FARMWISE Newsletter: June 2026

Sourcing from local farms and food businesses is a known priority for IU Dining’s leadership and, over the years, they have made this commitment clear by investing time and dollars to build direct relationships with farmers and food producers and identifying and prioritizing local suppliers within their distribution networks.

FARMWISE Indiana and the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Program are hosting a Field Day and Melon Tasting Event on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.

Join FARMWISE Indiana for one of two FREE Regional Wholesale Connect events designed to bring together Indiana producers and wholesale buyers in a relationship-focused setting. These events provide an opportunity to showcase your products, build connections, learn what buyers are looking for, and explore new market opportunities.

Each month we ask our Team to share a few highlights of their regional food system work from their perspective. It’s hard to capture all of the meetings, Connections, farm visits, and meaningful conversations into one blog post, but a few highlights from June are below!

School food procurement is one of the most consistent and high-volume food purchasing relationships in any community. For rural Indiana districts like Richland-Bean Blossom, local sourcing decisions made inside one food service office can have immense impact on nearby farms.

FARMWISE Newsletter: May 2026

Each month we will recap just a few of the many activities of our Team across Indiana’s food system. From farm tours to our popular Connections, we stay busy and hit the ground every day to meet farmers, buyers, and food system supporters where they are.

At Shoals Community Schools, the agriculture education is immersive and integrated. This ecosystem of garden produce, livestock, students as caretakers, cafeteria and culinary class involvement, and not to mention the welding shop class providing equipment pieces, exposes all grade levels to the origin of food.

Value chain professionals sit at the intersection of agriculture, business, community, and human connection. The work requires far more than helping move food from farms to buyers. It takes trust, listening, strategy, persistence, and a deep commitment to serving people and communities.

FARMWISE Newsletter: April 2026

Selling into wholesale markets is an opportunity for producers to streamline their markets and potentially achieve more stability than with farmers markets and other direct to consumer opportunities.

FARMWISE Indiana specializes in working in the “intermediated market channel” space. In other words, we work to move food from farm to wholesale buyer.

FARMWISE Indiana is proud to lead efforts in southern Indiana as the Regional Lead for farm to school.

When FARMWISE Indiana relaunched as a non-profit in early April, we were blown away by the positive and supportive responses we received from our partners in Indiana and beyond.

FARMWISE Newsletter: March 2026

After nearly two years housed at Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI), FARMWISE Indiana is taking the next step to ensure that locally produced food is accessible to more Hoosiers. 

In early March, the FARMWISE Team attended the Indiana Horticulture and Small Farm Conference. Whereas Jodee and Heather have been many times, this was a new(er) experience for our Team Members. Laura Stoltz, Jen Musall, and Becky Landes shared their experiences.

The FARMWISE Team uses data collected and analyzed to inform how we perform outreach and work with partners. What can feel tedious to some is actually quite informative and points to ways we can do more, grow networks, and help build capacity.

Recently Value Chain Professionals Greg Koehler and Audrey Kaul shared a bit of their insight to projects related to organizational and purchasing data.

Our Value Chain Professionals travel hundreds of miles across their regions each month with the sole purpose of learning, connecting, and collaborating. It is through these miles traveled that we discover opportunity. FARMWISE Indiana Value Chain Professional Laura Stoltz shares an opportunity she recently discovered in her region.