
  • Volunteers will be on site during the food aggregation days with no more that 5 adults present at any given time, under the supervision of the staff
  • A ServSafe-certified Food Handler will be on site at all time during the delivery, sorting, and aggregation of food
  • The site is not open to the public

• Partners
  • Welborn Baptist Foundation is providing the grant funding for Nourish
  • Deaconess Health Care is providing the access to their food procurement wholesale pricing and the warehouse space at 610 E Walnut Street
  • Urban Seeds is the fiscal agent and will provide administrative oversight to all aspects of Nourish
  • Tri-State Food Bank will pick up the aggregated food bags/boxes to deliver to two sites
  • Purdue Extension is providing RD’s to teach some of the educational classes
  • YMCA is providing use of their kitchen for some of the cooking demonstrations, and is providing child care for parents while they are in class
  • Healthy Communities Partnership and the Promise Zone are acting in an Advisory Board capacity

 

Nourish is a collaborative community project, managed by Urban Seeds

www.urbanseeds.org

urbanseeds.org@gmail.com

(530) 263-4827

5444 E. Indiana St., #353 Evansville, IN 47715

 

Read our Fall Newsletter!

Join Us on October 24th, 2019 from 3:00-6:00 pm for the Second Annual World Food Day event!  This free event will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Evansville.

Creating a vibrant local foods system – a system in which nourishing food is accessible by everyone in our community – is an ambitious and important goal. A thriving local foods system includes one or all of these opportunities:

~Supporting and purchasing from local farmers and food producers whenever possible.

~Providing education, in a culturally sensitive manner, so our community members understand the benefits of eating nourishing food, as well as the teaching of shopping and cooking skills.

~Growing outreach programs so that no child, or their family, is food-insecure by highlighting government support of food access for all.

~Pooling of food purchase resources for cost-effectiveness.

~Volunteering with a nonprofit or organization that engages in food justice and food access activities, and learning more about our own local foods system in the Evansville area.

When we support our children and their families with the availability of foods that provide the building blocks for healthy bodies and engaged minds, we are all contributing to a strong community.

Food Day is an international celebration of and movement toward more healthy, affordable, and stainable foods systems. Created by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Day aims to bring us closer to a food system of access to “real food” that is produced with care for the environment and the animals that are part of our food chain, and the women and men who grow and harvest our food.

Our goal for the Evansville World Food Day is to educate our Evansville area community about how they can be part of a vibrant local foods system by highlighting where, who, and how our food is grown in the Tristate. We want the community to know that nourishing food is available in our area, and we want them to know of the resources available for increasing their knowledge for shopping, cooking, and enjoying nourishing foods.

If your organization or business would like to participate in this free event please email or phone with any questions you might have to Urban Seeds at 812-430-4180 or urbanseeds.org@gmail.com.

The deadline for submitting your application is Monday October 15th, 2019.

Food justice is the belief that healthy food is a human right; so everyone has an inherent right to access nourishing, fresh food. Access considerations are a mixture of location, affordability, and cultural appropriateness. Food justice affects all of us because food is so deeply tied to our culture. We build community around food; it’s a way we share our love. Being able to enjoy and prepare food that actually nourishes the body and keeps us healthy is connected to our ability to thrive.

When we think of access to food, location might not be something we view as a barrier. For so many of us we enjoy the privilege of being able to drive a vehicle to a store we choose to obtain the food we need. Take away access to this vehicle and how would you navigate your way to get these groceries? If we are lucky we have a grocery store within walking distance and the physical ability to not only walk there but to carry groceries back to our home. Let’s say we don’t have a store within walking distance (as about half of Evansville residents don’t), now how are we going to get to the store? Let’s say we take the city bus. We now have to plan for the time the trip will take as well as, again, carrying our groceries back to our home by hand. Add having to bring children along with you if you are unable to access child care and this can become a daunting task. Now imagine having to do this about twice a month to get the food you need.

