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Andrew Smith of Purdue Extension described his role as the Urban Ag specialist. He explained that he is a technical resource, a link/access to Purdue resources, and that there is a community-building aspect to his position. He mentioned the possibility of an Urban Ag Certificate program in2020.
Mary Winstead of Beautiful Edibles farm shared that there were 50 in attendance at the recent farmer-chef event at Sauced. This was a gathering of local food growers and chefs/caterers, as well as some organization leaders in the food justice genre. The event was a success in that much information was shared that will lead to a vibrant local foods system. Additional gatherings will be held in the future.
Casey Williams, Community Wellness Coordinator from Purdue Extension and Robin Mallery of Urban Seeds provided an update of the large project underway with USI to build the interactive online platform. There is a data collection piece pending regarding “value/supply chain”; USI professors intended to explain this at today’s meeting but were unable to attend (weather). Robin will explore, with the USI professors, the distribution of a survey monkey email to collect input from growers, farmers market managers, educators, organizations, ahead of the next EAFC meeting.
Casey reminded us of the three pillars of the EAFC, which are connectivity, readiness, and education, and he raised two questions for consideration: In practice, how do we use assets more effectively in our community? Are we effectively gathering and partnering?
Casey shared that the Board of Directors for the Downtown Evansville farmers’ market voted to not hold the market this year due to a significant decrease in attendance and consumer engagement. Prior to the EAFC meeting, the Access to Healthy Eating workgroup from HCP (Healthy Communities Partnerships) met and decided to bring it up at EAFC. HCP members felt that a huge gap would be left without a downtown market and desired to pursue options. This led to a robust group discussion:

Dave Brenner of the Farm Bureau offered clarification that the market master for the past 5 years, Patti Davis, was not paid by the city, but did receive a stipend from sponsors and vendor fees.

Lacy Wilson Community Wellness Coordinator from Purdue Extension asked when GAGE (Growth Alliance of Greater Evansville – they were the initiators of the Downtown Market many years ago) stopped their involvement in the market? Dave offered that GAGE took a step back once the board was created to run the market. He clarified that GAGE still helps, with Abby as a board member of the Farm Bureau, but they do not have governance nor do they give financial support.

Dave also added that the venue location change from 2nd and Sycamore after the 2017 market season, due to construction on that property, greatly affected the foot traffic and general attendance at the market.

Kristi Schulz of Engelbrecht’s Orchard shared that in addition to venue change a competition for attendance was created by a downtown food truck lunch event on the same day, at the same time. She explained that the market fizzled out starting with some vendors pulling out because of lack of attendance and lower sales, then people stopped coming because there weren’t enough vendors to make it worth their time.

Lacy asked how we could make the new market or other option the most valuable for farmers. Kristi said a parking lot would be great, a different day of the week (earlier in the week) would help to provide relief from a Friday versus the Saturday markets on Franklin St and in Newburgh. She continued that variety and flexibility (vendors shouldn’t be penalized for having to take a week off) would also be valuable.

Robin said we would request a meeting with Joshua Armstrong of the Downtown Alliance, DMD, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, and possibly the Mayor’s office representative to let them know we are collectively in favor of reinstating the market at a new and improved downtown location.

Mary suggested the consideration of a weeknight “festival” type event downtown, with the streets closed, like in Chicago, attracting market goers to also patronize the nearby restaurants and shops. This idea will be shared at the meeting with the Dowtown Alliance et. al.

Lacy wondered if we could merge growers into First Fridays. Dave mentioned that there has been a past reluctance from HCAD to share their art/food venue.

There was a brief discussion about possible venues: near the new IU med school, church parking lots, and also about 4th street near Goldman’s pawn shop, and along Main St. Robin said the best next step would be to speak with downtown development players.

Robin also mentioned that the pop-up market, to serve the WIC clients, at the health department had been successful, with positive response from the farmers as well as employees from the health dept and ECHO. HCP is pursuing a repeat of that pop-up market as well as the possibility of a few others in the area for 2019.

IMPORTANT: Kristi told us there were 32 opportunities for people to use voucher benefits from June through October of 2018, but that with downtown market gone, the number would be reduced to 12.

Tameka Watson of Tri-Cap suggested using the parks for pop-ups or festivals, like Bayard, Garvin. She shared that there are rotating park/family events throughtou the summer, and that these venues could be a good way of connecting in neighborhoods. Ashley Tenbarge of St Vincent’s added that they could potentially follow Music in the Park.

Robin asked Tameka how the family park events were advertised, and Tameka said through Facebook and also flyers in places like laundromats, churches, service providers.

