Indiana Flavor

Developing Local and Regional Food Networks

Early in 2008, Purdue Extension, in partnership with the Purdue Center for Regional Development and with funding support from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, began developing and piloting a program to help local and regional communities build community food networks. The following is some additional information about the program.

The Program Need
In many Indiana communities there is a rapidly growing interest in local foods. Some of the factors driving this interest include (1) increased numbers of producers growing specialty crops, (2) an increased demand from consumers for local food products, (3) increased opportunities for the procurement of local foods from institutions such as school corporations, universities, and hospitals, and (4) a surge of entrepreneurs engaging in new food-related ventures.

In many communities where these activities begin to occur, they often stall out or are less effective than they could be. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons that usually relate to one or both of the following root causes: (1) inadequate early involvement from the right regional stakeholders or (2) jumping to a solution (i.e., distribution center, shared-use kitchen, etc.) before having fully developed a holistic, asset-based, information-driven, implementable action plan.

The Opportunity
This is a near-perfect window of opportunity for a pilot program to provide to Indiana communities the facilitative process and subject-mater expertise needed to create clearly-defined, programmatically-sustainable community regional food network efforts. To act upon this opportunity, the combined resources and expertise of Purdue Extension and the Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) with financial support from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), is piloting, Indiana Flavor. This program will be piloted first in Jackson County and the surrounding communities. Using the Jackson County project for program research and development, a working model, including tools and resources, will be ready to roll out statewide in late 2008.

The Program Plan
The responsibility for the development of the Indiana Flavor program rests with Scott Hutcheson, Assistant Program Leader for Economic and Community Development with Purdue Extension and Senior Associate with PCRD. Scott is incorporating aspects of several models including the Foodcheck program developed by Action for Market Towns located in Suffolk, England.

Also integral to the pilot program is the local involvement of the Jackson County Extension Office. This model of a facilitation partnership between Purdue campus and field staff is a vital part of the sustainability of the program beyond the pilot. The following are the high-level tasks for the pilot project and launch of a statewide network for ongoing program delivery.

Component One: Program Research

Scott Hutcheson, along with the assistance of a Purdue graduate assistant, spent about two months researching program models and in the development of a beta version of the Indiana Flavor process, tools, and resources to be used in the pilot project.

Component Two: Jackson County Pilot Project

The pilot program consists of several key phases:

Phase 1: Developing the local Indiana Flavor Team Indiana Flavor Team

This phase includes the identification of the key stakeholders that can help develop and sustain the an Indiana Flavor initiative. This group will be responsible for local planning and implementation.

Phase 2: Involving the Community

Once the Indiana Flavor Team has identified the scope, goals, and objectives of the initiative, this phase assesses the level of interest and support from a broader group of stakeholders. This will likely be accomplished with a "town hall" sort of meeting announcing the initiative and building community consensus.

Phase 3:Assessing the Local Foods-Related Asset

This phase will includes data gathering about the region’s production, processing, marketing, distribution, consumption of locally produced foods. This intelligence is vital input into the subsequent phases.

Phase 4: Identifying Priorities

In this phase the Indiana Flavor evaluates the data collected in Phase 4 and determines the priorities for projects to launch.

Phase 5: Developing Strategy and Action Plans

Once priorities are identified, specific strategies will be defined and action plans developed.

Phase 6: Launching Initiatives

In this phase the Indiana Flavor Team launches initial projects and puts in place a process to support initiatives, monitor progress, and launch subsequent initiatives. During this phase statewide resources are connected with the regional community to assist them with their initiatives.

Component Three: Model Revision and Tool/Resource Development

Once the pilot program is completed, the beta version of the Indiana Flavor tools and resources will be revised based on learnings from the pilot effort. A set of materials will be developed that are general enough to be used in any Indiana community.

Component Four: Preparing for Statewide Roll Out

Once program materials are developed, a statewide Indiana Flavor Facilitator Training session will be conducted to prepare a group of 8-10 professionals who will be equipped to facilitate the process in other communities throughout the state. During this phase, a proposed plan will also be put in place for statewide support and administration of the program.