Now in its eighth season, the Indy Winter Farmers Market (IWFM), an initiative of Growing Places Indy, has provided thousands of residents in the downtown area fresh produce, meats and dairy, but its latest venture has led it into an area of the city experiencing the hardships of a so-called food desert.
Recently IWFM has migrated from The Platform near City Market to the Circle City Industrial Complex (CCIC) in the Near Eastside neighborhood.
The 500,000-square-foot former manufacturing site, now home to a wide variety of artists, industrial and office tenants, has welcomed the market with open arms and has ultimately helped it expand its reach.
“The new location at CCIC places us in a thriving downtown neighborhood and provides plenty of space to grow the market,” said Sarah Adams, IWFM’s market manager.
In the new space, the market will use 14,000 square feet to welcome 13 new vendors, for a total of 65. Visitors can expect food trucks and ample parking options, said Adams, who mentioned the latter was an influence on the market’s move.
“When we outgrew The Platform, mainly the parking problems were affecting vendors’ sales, and we couldn’t expand our vendors because we were limited to 41 stalls. When we lost the two parking lots last spring, we began talking to Larry Jones, president of Teagen Development,” said Adams.
Those at IWFM are also excited about the new customers they have the potential to reach, especially those who participate in the state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The market was awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase its SNAP usage. Liz Wertz, of Growing Places Indy, serves as the coordinator for this new initiative.
“Being recently declared a food desert and federal Promise Zone, we’re excited to help increase access to fresh, healthy and seasonal produce on the Near Eastside,” Wertz said. “Not only are SNAP benefits accepted at IWFM, we also have two SNAP-matching programs. These programs enable a SNAP user to double their purchasing power, dollar-for-dollar, on up to $40 a week. For example, debit $40 from your EBT card, and we’ll give you $80 worth of tokens to spend. We are thankful for the help from the Indy Hunger Network and other sponsors for making these programs possible.”
Those tokens can be used on SNAP-eligible products such as eggs, meat, cheeses, dairy and others.
Although the wintertime doesn’t provide as many fresh, local produce options as other seasons, the IWFM offers another special program for SNAP called Eat Well Bucks to encourage users to choose healthy items. Customers swipe their Hoosier Works cards and receive vouchers to spend at the IWFM. Vendors that accept Eat Well Bucks display a yellow sign indicating such.
Within the first two weeks of the market’s move, the IWFM staff and vendors have welcomed more than 1,000 new and returning customers. Wertz said the market sees about 600 to 1,000 weekly visitors, about 20 people utilize the SNAP program per month and more than 50 vendors accept SNAP. She said one of the big goals is to continue to increase the number of SNAP shoppers.
The market is currently working with neighborhood organizations to target more SNAP-specific locations, such as some of the Indianapolis Public Schools on 10th Street, where they provide non-perishable items at their food pantries.
Although healthy food access is important, preparing those items once bought is just as important, mentioned Wertz, who said the market encourages healthy habits.
“Our biggest way we do that is through visual things such as taste tests and cooking demos. Some of these winter vegetables can seem intimidating,” she said.
Despite the recent incorrect news release published by local media outlets stating the market no longer existed after leaving The Platform, Adams wants the community to know IWFM is here to stay and is looking to add a variety of new vendors in the future, such as wineries and more natural cleaning products.
The IWFM operates Saturdays 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. November through April at Circle City Industrial Complex, 1125 E. Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46202, Door G10. For more information, visit Indywinterfarmersmarket.org.
Get involved with the Indy Winter Farmers Market
Volunteer opportunities
The farmers market has a variety of volunteer opportunities. Those volunteering at the market have the option of working the first shift (7:30–9:30 a.m.) or the second shift (noon–2 p.m.) Each shift includes 30 minutes of personal shopping time, as volunteers receive $5 in tokens for the market as well as a $5 Sun King gift card. Sign up for the newsletter at Indywinterfarmersmarket.org.
The Power of One Challenge
Each week at the IWFM, shoppers will have the opportunity to put $1 or any spare change they have in the IWFM Power of One collection jar at the Market Information Table. One hundred percent of these funds will be used for the Eat Well Initiative to provide individuals using EBT/SNAP who shop at the IWFM with additional Eat Well tokens. The goal is to provide every individual who uses EBT at the IWFM with an additional $5 to $10 in Eat Well Initiative tokens to enhance their purchasing power of the good produce, meats and dairy for sale at the IWFM.