Len Winiger of the Master Gardeners asked what the mission of the market was… whether it was downtown attraction and a fun atmosphere/something to do, or whether it was more important to get food to people in a specific walking radius (paraphrasing). Robin said the priority of Urban Seeds, HCP and EAFC was to increase access to locally grown produce (and other nutritious food) for our neighbors while supporting the growers. However, food access with a market/fun/festival overtone is important for success.

Mary asked what kind of message we want to send as a city. Are we pushing out farmers for more economic growth dollars? Do we want to push locally grown food to small, hip neighborhoods? No! We are committed to providing increased access to nourishing locally grown/produced foods for our community, especially those who experience food-insecurity.

There was mention of Mayor W’s platform, “Healthier Evansville”. This is worthy of mention when we meet with the city.

Depending of the outcome of a meeting with city officials:

We may mobilize to form sub-committees
- Robin mentioned the possibility of sending out a suggested statement for a letter writing campaign. “…partner in a vibrant market” “how can you help?”
- Va Cun of the SWIN Yoga Project suggested a Letter to the Editor informing the public of why farmers’ markets are important to our city.

For the meeting with the city, we clarified what our ask would be:
- Parking
- High traffic area, combining foot/auto access; businesses and residential
- Morning or evening during theweek, Tuesday or Wednesday, 8-12 or9-1
- Pavement
- Permanent
- Bathrooms
- Market master

Robin will reach out to schedule a meeting with City officials that will include a farmer(s), organizational leaders, volunteers and a good cross representation of our interests within the community.

Many thanks were expressed for the deep level of engagement and information sharing. Onward!

Our next meeting will be held in April, date TBD. Updates regarding the farmers market will be shared in the coming days/weeks.

Urban Seeds seeks Movement (Operations) Manager

December 27, 2018 by Robin Mallery Leave a Comment

Urban Seeds seeks a Movement Manager with demonstrated commitment to social and economic justice and the skills, passion and drive to lead the organization into the future. The Movement Manager will be tasked with leadership and pursuit of Urban Seeds’ mission and vision, managing and supporting a dedicated staff, cultivating relationships with the communities that support and are supported by Urban Seeds, and procuring resources to sustain organizational stability and growth. The Movement Manager will work directly with the Board of Directors and staff to implement our strategic plan, enhance and execute fundraising strategies, and plan and manage daily operations.

Please indicate your interest by emailing your resume and a cover letter in which an essay response to “What is your vision to diminish food insecurity in Vanderburgh County”, is addressed. The essay response itself should be no longer that one page. Our email address is urbanseeds.org@gmail.com. Interviews will be held on Monday February 4^thfrom 5 – 7 PM. You will be contacted to schedule your 30-minute interview session.

Role Qualifications

The Movement Manager will be thoroughly committed to Urban Seeds’ vision, mission, and approach. All candidates should have proven leadership, coaching, and relationship management experience. Concrete demonstrable experience and other qualifications include:

At least 3 years of management experience; track record of effectively leading outcomes-based programs
Strong social justice orientation with an understanding of and commitment to food justice
Experience working with and developing programs in underserved communities
Ability to develop and implement a fundraising strategy that includes funding from diverse sources
Unwavering commitment to quality programs and demonstrated ability to use different types of data effectively to evaluate programs
Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high performing teams
Fiscal management sensibilities to ensure financial health of the organization
Past success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing board member relationships
Strong understanding of marketing and public relations functions with the skills to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures
Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills
Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed

Role Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership to ensure ongoing programmatic excellence
Oversee fundraising and development efforts with a view to diversifying Urban Seeds funding streams to support existing program operations and expand capacity to implement our strategic plan
Sustain a positive environment at Urban Seeds by maintaining collaborative culture and cooperative working relationships within and outside of the organization
Oversee and support the active engagement of Urban Seeds board members, project work groups, partnering organizations, funders and volunteers
Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Directors: serve as ex-officio of each committee, seek and build board involvement with strategic direction for the organizations’ operations
Establish consistent quality of finance, administration and human resources systems and processes needed to achieve strategic goals
Lead, coach, develop, motivate and inspire the Urban Seeds team to achieve the organization’s mission and vision
Ensure effective systems for rigorous program evaluation to track progress, and regularly evaluate program components, so as to measure successes that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders, and other constituents
Raise Urban Seeds’ visibility as a leader in our field of expertise and serve as the organization’s representative to all external stakeholders including but not limited to funders, organizational partners, the food industry, media, government and other agencies

Year 1 Measurable Outcomes

Pending grant approval, provide oversight for the community bulk buying club and the food systems online platform
Maintain a list of local, state, and federal grant opportunities, and assist in development of grant opportunities
Attend Monthly Board meetings and the twice/year retreats with our non-profit mentor
Create/send monthly newsletter via MailChimp; write a weekly blog post; Daily engagement on and management of social media
Raise $20,000

2 of the following 3 outcomes

Coordinate nine shop/cook on a budget demonstrations
Integrate with three existing organizations to further to further our strategic initiatives
Represent US at one monthly community event at which an alignment of mission is present

2018 Welcome email and Updates

February 5, 2018 by Robin Mallery 2 Comments

Hooray for our first emailed newsletter of 2018! We are committed to a short and sweet format and hope you will sign up to receive it directly to your inbox!

