Food insecurity exists in Hamilton County, and urban agriculture can help....
Food insecurity is when a household lacks consistent access to nutritious and affordable food due to a lack of money. In the United States, 12.7% of families are food insecure. In Indiana, that figure is even higher--15.3% of Hoosier families are food insecure. Food pantries in Hamilton County help families all across the county, and the fresh produce distributed by the pantries helps to keep kids and adults healthy. The desire for fresh produce means that almost all food pantries in the county would like to receive more produce to distribute to their families. The more food that is grown in the gardens of Hamilton County, the more produce that can be donated to food pantries. There is no minimum amount of produce required to donate to a food pantry--one small bag of tomatoes from your backyard garden may not seem like much, but the family or families who receive them from the food pantry will be very grateful for them!
How can I help food pantries provide produce to families in need?
Do you have excess produce from your backyard or community garden? Did you buy produce at this week's farmers market or from the grocery store but now realize you're not going to be able to use it all? Click here for a list of food pantries who would love to accept your donations of fresh produce to distribute to those in need. This "Donate Your Vegetables" listing provides the names and addresses of the food pantries as well as the days and times when you can drop off your donations. Every community in Hamilton County has at least one food pantry, so you can easily find a donation location near you.
My business and/or service club would like to "Adopt a Food Pantry" and help.
All businesses and service clubs in Hamilton County are invited to "Adopt a Food Pantry." Many places have canned food drives for food pantries during the holiday season and the goal of this program is for businesses and clubs to have fresh produce drives for the food pantries in the summer. Organizations are asked to designate one or more days this summer to hold produce food drives in which employees and club members donate excess vegetables and fruits that they have grown and/or have bought from the farmers market or grocery store. Produce food drives can be held weekly, monthly, and even just once or twice during the summer. We can help pair you with a local food pantry. Not sure what kind of donation program would work best for your business or club? We can help you create a program! Call us at (317) 773-2181 or email andrew.fritz@hamiltoncounty.in.gov to discuss options and get more information. Special thanks to the Sheridan Rotary Club and BLASTmedia for being our inaugural partners for this program!
How can I easily prepare and cook produce?
There are endless numbers of delicious produce recipes for every type of vegetable! You can download some basic recipes along with preparation and storage tips here, or you can download a select few recipes that are in ready-to-print format by clicking here.
Also, be sure to check out Purdue Extension's FoodLink℠. This excellent resource offers not only recipes, but also preparation, cleaning, and storage tips for produce. Click here to review basic information and recipes for different types of fruit and vegetables and click hereto see a selection of videos on produce preparation demonstrations and tips.
Another informative resource is the series of videos produced by Mother Hubbard's Cupboard in Bloomington, Indiana. These videosdemonstrate how to preserve produce by canning, water baths, and freezing.
Special thanks to Meijer #230 in Noblesville for donating spices. SWCD staff printed cards with recipes and preparation tips for 8 different vegetables and provided them to food pantries in the county to distribute to food insecure families. The spices donated by Meijer will be given to food pantries for use with the recipe cards and will encourage consumption of fresh, healthy vegetables. Thank you, Meijer!