Muncie city of central Indiana is set to receive a regional food hub allowing food to be supplied from Indiana farms, and a huge part of the project is being made possible by Ball State University, which is about to donate over $300,000 for the hub, according to The Muncie Star Press.
The farm produce will be available for retail, wholesale and institutional markets like restaurants, schools, hospitals or universities.
In May, a study produced by the Department of Agriculture revealed that other proposed food hubs in cities such as Batesville, Elkhart, Evansville, Fort Wayne and Columbus are encountering challenges. Some of the challenges by these areas include finding enough food, lack of cold storage/warehousing space, the high cost of obtaining Good Agriculture Practices certification for small farmers to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards and financing. This means Ball State's effort will be a big influence towards the Muncie food hub's success.
The warehousing space which the Muncie food hub has found is now owned by non-profit Sustainable Muncie, known as GearBox: Muncie A Maker Hub. The building was formerly known as the Cintas industrial laundry building.
Purdue extension agent Michael O'Donnell from Delaware County has signed a letter stating his support of the Muncie food hub. He said that in order for the project to follow through, there is a need for the right amount of growers who have intentions of working together or a business that will monitor the growers.
"I think it's very much up in the air. There just needs to be a number of conversations and meetings to vision this thing out and see what might make sense," said O'Donnell.
Chairman Jason Donati of Muncie's Urban Gardening Initiative, meanwhile, is in full support of the project, saying that a Muncie food hub is a great idea. The Urban Gardening Initiative is an organization encouraging food production in community gardens.
"I hope to continue to see more people learning how to grow their own food, and more families in our downtown neighborhoods having access to locally produced, fresh food options," Donati said.
As of the current moment, there are only three food hubs in Indiana - the Hoosier Harvest Market in Greenfield, the Purple Porch Co-op in South Bend and This Old Farm in Colfax / Clinton County, which has "responsible food, responsibly priced," "rejuvenating the land one farm at a time" and "making ethical food a reality," as their slogans, according to the Associated Press.