Affordability can be a monumental barrier in accessing nourishing food. In the previous discussion of location, the majority of avenues to get to a place that will have the groceries we want all have a cost associated with them. Assuming walking isn’t a reasonable option, the most convenient mode of travel is overall also the most expensive (personal vehicle). Other convenient options such as a taxi or Uber add up in cost, and if you are working under the constraints of a tight budget, that budget just got even tighter. Additionally, there is the obvious cost of the food itself. Too often the least expensive items are highly processed foods of low nutritional value. This presents a very obvious challenge when we are trying to feed a family on a budget. If the healthier, more nourishing items are financially out of our reach then we must nourish ourselves with foods that are devoid of much nutrition. This sets our bodies and psyche up for feelings of deprivation which may lead to chronic disease, or hopelessness as we then try to fill up with more of the same kinds of foods. It’s easy to see how this cycles continues over and over.

Cultural appropriateness as it relates to food is more nuanced. One aspect of food justice is to provide the avenues that allow us to feed our families with dignity. This means that the food I am familiar with, enjoy eating, and know how to prepare may not look the same as yours. If I provide you with a giant box of lovely, nourishing foods that you have never seen before, my good intentions fall flat. Not only are you not familiar with how to prepare these unfamiliar foods but perhaps nobody in your family will enjoy eating them. Different ethnic communities and cultural backgrounds eat different foods. This is more than just health, this is culture. We should all be able to maintain our great grandmother’s special dish or be able to prepare that dish that our dad always made for us, and we loved. These are things that should not be trifled with and need to be protected.

If you would like to find a way to help improve food justice there is much you can do. Choose a community you want to be part of; whether it is supporting a non-profit like Urban Seeds, a community garden, a faith-based group, or a food policy council. Choose the avenue that calls to you to engage with others working toward systemic change. Getting out there and participating in the discussion is vital.

Present: Blythe Battram, Urban Seeds; David Brenner, Vanderburgh Farm Bureau; Casey Williams, Purdue Extension; Andrew Smith, Purdue Extension; Arlinda Payne, EVV Chapter Black Nurses Association, Memorial Baptist Church; Helen Azarian, EVV Public Library; Lacy Wilson, Purdue Extension; Bill Hemminger, UE garden master; Robin Mallery, Urban Seeds; Ashley Tenbarge, St. Vincent; Lisa Myer, St. Vincent

Discussion:

1. Market on Main
   1. Social connection–benefit, draw to venue
   2. SNAP utilization less this year at new location than last year
      1. Different clientele at MoM?
      2. Suggestion to share market info to TriState Food Bank to connect with backpack program students (Patchwork and Dream Center)
      3. Outreach has been made to local Family Services office to share fliers for SNAP at the markets with clients
      4. Suggestion to attach a Power of Produce voucher to the backpack flier

2. Community Bulk Food Buying Club — Casey
   1. Initiated from Promise Zone’s access  healthy food workgroup
   2. Modeled after Top Box, Chicago
   3. Funds to Urban Seeds per Welborn’s HEAL grant
   4. Average ~ 40% lower cost per shopping trip
   5. Boxes of all/any foods
   6. Hire Coordinator – 12 hours per week @ $15 per hour, up to 20 hours in year 2
   7. Deaconess purchasing power for food procurement
   8. TSFB p/u and deliver to receiving sites
   9. Referring sites/agencies
      1. Work with families who are motivated
      2. Food Bank and pantries do not/cannot engage in financial transaction
   10. Casey reviewed the rough process, which is being finalized
   11. Grow into a membership program for new families in 2^ndyear
   12. Local farmers will be brought in as able

3. Community/Incubator Kitchen, indoor grow
   1. PZ annual / federal convene meeting in April to review best practices presented the idea
   2. Farm on Ogden as example
      1. Incubator farm and incubator kitchen
      2. Shared kitchen to mitigate food waste
   3. TSFB became available as they are moving to a new site
      1. Fridge/freezer
      2. Indoor grow in additional warehouse space
   4. Shared kitchen
      1. Food rescue
      2. Question: Who pays for heating/other costs
         1. Grants are plentiful from HUD, USDA
         2. Passive income from kitchen space rental — home producers, chefs, caterers; and from leased space for indoor farming
   5. Big questions:
      1. How do we distribute food effectively? Capacity is only one piece of the opportunity – a bigger issue is HOW do we engage consumers to actually buy/enjoy food that is grown or sold affordably?
      2. Is convenience food the ONLY way to go? How do we invite families in to the paradigm of cooking from scratch – low cost fresh food and SNAP frozen food?
   6. Many details to be worked out with many partners

