Growing Places Indy is a non-profit organization with a vision for a closed-loop system for healthier communities, sustainable agriculture in urban and rural areas, an expanding local food economy, and a vibrant and diverse food culture in Indianapolis. Their mission is captured in their slogan: “Grow well, Eat well, Live well, and Be well.” In addition to providing food through urban gardens, Growing Places Indy (GPI) also incorporates and provides education on practices such as yoga, meditation, healthy cooking, and bicycling through their various workshops and after-school programs. The HLG staff is proud to stand by this holistic approach to healthfulness in our community.
We arrived at one of the urban farm locations with very limited farming experience. The GPI staff eagerly demonstrated how to properly harvest each of the different crops and then split us up into groups to get our hands dirty. Between the eleven of us, we harvested chard, collard greens, spinach, lettuce, kale, beets, microgreens, and more. After harvesting was complete, we washed and packaged the different vegetables to be delivered to local restaurants around Indy. A GPI employee delivers these orders on her bicycle!
GPI hosts farmers markets (in both the summer and winter months) that accept SNAP/food stamps in an effort to make healthy nutrients more available to the surrounding community. Supporting an organization that is looking out for lower-income families is an absolute joy for HLG. The accessibility of Growing Places Indy and their various properties throughout the city is truly admirable. And they did not send us home empty-handed—each HLG employee that volunteered left with a bag of mixed greens and microgreens to enjoy!
