• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Michiana Business News

Michiana's Leading Regional Business News Site

  • Home
  • Industries
    • Agribusiness
    • Banking
    • Entertainment
    • Health & Wellness
    • Hospitality
    • Manufacturing & Technology
    • Media
    • Real Estate & Building
    • Professional Services
    • Small Business
    • Tourism & Recreation
    • Transportation & Logistics
    • Utilities
  • Community
    • Around Michiana
    • Best of Michiana Business Awards
    • Business News
    • Diversity
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Environment
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Environmental Responsibility
    • Exporting
    • Gaming/Gambling
    • Government
    • Infrastructure
    • Leader & CEO Profiles
    • Leadership
    • Made in Michiana
    • Making a Difference
    • Philanthropy
    • Place making
    • Workforce
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts & Entertainment
  • About
    • Privacy
    • Terms
    • Contact us
  • Register
  • Login
You are here: Home / Community / Around Michiana / Indiana Grown surveying members to find ways to strengthen interest among consumers to support local agriculture

Indiana Grown surveying members to find ways to strengthen interest among consumers to support local agriculture

November 5, 2020 – By Larry Avila Leave a Comment

Indiana is nation’s fifth largest corn-producing state according to government estimates.

Agriculture experts say strong interest already exists across Indiana to buy meats and produce from local sources, but state officials believe that movement can be broadened with the right focus.

That’s the goal of Indiana Grown through a survey it is conducting in partnership with Purdue University with a $200,000 grant from the USDA Federal State Marketing Improvement Program.

“The Indiana Grown initiative is in its fifth year and with this milestone came great programmatic growth across all sectors of value-added agriculture,” said Heather Tallman, director of Indiana Grown. “In order to effectively measure this growth, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture/Indiana Grown have partnered with Purdue University to survey our membership to measure our economic impact as a brand.”

There are now 1,712 active members in the program, including 163 from North Central and Northwest. The program adds one new member daily and every county across the state is represented.

Indiana Grown is exploring consumer awareness of the program and will measure their willingness to pay for locally made and grown products. The organization also will examine the drivers and benefits of producer participation in Indiana Grown.

Data from consumers and producers will be gathered and analyzed to determine the economic impact of the Indiana Grown program.

The survey was sent to the Indiana Grown members and contains questions regarding past participation in the program, sales figures, and overall business performance. The online survey closes Dec. 7. 

The state and Purdue researchers will develop an economic model to scientifically evaluate the current economic impacts of a state branding initiative, like Indiana Grown, both at a regional and state level. The results will be shared with stakeholders and the public.

Tallman said her organization hopes people across the state use the resources of Indiana Grown to find “agriculture in all of its forms in their own zip codes.”

“Consumers want to support their community and our website, maps, trails and guides can help point them in the right direction,” Tallman said. “It is more important than ever before that consumers support farmers, producers, artisans and locally owned restaurants (and) whether you buy direct from farmers online, shop at a farmers market, choose a locally sourced item off of a menu or grab a familiar name at the grocery store, it is our hope that consumers choose locally first.”

Author

  • Larry Avila Larry Avila

    Larry is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience working with daily newspapers and business-to-business publications around the Midwest. Avila is a Michigan native and a graduate of Central Michigan University.

    Follow Larry Avila on:

Filed Under: Around Michiana, Business News, Agribusiness Tagged With: local agriculture, Around Michiana, Indiana Grown, Purdue University, survey, buy local

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Post Author

Larry Avila Larry Avila

Footer

  • Home
  • Register
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Contact us
  • About

Copyright © 2023 · Linker Media Group, Inc · All rights reserved