From Urban Seeds to the EVV Area Food Council and Back Again…

November 1, 2017 by Robin Mallery Leave a Comment

During times of change and growth, it is easy to get caught up in the planning, the excitement, and the transition details. Urban Seeds (US) may have seemed quiescent over this past year+, and in some ways that has been true. We have not had a strong presence tabling at community events for instance, or talking about local food systems in a group venue. The good news is that the Evansville Area Food Council (EAFC), which is an extension of US, picked up some of that work. And now, it is the EAFC that has gone quiet…

The Back Story

In mid-2015, US was approached by the Welborn Baptist Foundation to assess our capacity to develop an area Food Council. At the time, the Board of Directors of US was down to 3 members. Due to routine life experiences of babies being born, professional obligations, and moving out of town, our Board had dwindled from a robust dozen members to three. Two of the three of us were quite busy with professional and family commitments, so that we were challenged to maintain a meaningful connection to our community, let alone grow our Board members.

Thus, when the Welborn Baptist Foundation reached out with the inquiry of our next steps, we readily agreed to pursue the development of an area Food Council. Welborn generously provided funding for training on the basics of Food Councils for the then-President of the Board and myself, as well as funds to initiate the Council. In January 2016, we convened the first EAFC meeting. Approximately 50 community members were invited whose work or volunteerism touched on access to healthy food; we included educators, chefs, school nutrition directors, non-profit directors of shelters, after-school programs, the Food Bank and food pantries, and business leaders. This group identified community strengths and opportunities regarding food access and health, and we agreed to continue to meet monthly, which we did for all of 2016.

Projects

We immediately identified a “low-hanging fruit” project for which we enthusiastically provided support: the Community Wellness Coordinators at Purdue Extension had just begun a Food Rescue pilot program in a local elementary school, for which we helped to study regulations and the further opportunities for change in this area.

Along the lines of mitigating food waste, we were thrilled to partner with the Change Maker/GAP students at the University of Evansville as they sought solutions to the excessive amount of food being tossed into the trash in their school cafeteria. We provided mentorship for sorting through regulatory issues, and were very proud of their successes as they worked with the cafeteria vendor to disseminate leftover foods within the network of shelters and pantries. As well, they received top honors at the presentation of their project to their peers and other community mentors!

Additionally, over the course of that year, we were able to provide a small grant to a program being piloted at Patchwork Central, called Fruits and Veggies Rx, which facilitates access to fresh produce by utilizing a “prescription” from a physician.

Taking it to the next level of non-profit excellence

As the EAFC members continued to brainstorm opportunities and partnerships within our community that would further our Mission and Vision, we were once again fortunate to be approached by Welborn Baptist Foundation with the opportunity to be mentored by a consultant who specializes in non-profits with a Social Justice mission and vision. We’ve been meeting with JD Levy and Associates for several months now, focusing on creating a strong foundation for success in our organization. As a 501c3, US is eligible to apply for grants, both from local, state and federal entities, including government grants. These grants will allow us to fund programs of great impact to our community, those that would indeed support the health and well-being of our community related to access to healthy food, while supporting a vibrant local foods economy. Stay tuned as we continue to explore opportunities!

Transition

To that end, the EAFC has been folded into Urban Seeds. Our current efforts have taken us back to the basics: we are working with our mentor/consultant on Board Development, which includes job descriptions and the expectations for Board members, a Theory of Change schematic, a database of our current and future partners, writing our story in a way that is compelling, and timeline for task accomplishment. This may not be as exciting as the actual projects with which we intend to engage in the coming months, but this foundational Board Development is paramount to the long-term success of US, and indeed, any non-profit. We are grateful for the generosity of Welborn Baptist Foundation for supporting us in this manner.

We are seeking to mindfully grow the Board, with the essential criteria for consideration as a member being a passion for Food Justice – be that delving into food policy, connecting with farmers to discuss a robust local food economy, creating meaningful partnerships with other non-profits or businesses that have a Social Justice focus, fundraising, to name a few of the opportunities. Please visit our website; we would love to hear from you, to answer your questions, and to meet with you in person to discuss your interest in US as we endeavor to create a meaningful presence in southwest Indiana.