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Hello friend,
FARMWISE Indiana Inc. is sharing a warm welcome to our farmers and food producers, middle of supply chain businesses, buyers and chefs, and all the support agencies that help make local and regional wholesale food supply chains more robust. We are launching our 501(C)(3) nonprofit structure this spring and look forward to all the ways we can provide service to Indiana's food system by connecting people and creating the markets and pathways for food to move from farm to plate.
How do we do this? We actively build food supply chains and the people-to-people relationships that support sales and markets based on trust and seasonal food availability. We listen, connect, and take action to get stuff done. We look forward to working with you! |
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| Laura Stoltz: Southwest Indiana
This winter has been productive in the southwest region, with successful school–farmer crop planning, buyer meetings to discuss products for menus and shelves, and regular Connections events hosted in a different county each month.
Interest in food-grade grain production continues to grow among southwest Indiana farmers, creating important work to identify reliable markets for these premium crops. These efforts are also highlighting middle-of-the-supply-chain gaps, including food-grade grain milling and regional distribution of locally produced foods.
Looking ahead, FARMWISE will be represented at the Small Farms Conference and the Southern Indiana Grazing Conference as we anticipate the start of the growing season. |
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| Greg Koehler: North Central IndianaIn Indiana’s Upper North Central region, we are facilitating local farm purchasing with East Noble School District and connecting growers with the food hub Region Roots, the small regional distributor Small Batch Distributor, and the larger distributor What Chefs Want to help farmers take advantage of new and existing food procurement systems. We also hosted Connections in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties to spark peer learning and collaboration. In partnership with Purdue Extension, we sponsored the Market Ready training in Marshall County. In addition, we are analyzing multiple sources of Indiana Schools and Indiana Grown for Schools data to draft a market issue brief outlining recent Indiana farm-to-school efforts, along with the associated challenges and opportunities. |
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| Becky Landes: Northeast IndianaFebruary has been a busy and productive month. I’ve been working directly with farmers on crop planning to better align production with the needs and volume demands of school nutrition departments, helping ensure that locally grown products can move more seamlessly into cafeteria menus. I’ve also been meeting with community stakeholders in Steuben and Noble counties for informal coffee conversations focused on strengthening local food connections, identifying opportunities for collaboration, and discussing barriers to expanding local purchasing. These gatherings continue to build momentum and deepen relationships across the regional food system. Be sure to follow the FARMWISE LinkedIn page for the upcoming location and date of our next coffee and local food conversation in Huntington County. |
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| Jen Musall: Lower North Central IndianaThis winter, I’ve been connecting with a wide range of food buyers—including Culinary Arts programs—to strengthen relationships between local farmers and regional food systems. I’ve also spent time engaging with both private and public university farms to better understand their role and impact within the regional food economy. Through FARMWISE Connections meetings, I’ve valued the opportunity to meet with local farmers, hear about their recent successes, and learn more about their goals for the future. Together, these efforts help build meaningful partnerships that support farmers, educators, students, and resilient regional food systems. |
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| Audrey Kaul: Uplands Region of IndianaI’ve been developing a variety of technical assistance resources to better support farmers and buyers. This work includes creating produce availability charts, drafting wholesale guides, and processing auction house data from the 2025 season. Using faxed produce sheets from a 2025 auction house season, I entered data into produce availability charts that outline monthly average prices and weights for each product. Drawing from that auction house data and additional sources, I also created an Indiana produce availability sheet that highlights the harvest timing of different produce varieties throughout the year. |
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| Elissa Booras: Resilient Food Systems Data Analyst
We used metrics developed by the National Farm to Institution Collaborative to research and classify, line by line, which items in IU Dining's food purchases from 2024-25 were from Indiana farms or food businesses.
Out of IU Dining's $18 million budget, we found $4 million in purchases that we are calling Indiana farm and food business impact (INFFBI) purchases. This represents 23% of IU Dining's budget. $1.4 million of this $4 million had direct farm impact- food products either coming from Indiana farms or using ingredients from Indiana farms.
Institutions like University of Kentucky conduct this assessment annually and use it to track and improve their local food spending (which they call KYFFBI). This is the first time that IU Dining's dollar impact on Indiana's food and farm economy has been calculated, and it reflects the significant purchasing power that a large institution can have. |
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Connections: Laura Stoltz
Thursday March 19 Black Lodge Coffee Roasters; New Harmony 9-10CST |
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Connections: Jen Musall
Wednesday February 25 Garden Gate Cafe; 20 E 5th St, Peru, IN 46970 4:30 pm- 5:30 pm
Thursday March 12 Monticello-Union Township Public Library; 321 W. Broadway St., Monticello, IN 47960 4:30 pm- 5:30 pm |
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Connections: Becky Landes
Thursday, February 26 The Fox Den Coffee Shop; Albion, IN 46701 2-4pm
Tuesday, March 17 Coffee Bean Counter; 10 W Franklin St, Huntington |
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| How We Support Local FoodLearn more about how we provide support to regional stakeholders within the food value chain. |
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| What are Your Food Values?Learn more about how individual choices have collective impact. |
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| Local Food NewsFARMWISE Staff and partner updates and activities from across Indiana. |
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