Urban Farmers Marketing Cooperative

PROJECT BACKGROUND

IndyGrown is currently comprised of four small-scale vegetable farms located in central Indianapolis: Big City Farms, South Circle Farm, CUE Farm at Butler University, and Growing Places Indy. The farms vary in size (from less than one acre to three acres), but all are focused on growing a wide range of vegetables, there are several shared restaurant clients, and each one operates a CSA program.

All of the IndyGrown member farms have carried out sustainable practices since the beginning of their formations. Each farm works to improve their own particular site through the regular application of compost, the incorporation of cover crops into the planting calendar, and the occasional use of organically-approved pest controls. The use of sustainable farming practices is a core concept of IndyGrown, and it is an approach that IndyGrown works to make more popular and widespread amongst small farms throughout Indianapolis.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

GOALS: Broadly speaking, IndyGrown’s original goals were to:

• increase the market presence of its member farms,
• establish a coordinated restaurant sales/distribution process to ease potential hurdles experienced by small growers,
• aggregate select items from individual member farms to better serve existing and potential restaurant/institution clients.

PROCESS

Indianapolis has experienced a relatively-significant increase in the presence of urban farms within its boundaries over the last five years. This has been accompanied by a noticeable increase in consumer interest in supporting local food sources. IndyGrown’s member farms have been in operation for a varying number of years, but each one has confronted obstacles related to growing and supplying vegetables, on a limited scale, to a new market: How does one increase public support for a relatively-new industry? How does one streamline processes to maximize revenue? and How does one lay the groundwork for the success of future growers?

IndyGrown’s current member farms had each been grappling with these issues on an individual basis and, over the course of numerous conversations, began to feel that these obstacles might be best addressed through a collaborative effort. The participants felt that such an approach might ease distribution obstacles each farm had experienced, as well as increase the potential clientele that they could serve – by combining sales and marketing efforts, a group of small farmers might be able to better serve a wider range of Indianapolis residents, as well as larger restaurant clients, than each one could do individually.

After receiving the SARE grant, the participating farms met throughout 2012 and 2013 to determine how the grant funds could be used effectively and have the greatest impact. The farmers worked with the Business Ownership Initiative in Indianapolis to develop a mission statement and setoff shared values for IndyGrown, as well as a series of common goals and objectives for the following two years. In addition to working to solidify the organizational structure and priorities for IndyGrown, the member farmers began piloting collaborative sales and distribution efforts. This was done on a small scale with 2-3 farms notifying local restaurants of what produce was available for purchase. The participating farms would then, on the designated delivery day, share delivery and payment collection responsibilities. This arrangement was trialed during the first half of the 2012 season, in an attempt to determine its efficiency and potential long-term benefit.

IndyGrown contracted with a local branding and marketing firm to develop a logo that will be used in public advertisements for the organizations. This logo will also be used on various materials Indy Grown will distribute to restaurant customers (in the form of informational cards and window decals), as well as to advertise the presence of various member farms at local farmers markets (in the form of informational cards for customers and signage indicating that particular farm’s membership to IndyGrown).

Upon completion of the logo designs, IndyGrown began working with another marketing firm to create a basic website for the group. This website will contain an overview of IndyGrown’s current work and future goals, basic information about each member farm’s operations, as well as purchasing information for prospective customers, both individuals and restaurants. These efforts are intended to facilitate a cohesive public presence for existing IndyGrown member farms, in addition to providing a clear path by which prospective farms can successfully participate in the Indianapolis market.

In the fall of 2013, IndyGrown hosted a farm tour for nearly fifty Indianapolis consumers (attendance for the event was capped at this number, due to transportation restrictions). The tour involved a substantial visit to each farm’s site, as well as appetizers prepared by local chefs highlighting the produce offerings of each farm. There was significant positive feedback from tour attendees, and IndyGrown expects this tour to become an annual event.

