Food Apartheid Panel
The facts are that if you are Black or Latino in this county you are much more likely to live in an area where it’s hard to get healthy food - and that’s no accident. It’s systemic racism. Join us to hear from three BIPOC farmers from the Indianapolis area who are working against the food apartheid systems in their communities. We’ll hear how the nonprofit farms, Flanner Farm and Lawrence Community Gardens, are empowering youth and creating food security, and how Garcia’s Gardens, a commercial veggie farm in Indy, is building a thriving urban farm. This panel discussion builds on the Hoosier Young Farmers Podcast episode “Food Apartheid.” We’ll dig deeper into the stories of the farmers in the episode, and hear what’s working - and what work is still ahead - in the fight against food apartheid. Listen to the full podcast series here on the HYFC Meet the Farmers page.
Sharrona Moore, Lawrence Community Garden
Sharrona is the founder and Executive Director at Lawrence Community Gardens Youth Farm. The farm is located on the far eastside of Indianapolis/Lawrence area, in heart of America’s largest food desert. In 2016, she partnered with Monarch Beverage to grow food for the local pantries and to provide affordable access to fresh, organic, produce for their community. Sharrona has a certificate in Urban Agriculture from Purdue Extension, is a Junior Master Gardener Leader, and certified by Homeland Security as a Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) member. She is also Neighborhood Food Champion for the Far Eastside, a member of the Indy Food Council, a member of National Farmers Union, a member of Indiana Grown Network, and a founding member of the Indiana Black Farmers Cooperative. She operates Lawrence Community Garden’s mobile farm stand that distributes fresh organic produce to the communities that have high populations of residents with low to no-access to transportation. Sharrona enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends. lawrencecommunitygardens@yahoo.com
Sibeko Jywanza, Flanner House
Sibeko is Director of Food Justice at Flanner House. The Food Justice division of Flanner House is comprised of a 1.9-acre farm, flower garden, fruit tree orchard, youth employment program called F.E.E.D (Farming, Education, Employment, Distribution), Auto Tech program, and Cleo’s Bodega which includes both a grocer and café. Each of these barrier busting initiatives are changing lives and yielding evolution in its district. The Food Justice division is also in position to be used as a program model across the city addressing food deserts, crime prevention among youth, and employment development Sibeko’s community involvement reaches far beyond Flanner House. He serves as Mayoral Appointee on the Food Advisory Council, founding board member of Vanguard Collegiate, Vice President of The Exchange at The Indianapolis Urban League, Board Member and City County Council appointee of the Department of Public Works, and coordinator with The Indianapolis Kwanzaa Committee. While these are a miniature caption of his community involvement, it does caption his commitment to community and man-kind. When Sibeko is not in a meeting or attending an event, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, reading a great fiction story and/or going to community events. sjywanza@flannerhouse.org
Daniel Garcia, Garcia's GardensDaniel's family has been farming vegetables commercially in the Far Eastside neighborhood of Indianapolis since 2015. They provide fresh healthy food to central Indiana using sustainable and organic methods. The farm employs three part time team members during the main season and grows veggies year around. The farm also produces honey, fruit, native edibles, and maple syrup all on 1.5 acres. garciadanielc@yahoo.com
Kayte Young, WFIU Earth Eats
Kayte Young is a Multimedia Producer for WFIU and producer of the podcast Earth Eats for Indiana Public Radio. Kayte discovered her passion for growing, cooking, foraging and preserving fresh food when she moved to Bloomington in 2007. With a background in construction, architecture, nutrition education and writing, she brings curiosity and a love of storytelling to a show about all things edible. Kayte raises bees, a small family and a yard full of food in Bloomington’s McDoel Gardens neighborhood. younka@iu.edu
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