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Thanks to all who attended the FGA Annual Meeting and Food Tasting on November 10, 2011. Kathy Cooley, president for FGA, and steering committee members gave reports on FGA interests and projects. Also FGA members voted for officers.
Bryan Robbins, director of the Greensburg Farmers' Market, shared the news that Greensburg, Batesville, Brookville and Shelbyville Farmers' Markets received a USDA FMPP grant, meaning that these markets will now be able to accept EBT transactions. A big thumbs up to Bryan and all who worked on making this happen!
Dale Oelker from Kids Against Hunger gave an informative presentation on the organization and how we can help reduce hungry children in the USA and feed starving children throughout the world. To find out more, visit http://www.kidsagainsthunger.org/ .
A special thanks to chef Chris Stange and the staff at Hillcrest Golf and Country Club for preparing our local foods. As one member commented, "I never thought I would get so excited over brussel sprouts and swiss chard". All of the food was delicious and I do not think anyone left hungry. Thanks, too, to the growers who shared their produce.
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Over 35 members attended the FGA Fall Seminar and Annual Meeting held November 8, 2010 at the Hansen Center. Members enjoyed sampling local food while listening to featured speaker, Barb Hanley, coordinator for Granny's Garden School . Granny's Garden School is the largest and most comprehensive school garden program in the Midwest. Hanley, a former 3rd grade science teacher, shared how this project transformed Loveland Schools, allowing students a hands-on experience with nature and gardening. The program has grown exponentially to include 100 gardens of various produce that primary and elementary students use in their school cafeteria, share with local food banks, and more. Granny's Garden School is the model inspiring the cooperative efforts of FGA and Margaret Mary Community Hospital to develop gardens at Batesville Community Schools and St. Louis School.
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The Food and Growers Association of Laughery Valley and Environs recently received recognition at the INShape Indiana annual summit held on September 29th at IndianaStateUniversity. INShape Indiana is Governor Mitch Daniel's program to improve the health of Indiana citizens and communities. Daniels launched INShape Indianain 2005 to challenge Hoosiers to eat better, move more and avoid tobacco.
The theme of this year's conference was "Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Communities," showcasing strategies and resources available to improve the health of smaller communities. ISU hosted the conference.
Daniels spoke at the conference and applauded all of the organizations around the state, including the FGA, for their creativity and initiative. Referring to the national health care debate, Daniels said the most important thing Indiana citizens can do is to take better care of themselves so they don't require as much health care in the first place, he said.
"The greatest health care reform imaginable would be to reform person by person, school by school, town by town, business by business in the way we live our lives in the first place so we need less health care at each stage of life," he said.
FGA was invited to the summit because of our selection last year by the Indiana University School of Nursing as an organization promoting a healthier community.
Kathy Cooley, president, and Patty Reding, vice president, presented a breakout session at the summit and are shown here receiving the award from State health commissioner Judith Monroe, MD, and Governor Mitch Daniels. Over 50 people attended the breakout session. Our audience included city planners, public health officials, health professionals and students. The presentation was very well received. The summit and the enthusiasm for our organization at the state level confirmed that we have a great responsibility to continue with our mission of promoting a sustainable, local food system.
Please join our organization to show your support for our program.
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