SustainINDY Press Release

PRESS RELEASES
MAYOR BALLARD ISSUES URBAN GARDEN CHALLENGE

November 19, 2010

GOAL IS TO CREATE 50 URBAN GARDENS IN CENTER TOWNSHIP BY END OF 2011

INDIANAPOLIS – Announcing a goal of 50 urban gardens in Center Township by the end of 2011, Mayor Greg Ballard today at the Felege Hiywot Center garden in Martindale Brightwood issued his Urban Garden Challenge, joined by neighborhood residents, local health experts and urban gardeners.

“Urban gardens strengthen the fabric of our communities. They turn vacant land into a positive and active space, they grow healthy food for people to eat, they teach individuals of all ages new skills, and they help promote community involvement by actively engaging neighbors to work together toward a common purpose,” said Mayor Ballard. “Urban gardens encapsulate the Thanksgiving message of family, community, harvest and renewal. Creating more urban gardens and engaging more individuals and organizations in growing healthy food at the community and neighborhood level is a worthy pursuit for our city.”

Founded in the spring of 2004, the Felege Hiywot Center created its first 20-square-foot garden in the summer of 2006. Now, its urban garden encompasses a half acre.

“A need for healthy food sources and education about health and nutrition in Martindale Brightwood inspires us to make a change,” said Aster Bekele, executive director of the Center. “At the Center’s summer gardening camp and at the in-school and after-school gardening education classes, each youth participant develops gardening skills, an awareness of nature, a commitment to environmental preservation, an ability to make nutritious food choices and expertise in recycling and composting.”

Marion County Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine, a longtime advocate for Center Township residents, detailed the health and disease prevention benefits of a nutritious diet including fresh produce.

“The Marion County Health Department is very proud to support this initiative to help improve the health and wellness of the people of Indianapolis,” said Dr. Caine. “We recognize that poor nutrition is one of the greater challenges facing our urban populations, one that contributes to an array of diseases and conditions. Changing that equation starts at the source: reversing the shortage of healthy food options. Much of our focus is on preventive measures, from vaccines to environmental issues and much more. We believe expanding urban gardens in the urban core will help contribute to our ongoing efforts to improve the health of the community.”

The Butler Center for Urban Ecology innovatively explores, stewards and enhances urban ecosystems. Its director, Tim Carter, Ph.D., specializes in landscape ecology with a focus on urban systems.

“Urban gardens and urban farms create opportunities to access local food in neighborhoods that did not previously offer such benefits,” said Dr. Carter. “Urban gardens can restore ecological health to the area. Improving biodiversity, giving access to local food and building a sense of community are all components of successful urban gardens and urban farms.”

Mayor Ballard today also announced the Urban Gardening Mentor Program, an effort that will teach and encourage urban gardening and growing food. This program, a partnership between the Office of Sustainability and Purdue Extension of Marion County, aims to assist individuals and organizations who are new to urban gardening.

“This partnership and the mentoring program are a key part of achieving the goal of having 50 urban gardens in Center Township by the end of next year,” said Mayor Ballard.

Mayor Ballard is committed to making Indianapolis the most sustainable city in the Midwest. Urban gardens play an important role in helping Indianapolis achieve that vision. In 2008, Mayor Ballard created the Office of Sustainability, and in June 2010 at the Indy Urban Farming Forum, Mayor Ballard announced the City’s first urban garden program. The collaborative partnership between the Department of Metropolitan Development, the Indy land Bank and the Office of Sustainability allows community groups and individuals to use Land Bank properties for the purpose of growing healthy produce and creating urban gardens.

For more information about Mayor Ballard’s Urban Garden Challenge, visit www.sustainindy.org or email urbangardens@indy.gov.

Sarah Holsapple
Public Information Officer
Indianapolis Department of Public Works
Email: sarah.holsapple@indy.gov
Office: 327-4669
Cell: 223-1375

http://sustainindy.org/press-events.cfm?news_id=354

November Local Food Potluck

Local Food Potluck
continuing the "Feast"ival

Monday, November 29th at 7 pm
Irvington United Methodist Church
30 N. Audubon Road

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come celebrate Indy's healthy farms, families, and locally-grown foods at our sixth monthly

Local Food Challenge Potluck
The Indianapolis Food, Farm, and Family Coalition, Slow Food Indy and the Weston A. Price Foundation invite you to come share a meal with the presenters and participants of the Irvington SkillShare, a spectacular event of the Spirit & Place Festival organized by the Irvington Green Initiative.