In late 2013 and 2014, IndyGrown has facilitated an initiative related to professional development for member farmers, as well as the creation of production and post-harvest handling guidelines. The professional development has come in the form of two visits from a well-established farm consultant, who has advised each member farm on how their operation might be improved, so as to achieve the greatest degree of agricultural and economic sustainability. These on-farm consultations, coupled with detailed soil analyses and recommendations, will provide a short-term benefit for the participating farms, while also providing IndyGrown and its member farmers with additional agricultural training and advice which will benefit future growers and IndyGrown members.

The production guidelines will help provide a benchmark for existing and future member farms. Current member farms have encountered frequent questions and concerns from the consumer public about the safety of producing food in an urban environment. These standards will provide farmers with the confidence to simply and clearly respond to these questions, as well as provide consumers with the reassurances they might need to begin purchasing their produce from urban farms.

In addition, the idea of IndyGrown post-harvest handling standards came to be seen as a necessary resource for participating farms. While there have not been any food safety concerns connected to any IndyGrown member farm, this is a subject that is gaining increased traction in the public’s mind, and it behooves IndyGrown to be proactive in establishing such standards – to insure that the farms are confidently operating in a safe manner, and to reassure the public that any produce grown on an IndyGrown member farm follows a specific series of post-harvest handling steps in order to minimize the risk of contamination.

These resources will be made available on IndyGrown’s website, and will be distributed to local agricultural- and food-focused organizations in Indianapolis. The rationale behind this tactic is that better-informed consumers are more loyal consumers, and better-prepared new farmers have the greatest likelihood of succeeding in business.

PEOPLE

• Matthew Jose – owner/operator, Big City Farms; member farmer
• Amy Matthews – owner/operator, South Circle Farm; member farmer
• Tim Dorsey – farm manager, CUE Farm at Butler University; member farmer
• Tyler Henderson – farm manager, Growing Places Indy; member farmer
• Tim Carter – director, Center for Urban Ecology at Butler University; assistance in developing IndyGrown standards, assistance in advertising IndyGrown, assistance in managing non-SARE funds.
• Gabriel Filipelli – director, Center for Urban Health at IUPUI; assistance in developing     IndyGrown safe soil standards.
• Julie Grice – president, Business Ownership Initiative of Indianapolis; facilitating initial

conversations related to the organizational structure and goals of IndyGrown.

• Andy Fry – creative director, Big Car; facilitated initial logo and design process.
• Ryan Hunley – owner, Second Street Creative; created final IndyGrown design, logo, and

• Jeff Evard – owner, One Sky Agriculture Enterprises; on-farm consultations with member

farmers, focusing on long-term ecological and financial sustainability.

• Sarah Mullin – independent contractor; assisted in the development and execution of the

IndyGrown inaugural farm tour, as well as the development of production guidelines and post-harvest handling instructions for current and future member farms.

• Lacy Leadership Program – provided financial support towards the successful launch of

RESULTS

IndyGrown has been able to pursue and complete a wide range of goals with the financial assistance of the Farmer/Rancher Grant. Over the last two years, IndyGrown has:

• Worked with a consultant to help member farmers create consensus on IndyGrown’s organization structure, standards, and roles.
• Test piloted co-marketing strategies and collaborative sales to restaurants.
• Completed construction of a post-harvest wash station at a member farm, and began the process of building additional wash stations at other member farms in an effort to improve post-harvest handling practices.
• Created and distributed an online survey to local chefs in order to gauge the possible barriers that exist which keep them from purchasing from local farms.
• Organized and implemented the inaugural IndyGrown farm tour outreach event to connect farmers, chefs, and consumers.
• Worked with a respected farm consultant to improve member farms’ individual operations, as well as to improve IndyGrown’s capacity to advise new and emerging farms.
• Overseen the creation of a logo and worked to develop various branding strategies.
• Overseen the creation of an IndyGrown website, which will serve as an informational hub for Indianapolis-area consumers and producers alike.
• Worked to create a series of production techniques which will provide a benchmark for existing and future member farms.
• Worked to create a series of post-harvest handling standards which will provide a benchmark for existing and future member farms.

