News

ISDA says it remains committed to Indiana Grown program

Indiana’s Director of Agriculture says funding cuts have been challenging for the state’s Indiana Grown program. Don Lamb tells Brownfield that the division had about 15 percent of its budget cut.  “That means some of that program that Indiana Grown has been able to do is not being funded the way it was before,” he says.  “But we’re committed to making sure that we still fully supply programming.”

He says ensuring all elements of the state’s agriculture industry are able to thrive is crucial. “We’re going to take some money from some other places, and we’re going to get a little skinny here and there,” he says.  “We’re going to do more work with less people and we’re going to work really hard to make sure that that’s a part of our program.”

Lamb says developing local food systems helps create diverse opportunities in agriculture. “Every part of agriculture is important,” he says.  “It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, organic or conventional. We all need to be on the same team because in agriculture, if we’re not, we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot. There’s plenty of opportunity for everyone in the food space.”

Indiana Grown was relaunched in 2015 and is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year.

AUDIO: ISDA Director Don Lamb