We would like to honor the organizers for all of their hard work planning and preparing. We all could feel how much time and effort was put into the event and it made the day all the more worthwhile.

To continue in the spirit of the SkillShare, please bring any seeds you would like to SEED SHARE/SEED SWAP at this month's potluck. The more seeds the merrier =)

o Dinner starts at 7 pm
o Seed Share/Seed Swap 7:45 pm

Admission is Free:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simply bring a potluck/pitch-in dish to share made with locally grown/produced food.

Dining ware will be limited. Please bring your own plate and utensils for yourself and your family, if possible. Think Reduce, Reuse, Recycle =)
RSVP on Facebook:
November Local Food Potluck

Remember to bring along the recipe:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bring a copy of your recipe for the dish you brought. The Indianapolis Food, Farm and Family Coalition will post these recipes on the blog [http://indyfoodsecurity.blogspot.com]

Like last month, the Earth House Collective may pick one recipe from the Local Food Potluck to serve at the Earth House Cafe for the Month to come!! Please bring your recipe cards to participate.
More about Irvington SkillShare "Feast"ival:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Irvington SkillShare on November 7th, 2010 was a triumph among Local Food events with over 800 people in attendance.

The Irvington SkillShare "Feast"ival, part of the Spirit & Place Festival, featured topics like garden planning (including tenant and small-space gardening), soil building, edible landscaping, composting, seed saving, solar cooking, and canning. (Whew.) The event covered rain barrels, lactofermentation, beekeeping, bread, grass-fed beef, and more.

Find the "Feast"ival on Facebook or visit their blog at
http://irvington-skillshare.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indianapolis Food, Farm and Family Coalition
Working to make Indianapolis a more food secure city through education, awareness, public programs, and connecting farmers to consumers. www.IndyFoodFarmFamily.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April Hammerand
Program Manager
email: april@indyfoodfarmfamily.org
phone: 317-417-8449

Networking at Mo'Joe CoffeeHouse Nov. 18th

The Food Farm and Family Coalition invites you all to attend a networking opportunity at Mo Joe's on Thursday, Nov 18th, at 8:00 pm.

This will be a casual opportunity to find connections, discussion our common purposes, and build relationships that will strengthen our growing community!

While the meeting is on short notice, it will be the first of several that will be held in the coming months. If your unable to attend this meeting email me at acope967@marian.edu and we'll work out a better arrangement next time. We look forward to seeing you!

Andrew Cope

Upcoming Events Nov-Dec 2010

You may already know about these upcoming events, but if not, I thought that they may be of interest to you all:

1) Louisville, November 3-9 http://www.festivaloffaiths.org/ There are many sessions in this events that I would love to attend, but I'm going to try to make to about the only one I can. If any one wants to join me, let me know. You can find a full calendar of a week packed full of great speakers, conversations and workshops on the web site.

Nov 6 10:00am - Sacred Soil and Soul: Farming with a Purpose - Panel Discussion
A panel of experts speak on interfaith and community organizations working together to create food justice. They will discuss and garner support to come together, uniting in a chorus of commitment to sustainable agriculture and to responsible stewardship over the planet, Earth. Panelists include Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA; Patrick Holden, Soil Association International; and author and translator Martin Palmer, who serves as Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture and Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation. Free. The Henry Clay, 604 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY

2) Indianapolis, Dec. 6-11, 2010 Acres USA Conference & Trade Show, http://www.acresusa.com/events/10conf/about.htm The pre-conference sessions sound great, as does the speakers list.

(Sara Swan, if you are interested in attending this, let me know.)

Of course there are the many great Spirit & Place events starting this weekend in Indy. For those on this list who do not live in Indy, check http://www.spiritandplace.org/ for opportunities to see Michael Pollan, Will Allen, Chef Dan Barber, Frances Moore Lappe, the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra and many great locally based events!

Hope you're all well,
Laura

--
Laura Henderson

Executive Director, Indy Winter Farmers Market
www.indywinterfarmersmarket.org

Co-Director, Growing Places Indy
Visit our initial Slow Food Garden @ White River State Park this Spring!
www.growingplacesindy.org