About NWI Food Council
The NWI Food Council cultivates a just, thriving and regenerative food system for all in NW Indiana.
We’re a grassroots organization that launched in December 2015 with support from NIRPC, Valpo Law, Food Bank of NWI, and Purdue Extension. The Council serves all of Northwest Indiana: Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Starke, and Pulaski counties.
The NWI Food Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible.
Mission & Vision
The NWI Food Council work covers service and support; education and outreach; and policy and advocacy for our local food system to cultivate a just, thriving and regenerative food system for all in NW Indiana.
We envision a local food system where everyone has affordable access to nutritious food that is grown by regional producers using regenerative practices. Through community-based strategies, we work towards collaboration, healthy ecosystems, equity and resiliency for all in NW Indiana.
NWI Food Council History
The seed was planted in April 2015, when 100 activists, business owners, chefs, community members, educators, farmers, and foodservice operators from around the region gathered for the Local Food Summit, which had been organized by NIRPC, Purdue Extension, and Valpo University Law.
After the event, a task force was formed to begin guiding action on all of the passion and ideas that participants had developed. Kris Parker from Purdue Extension facilitated our small group of volunteers, who worked diligently for months to form the Council.
In December 2015, we officially launched as the NWI Food Council with board members from across the region, representing diverse sectors of the local food system.
The task force members were:
Arleen Peterson, Food Bank of Northwest Indiana
Gabrielle Biciunas, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Committee (NIRPC)
James Cannon, GrowLocal
Lynda Bodie-Fernandez, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy
Lyndsay Ploehn, Purdue Extension - Porter County
Nicole Negowetti, Valparaiso University Law
Sarah Highlen, community activist & entrepreneur
The founding board members of NWI Food Council were:
Arleen Peterson (Founding Treasurer), Food Bank of Northwest Indiana
Dominique Edwards, Graduate Student - Sustainable Urban Development, DePaul University
Elias Crim (Founding Secretary), Solidarity Hall and C-Lab
Gabrielle Biciunas, Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Committee (NIRPC)
James Cannon, GrowLocal
LaTonya Carter-Sanders, Purdue Extension - Lake County
Lynda Bodie-Fernandez, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy
Lyndsay Ploehn, Purdue Extension - Porter County
Nicole Negowetti (Founding Vice President), Valparaiso University Law
Reverend Marty Henderson, Peace Baptist Church
Sarah Highlen (Founding President), community activist & entrepreneur
Our Work Timeline
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We received $25,000 from the Indiana Grown Food Council Development Grant, $75,000 from the Chicago Food System Resilience Fund, and another $25,00 grant from the No Kid Hungry program.
Our education efforts included working with Purdue Extension’s Annie’s Project, Valparaiso University, and IU’s Environmental Resilience Institute.
We expanded our collaboration with Billie Warren of Jibek Mbwaken and the Pokagon Band of the Potwatomi Tribe.
Gabis Arboretum became the official home of the NWI Food Council.
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15 migrant farmworkers attended our Latinx Farmer Listening Session in partnership with FamilyFarmed, Proteus and the Pax Center.
Veronica Jalomo, Purdue Extension Community Wellness Coordinator and council board member, coordinated a successful Great Lakes Apple Crunch with several area schools.
Heather Tallman from Indiana Grown visited NWI for a discussion about how to strengthen opportunities for locally-grown food in grocery store chains.
Anne was nominated by Terri to be interviewed by the North American Food Systems Network as a food systems changemaker.
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We partnered with The Legacy Foundation, Purdue University Cooperative Extension, City of Gary Department of Environmental Affairs/Green Urbanism, and City of East Chicago to launch Lake County Eats Local.
Our team attended the Indiana Land Use Summit, the Co-ops and Diverse Communities Summit, and the Power of Procurement Summit.
Our team presented at LaPorte County Master Gardeners Brown Bag Series.
Our team facilitated local ingredient sourcing for County Line Orchard's Farm To Table dinner.
With generous funding from the SIA Foundation and the Crown Point Community Foundation, we launched the Farm Tool Library.
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Our Dominique & Anne served as panelists in the Michigan City Healthy Food Access Forum to discuss limited healthy food access in Indiana.
We expanded our network within the local food community by attending the Northeast Indiana Local Food Forum and the Indiana Small Farms Conference.
Our team facilitated local ingredient sourcing for County Line Orchard's Farm To Table dinner.
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We launched our series of casual Meet-ups, which took place two dozen times throughout Northwest Indiana from 2017-2018, building key connections.
Over 150 community members, farmers, business owners, and non-profit representatives came together for our first-ever FED: Food Expo & Discussion. This tremendously successful community event now takes place annually.
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Our team volunteered at County Line Orchard's Farm To Table dinner in exchange for donated venue space for our upcoming FED event.
Our Anne facilitated the local ingredient sourcing for Sunday Supper with Farms, Forks & Foodies at Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City, Indiana.
We represented the region at the Indiana Local Food Summit in Indianapolis and the Indiana Healthy Food Access Policy Forum.
Our Lyndsay and Sarah took part in a Purdue Beginning Farmer field trip across Vermont and Maine, visiting 14 sustainable farms.
Our team joined dozens of other volunteers in constructing hoop houses and garden beds at Gary's Faith Farm.
Our team played a role in the team that planned and staffed The Soirée, a fundraiser for the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.
Our Nicole and Dominique presented at Harvard as part of the Just Food Forum on Land Use, Rights and Ecology.