4. PZ flow chart by Julie McCullough, PhD
   1. Detailed flow chart mapped by Julie to capture food system opportunities (attached below)
   2. Solicitation of volunteers for any or all of these opportunities, many of which were talked about today

5. Open Agenda
   1. Trauma Informed Nutrition Care & Education workshop offered in September
      1. Included in HEAL grant per Welborn to bring TINC&E to Evansville
      2. ~30 participants — educators, agency staff, Food Bank, pantry volunteers
      3. Links: https://www.leahspantry.org/leahs-pantry-team/qa-with-monica-bhagwan-about-our-trauma-informed-work/ and https://www.leahspantry.org/what-we-offer/resilience-building-nutrition-education/
   2. Memorial Baptist Health Fair this Saturday August 3rd, 10 – 2, – 100 participants, 25 vendors
      1. Funded by UpGrade grant
      2. Focus on healthy eating
      3. Screenings will be offered
   3. International Food Day event, hosted by Urban Seeds, October 16th 3:30 – 5 PM
   4. Next EAFC meeting October 23rd

Julie’s flow chart:

 

 

Urban Seeds has had the wonderful experience of adding our first intern to our group of dedicated volunteer members this summer. She is a tremendous asset to not only us but also to our community and has been working hard to further Urban Seeds’ mission of increasing access to nourishing food for all. Please allow us to introduce her to you.

Tell us about yourself:
My name is Anazuo Ohieku-Ajanaku and I am from Lagos, Nigeria. I am a senior at the University of Evansville studying Public Health. I like to spend my time watching my favorite shows which include Grey’s Anatomy and Master Chef Australia.

How do you like Evansville and what are your impressions of this community?
It was a big shift for me because I grew up in a really big city. But I have grown to enjoy the serenity of the community. I also like how involved people in the community are in bettering the lives of everyone around. The University of Evansville also does a great job in getting students to engage with the community.

What made you decide on your area of studies?
Going into undergrad, I knew that I wanted to go to medical school after graduating. There was the obvious option which was a bachelors degree in biology or chemistry; however, I have been very passionate about public health especially since the Ebola crisis in West Africa in 2014 occurred. So, I decided to go into that area of study and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made which I think will be beneficial in my future career.

What drew you to Urban Seeds?
During one of my classes last semester Ms. Robin Mallery was a guest speaker and she spoke about Urban Seeds and what the organization did. I was quite shocked to learn that much of Evansville is an area of high food needs (formerly know of as a food desert). Like I mentioned earlier, I am very passionate about public health and access to healthy and nutritious food is a huge part of health. I am so excited to be a part of an organization that does so much.

What have you been working on with Urban Seeds?
I have been involved with the farmers market, Market on Main, every Wednesday; gathering information on the number of customers attending the market as well as what the main attractions of the market are for them. All this information will be analyzed at the end of the market season to view the progress as well as improvements for next year. Another project coming up is the new bulk food buying club and I am really excited about the upcoming meetings about that.

What are your future plans and goals?
After graduating from college I plan to take a year off to work and gain more experience as well as delve into the medical field before going back to school. I am currently working on my master’s degree in public health concurrently with my bachelor’s degree. I also hope to work with a nonprofit again in the future.

____________________________________________________________________________

We are so grateful for Anazuo’s dedication to Urban Seeds and have really enjoyed getting to know her during her hours of time spent working on our behalf. Her motivation to improving the health of the community is clear and we are certain she will go far in her career. On behalf of Urban Seeds and it’s Board of Directors: thank you for all you are doing for our community!

Read our Summer Newsletter!

