CELEBRATING FOOD

Edible Indy celebrates food and you. Food + Social Media = Our Foodie Party. These social media shoutouts toast the food we love, the food you share and the joy of experiencing something new. Tag #EDIBLEINDY and maybe your masterpiece will score a seat at our Celebrating Food table.

@amccarty333

@feedmeindy @angelah67j

giordanospizza & @angelamichelleg @circlesicecream

@jess_marvelous

Real Food

for Indiana Youth: Edible Indy

By Jennifer L. Rubenstein

After four years of telling the real stories of our food community, my husband and I are excited to introduce our new nonprofit organization: the Edible Indy Foundation. This foundation is our continued commitment to connect Indiana youth with real food.

Edible Indy Foundation Manifesto

We believe all children are entitled to sustainable and nourishing food. Yet in Indiana, one youth in five goes hungry on a regular basis and 432,000 rely on a free or reduced-price lunch program—in the Indianapolis Public Schools, 77 percent of students fall into this category.

We believe all youth should have empowering opportunities that include education on growing, producing and developing foods that can nourish the whole self. We will help Indiana’s youth learn where real food comes from and the impact it has on their daily life.

We believe food is medicine and poor nutrition impacts childhood behavior, development and growth. Feeding Indiana’s future generations with knowledge will grow the minds, bodies and communities of the future.

We will work directly with individuals, communities and organizations statewide to access available opportunities that reach the minds of Indiana’s youth. The core strategy of our foundation is to provide micro-grants and resources to further these goals. ——— In early 2018, the foundation will launch its grant application program via the Edible Indy website. To learn more about the foundation you can find us on Facebook and Instagram @edibleindyfoundation or feel free to reach out via email to jennifer@edibleindy.com.

In fulfilling the mission of this foundation, we invite you to join us and Pia Urban Café in a paella pop-up dinner benefiting Outreach Inc., Hope for the Homeless, on Thursday, October 26, 2017.

Maria Bertram, owner of Pia Urban Café, and her father, José Cartagena will cook up an authentic Puerto Rican paella dinner. José will transport his family paella recipe and paella pan from Puerto Rico for this one-of-a-kind dinner that will include mojitos, a lesson on making the famous dish for a crowd, plus a few other surprises!

José, a retired professor and college president, now spends his time investing in the community where he lives in Puerto Rico. Paella is a traditional meal for many of the people who live near Pia Urban Café. By supporting this dinner not only will you get a delicious meal, but you will also help feed the homeless. The proceeds from this event will directly fund Outreach, a faith-based nonprofit organization in Indianapolis. Outreach serves homeless youth between the ages of 14 and 24 through their drop-in center and high school program. Outreach is committed to helping Indiana’s youth experience positive life transformation and achieve stability. Tickets are limited for this event, so grab them while you can!

Event details

Southeast Indiana - Dearborn County From Our Farms To Your Table...

Come Shopping! Orchards, Farms & Markets

Greystone Family Farm Lawrenceburg, Indiana Beiersdorfer Orchard

Guilford, Indiana Phillips Berry Patch New Alsace, Indiana Salatin’s Farm

Moores Hill, Indiana Specialty Spirits

Great Crescent Brewery Aurora, Indiana At the Barn Winery Logan, Indiana Holtkamp Winery New Alsace, Indiana

WHISKEY CITY FESTIVAL NOV. 4th

#theplace2play Get the Map!

1-800-322-8198 www.visitsoutheastindiana.com

Digging in the Dirt Helps Kids Develop Healthy Habits

By Shauna L. Nosler | Photos courtesy Joris Van Zeghbroeck, Garden Educator, Big Green Indianapolis

Big Green Indianapolis, formerly The Kitchen Community, is on a mission to strengthen communities by accelerating the real-food movement. One of the ways they’re doing this is by introducing Learning Gardens to local schools. The actual gardens are modular raised beds standing 19 inches tall, so kids are eye level with the plants growing in the edible gardens. Established in underserved schools throughout the U.S., Indianapolis is the sixth city to launch the program.

Edible Indy: What is a Learning Garden?

Theresa Vernon, Regional Director, Big Green Indianapolis:

Learning Gardens are outdoor classrooms where teachers inspire students to engage in creative learning. Our mission is to connect children to real food—food that nourishes the body, nourishes the producer and nourishes the planet—encouraging them to make healthier food choices. There’s no better way to do that than handson learning in a Learning Garden.

EI: Are there any gardens “up and running” here yet?

Vernon: Since November we’ve built 20 Learning Gardens in the IPS and Beech Grove City districts and have 10 slated for fall, all in the Metropolitan School District of Warren and Metropolitan School District of Wayne.

EI: How’s the support been?

Vernon: Support to launch in Indianapolis was overwhelming— from Mayor Hogsett’s office to the school districts and the city’s philanthropic community. The Herbert Simon Family Foundation pledged to match dollar for dollar any funds brought in to help us reach our 2020 goal.

EI: That’s amazing! What about the schools? What’s their response?

Vernon: Here’s what the schools are saying:

“Hopefully, the idea of a Learning Garden and outdoor growing and outdoor learning will just become the norm for so many of our elementary schools here in the city,” says Cold Springs School Assistant Principal Tom Hakim. “It could have a potentially a huge impact.”

“The Learning Garden is a godsend for our pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students,” says Stacy Coleman, principal at William McKinley School 39. “Roughly 85 percent qualify to receive free or reduced-price lunch and many don’t have access to fresh food at home.”

Want to start a Learning Garden of your own? Learn more about Big Green Indianapolis and read the full interview with Vernon on EdibleIndy.com.