The Star Press
MUNCIE — Indiana school districts are lagging behind the rest of the country in procuring locally grown fruits and vegetables for students.
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Indianapolis Star
In general, there seem to be slightly more people interested in gardening in the Midwest than at the national level.
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Wndu.com
The Natural Resources Conservation Service will accept applications from organic producers or producers in transition to organic farming until April 1. Read More

Where: Indianapolis City Market, 222 E. Market St, Indianapolis, Indiana
Free admission, but registration is required.

10:30 - 11 a.m. Vegetable Gardening 101, Getting Started, Location, soil, water, testing, raised beds.
11:15 - 11:45 a.m., Vegetable Gardening 102, Top 10 easiest veggies to grow and how to grow them.

The program also features Jill Ditmire from Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, Meredith Easley of Easley Winery, and Sarah Smith from Mallow Run Winery, as panelists to talk about local wines and food pairings and the wine trail.
ILG publisher Lynn Jenkins will talk about food labeling and what consumers should look for when buying food at farmers markets, community supported agriculture subscriptions and other local sources. Chef Wendell Fowler will do a cooking demonstration.

Register

Where: Batesville Middle School, 210 N. Mulberry Street, Batesville, IN
Cost: $15 per person, $10/ea. additional family member

This seminar is for food growers & producers, hobby farmers, home gardeners, farmers’ market vendors and those interested in a safe, local food supply. The richness, variety and flavor of our communities, food systems, and diets are in jeopardy.  Factory farms, agribusiness control of the food system, and mega-supermarkets have brought us low prices and convenience but have taken away many other essential aspects of our “food lives”, such as a personal relationship with food and with the people who produce it.  They have also diminished our understanding of the basic nature of food and farming.  More and more people are realizing this and are actively working to turn the tide and to preserve a food industry based on family-owned, small-scale businesses.  Local farmers and small entrepreneurs are our best guarantee agains a world of Styrofoam-like, long-shelf-life tomatoes and diets dictated from the corporate boardrooms.

More information

Where: Earlham College: Goddard Auditorium, Carpenter Hall: 801 National Road West · Richmond, Indiana · 47374-4095
Cost: $8/adults, $5/students and seniors
More information:  Lynn Knight, Director of Events Coordination at (765) 983-1373.

Michael Pollan looks at how health problems such as obesity, food poisoning (including mad cow disease), heart disease and many others are connected to the way we grow our food. We also discover that agricultural policy has enormous implications for our health, and that current USDA policies are actively promoting the same epidemic of obesity that other branches of the government are urging us to confront. Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and a young reader’s version The Omnivore’s Dilemma: the Secrets Behind What You Eat. Pollan is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and the Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley. Co-sponsored by the Telfair and Clyde Caldwell Endowed Lecture Funds.

7:30 PM

Where: Bloomington, IN  - Feb. 19-20, 2010
Cost: $150 includes all materials, snacks and meals.
Scholarships are available by contacting Debbie Trocha at 317-692-7707 or dtrocha@icdc.coop.

• Spend 2 days in Bloomington, Indiana with expert advisors
• Get the tools you need to get your food co-op up and running
• Lay the foundation for success before those doors upen
• Learn hoow to stay on track after the paint dries
• Network with other cooperators, talk with consultants, and plan ahead during a conference focused on food co-op start ups

Register

Where: University Place Conference Center and Hotel, 850 W. Michigan Street, Indianapolis.
Cost: $25 - $45
Primary Contact: Kimberly Helton
(317) 274-8905
(317) 274-5064
kdhelton@iupui.edu

Inspired by IUPUI’s inaugural Common Theme book, Deep Economy by Bill McKibben, and the 2010 Spirit & Place theme, our distinguished panel of faculty and local experts will explore how and why we consume food – its sources, quality, culture, and markets and the consequences of our consumption on our local and worldwide community. Join thought provoking discussions and be prepared to challenge your current way of thinking while joining fellow alumni and friends who share your passion for learning and engagement.

Participants who arrive at 7:30 will receive a continental breakfast and have a chance to watch the documentary “Homegrown” from Producer/Director Robert McFalls

“Homegrown” follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. While “living off the grid”, they harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, make their own bio diesel, power their computers with the help of solar panels, and maintain a website that gets 4,000 hits a day. The film is an intimate human portrait of what it’s like to live like “Little House on the Prairie” in the 21st Century.

More Information

Indycm.com
Today, promoting “green” initiatives is not only the responsible way to operate a business – but also a smart way to save on operating costs through energy efficiencies. The City Market Going Green initiative will focus on implementing core basic green initiatives – recycling, construction, water use and energy efficiency – to help create a stronger and more responsible city marketplace . Read More

Thepaper24-7.com
Erick and Jessica Smith have opened This Old Farm Meats and Processing, a division of This Old Farm, Inc. The processing business will specialize in local sustainable meat products such as nitrite/nitrate free cures for pork and msg free sausages, longer hang times for grassfed cattle, and specialized attention to those farms wishing to sell locally raised meats. They will toll process everything from beef down to poultry.
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