• Welcome and Introductions
  • Todd Megar, Lollys Pops food truck
  • Julie McCullough, USI and Urban Seeds
  • Lori Noble, Lincoln School, EVSC
  • Helen Azarian, EVPL
  • Andrew Smith, Purdue Extension
  • Mike Rabuck, 4 Gardens Nursery
  • Va Cun, Southwest Indiana Yoga Project
  • Andrea Hays, Welborn Baptist Foundation
  • Mary Winstead, SouthWest Indiana Local Growers, Beautiful Edibles Farm
  • Serah Theuri, USI and Urban Seeds
  • Scott Massey, Heliponix
  • Lisa Myer, St. Vincent
  • Ashley Tenbarge, St. Vincent
  • Casey Williams, Purdue Extension and Urban Seeds
  • Robin Mallery, Urban Seeds

• Update on Market on Main provided—Robin and Casey
  • A Market Manger has been hired
  • Urban Seeds will manage SNAP utilization at the market
  • Working on applying to accept WIC at the market
  • Senior Vouchers acceptance is being explored as well
  • Market details provided; date, time, logistics, etc

• Website demo—Casey and Robin
  • Mapping demo’d 
    • Add “updated on” date
    • Updates noted to be done
      • Lincoln School. Verbiage: Currently enrolled students and their families
      • Independent food pantries allow increase visiting whereas United Way pantries allow once every 30 days; include in notes
      • Accepting vouchers at markets (add to spreadsheet, notes)
      • Community gardens, capture who has a stand
      • Christian Life Center, add
      • Street View and/or directions—link to mapping
  • Discussion Board demo’d
    • How to know of new topic/discussion? 
      • Alert on your phone or email with update, possible? 
      • US Newsletter 
      • Weekly post or email summarizing topics
    • 211 list as one of their community services
    • For consumer portal: Have 211 connect community re: food access
      • Lisa M has a Indy contact from 211 who will focus on SNAP recipients  

• Interactive Questions – Casey via Purdue Extension
  • Two questions w/ new, fun interactive/”up-voted” responses
    • Who needs to be part of the Food Council that is not currently involved
    • What types of speakers/educational topics would be of interest to you?
  • Info will be shared w/ ranking of responses

• Promise Zone – Julie
  • Detailed explanation of the data being collected and how it will be utilized to forward the PZ goals
    • Surveys
      • Collaboration regarding how and from whom data is being collected
      • How to make most effective use of the data collected 
    • Questions/Conversation
      • Why did the groceries close? Scott
      • Cut-Rate used to offer full-service, even extending credit, but was sold and now it’s tobacco and snacks. Lori
      • Grocery: basically sell marketing space not “product”. Todd
      • What were the specific responses to the surveys? Va
        • Julie will provide link to data
      • Larkins in the PZ. Robin
        • Will take SNAP
        • Track how many visitors even those who may not purchase. Va
      • Perhaps a redo of the 2015 study regarding viability of a downtown market/grocery could be presented. Robin, Scott
        • As downtown grows, City officials may find this appealing; Joshua Armstrong’s demographic data from EID and Downtown Alliance could support a study

Urban Seeds is excited to spend April 20 at Mesker Zoo to celebrate Earth Day at their Party for the Planet event!

We will have plants and seeds for the children attending to plant and bring home. Choices will include tomato plants, pea seeds, or cucumber seeds. Growing food is an excellent way to teach our children where our food comes from and to involve them with what is served on the table. We hope you get a chance to come see all the wonderful organizations that will be participating in the event – please come by and say hi to us!

In an interest to save resources we created an electronic link for care instructions on the plants and seeds planted. Thank you for visiting if this is why you are here! The pots that the plants are in are fully compostable. This means that when you are transplanting them you can plant the entire pot! Easy peasy! All of these plants can be transplanted into a larger pot or directly into a garden. Plants will do better with a fertile soil and mulching to help retain moisture in the soil.

Tomato Plants: Put plant in a sunny location, let soil dry between watering, transplant before plant outgrows it’s current pot (roughly 6 inches tall) into well drained soil, stake plant to prevent it from falling over. Tomatoes are ready to pick when they are red and firm.

Pea Seeds: Put in a sunny location (peas prefer cool weather), keep soil moist, once plant is a few inches tall it can be transplanted to a well drained area, as it grows it can be staked. Peas are ready to pick when small and tender – they can be eaten pod and all.

Cucumber seeds: Put in a sunny, warm location and keep soil moist. Once the plant is a few inches tall it can be transplanted into a sunny area (cucumbers like heat). Keep soil moist and support vines with a trellis or by tying them up on a fence or railing.

We hope you enjoy your garden goodies! Thank you for visiting Urban Seeds!