DISCUSSION

This SARE grant has afforded each IndyGrown member farm with a wide range of learning opportunities. These opportunities came about through successes and obstacles alike. One of the obstacles was the simple fact that each member farmer had an incredibly-limited amount of time to devote to the conception and implementation of IndyGrown’s initiatives. This frequently made regular meetings difficult, put an undue burden on particular farmers, and diminished the capacity of IndyGrown to fully pursue its goals. A solution to this, which IndyGrown will explore for any future projects, is the possibility of outsourcing event-specific planning and implementation. This would allow member farmers to continue focusing on the income-generating work of running successful farms, while also providing opportunities for non-farmer individuals to take on a supportive role.

Another obstacle experienced during this process was that not all of the initial member farms continued to operate as time passed. These farms ceased to exist for a variety of reasons, but the fact that they halted so quickly and without leaving any imprint on Indianapolis’ food landscape raises the possibility that the existence of a well-established and active urban farm advocacy and support organization (i.e. IndyGrown) might have prevented such sudden dissolutions. The fact that these farms stopped operating also meant that the core group of member farms was smaller-than-expected and that the member farmers had to take on more responsibilities than anticipated. Over the next year, IndyGrown intends to recruit additional farmers and food-related organizations, in an attempt to increase its public presence and spread the management responsibilities across a larger number of people.

One of the primary lessons from this process was the realization that our original goals were not the best solution to our individual, and collective, obstacles. The original grant proposal was created with the intent of combining the member farmers’ relatively-small outputs in order to better meet the demands of current restaurant clients and possible institutional clients. After trialing this type of collaborative sales and distribution strategy, the member farmers realized that this approach added an undue burden upon their existing sales approaches. The practical obstacles inherent in combining and redistributing produce under this type of arrangement were not overcome by an increase of sales to existing clients or potential new ones. The small size of the member farmers’ operations allows them to achieve a certain degree of nimbleness in their respective interactions with chefs – a nimbleness that is highly-valued by the farmers, as well as the chefs.

Upon this realization, IndyGrown decided that it would be best to set aside this particular goal of the original grant and focus, instead, on the group’s potential to highlight the existence of urban farms to current and future customers, to facilitate the entry of new urban farms into the Indianapolis market, and to continue working as a unified voice for urban farmers in regards to food and urban planning policy in Indianapolis.

This question of how collaboration can assist highly-individualistic enterprises is a fascinating one, and deserves continued consideration. As small farms steadily increase in number and become a more visible presence throughout the country, it will become more attractive (and necessary) for individual farms to collaborate with others, so as to more forcefully voice their opinions on issues related to the continued success of small farms (such as land use policies, institutional purchasing requirements, and agricultural training programs). How can this collaboration be successful in ways that avoid diluting the particular brand of each participating farm? How do such initiatives succeed in encouraging the establishment of new farms without seeming to undermine the operations of existing farms? These are just a few of the issues that should be taken into account by others who might be considering such a collaborative endeavor.

OUTREACH

IndyGrown promoted itself and its initiatives primarily through the existing professional and customer networks established by member farms. These efforts were especially clustered around a farm tour that IndyGrown hosted in the fall of 2013. This tour provided fifty Indianapolis residents (nearly all who had had no previous experience with the member farms) an opportunity to visit the IndyGrown member farms, to talk with the respective farmer about the unique aspects of her/his operation, as well as explore the ways in which additional urban farms might be incorporated into the Indianapolis landscape. This event was promoted through the participating farms’ social media networks, as well as through local food-related organizations and individuals. IndyGrown anticipates hosting such a tour on an annual basis, which will allow it to reach a larger number of Indianapolis residents, in addition to providing participants to visit new member farms and witness how current member farms continue to evolve.

IndyGrown members also had the opportunity to present information about this project at the annual Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) conference in 2014. This was a unique opportunity for these farmers to discuss the obstacles and successes they had experienced with other farmers engaging in similar efforts. A recording of this presentation is available on NCR-SARE's YouTube channel or at: https://youtu.be/pC1cU_aFLdY

IndyGrown member farms will continue to promote the group’s existence and initiatives by providing informational cards at various farmers’ markets each attend around Indianapolis, as well as encouraging individual consumers and restaurant customers to purchase and display an IndyGrown decal, indicating their support for local, small-scale agriculture.