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Organic Farms 13 results

The Work of Beth Edwards, Award-Winning Environmental Reporter

Beth Edwards was an award-winning environmental reporter who, along with Enrique Saenz, developed the Indiana Environmental Reporter at Indiana University into a source for environmental news that was respected statewide and nationally. Limestone Post looks at four of her reporting projects: on coal ash, confined animal feeding operations, Martinsville’s drinking water, and a controversial coal-to-diesel plant. Read Beth Edwards’s work here.

Local Beekeepers Labor with Love as Honey Bees Decline Worldwide

Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. Pesticides, drought, and habitat destruction, are just a few reasons the bees are dying. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers, like writer Erin Hollinden, are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. Click here to read Erin’s article.

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Resilient Gardens Bend to the Will of Mother Nature

How to create a garden that is resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather? Jami Scholl, a writer and gardener who was active in the early stages of the urban agriculture movement in Bloomington, says we must work with the forces of nature and “the basic environmental limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” Click here for Jami’s tips on creating a resilient garden.

New People’s Open Pantry Offers Access to Healthy Food

Building equity and supporting community access to healthy food are at the heart of the People’s Open Pantry, a new initiative under the aegis of the People’s Market, writes Ellen Wu. But starting a pantry during a pandemic takes dedication and planning. Wu talked to several of the people involved in the effort. Click here to read the story.

Hoosiers Take On Home Gardening

Home gardens not only create access to healthy food, they also offer physical, mental health, economic, and environmental benefits, writes Beth Edwards of the Indiana Environmental Reporter. No wonder home gardening has gained in popularity every year since the 2008 financial crisis. Sheltering at home has even more Hoosiers digging in. Click here to learn more.

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Ethos of New People’s Market Focuses on Food Justice, Mutual Aid

A group of vendors, community organizers, and university professors began meeting last year to plan what would become the People’s Market, “a farmers market model unprecedented in Bloomington and Indiana,” writes IU history professor Ellen Wu. When COVID-19 “upended everything,” the group quickly reoriented to create a drive-thru CSA. Click here to read about the People’s Market.

Small Farms Are Putting the ‘Community’ in CSAs

Local farms that participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offer more than just fresh produce. Not only do they make us feel better about how our food is produced, they also create community and enforce a sense of purpose, writes Jared Posey. While CSAs give us far more than we pay for, are they at risk? Click here to read the full story.

Making Organic Food Affordable

Foods from who-knows-where, loaded with marketing claims that mean who-knows-what, can make finding a healthful meal a nightmare, writes Jared Posey. He shares his tips on how to make organic food more affordable — from growing your own organic produce to making your own organic “value-added” products. Click here to read the full story.

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Local Farmers Prepare for Spring Market Season

Knowing where your food comes from is more important than ever. With the first Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market of the season on Saturday (and markets in Ellettsville and Smithville starting soon), getting to know the farmers who produce it is easier than ever. Photographer Chaz Mottinger visited three farms to give us a closer look as they prepare for market. Click here to see her photos.

Food Icon Alice Waters to Help Launch IU Food Project

Some of our favorite restaurants might never have happened without world-renowned chef, author, and food activist Alice Waters. Writer Benjamin Beane spoke to Waters about her visit to Bloomington on April 6-8 to officially launch the IU Food Project, which was created to address the challenges of providing sustainable food for a changing planet. Click here to read the full story.

Can Permaculture Make Society Sustainable? Part 1

Permaculture, says writer Daniel Bingham, originated as an attempt to reshape industrial agriculture into sustainable ecological design that works in harmony with the natural world. First applied to farmsteads, it’s also used to create self-reliant homesteads. Part philosophy, part methodology, and part science, permaculture integrates humans with the natural environment. Click here to read the full story.

Getting Fresher Greens This Winter — Indoor Gardening Is Easier and Cheaper Than Ever

Nothing beats just-picked veggies, and the cold, short days of winter need not stop you from having them. Susan M. Brackney shows how greens, sprouts, microshoots, and vegetables can be grown cheaply and easily indoors. One reason, she explains, is that lighting has become more efficient. T-what?! Click here to read the full story.