The six chickens at home in an Avondale Meadows urban farm on the east side appear healthy and happy. Their pen is clean. They have food and water, and they often listen to rap music from a nearby smartphone.
They recently joined the nearly 7-acre farm as part of a Hovey Street Church of Christ initiative to improve food access and encourage healthier lifestyles.
That initiative, called the Plant to Plate Project, began in 2015 with an idea to find a better use for a small lot near the church. Pastor Denell Howard thought back to his home in Greenwood, Mississippi, where he remembered many people growing their own vegetables.
He pictured something similar for his church’s Martindale Brightwood community. He wanted to convert the lot into a community garden.
“If we grow our own food, more fruits and vegetables, we’ll be able to have a healthier lifestyle,” Howard said.
But the 47-year-old knew he needed help. So Howard asked Autumn Lowry, who had an interest in farms and food access, if she would take on the task of both farming and teaching others.
Lowry jumped at the opportunity. She had been working at a landscaping company, and her boss donated large raised beds to begin planting.
Then she started with the common garden vegetables, including tomatoes and peppers, as well as fruit trees, herbs and greens.
What once was a single community garden has become a movement to share knowledge and training with other adults and teens who live in food deserts.
That includes adding a few hens who seem to enjoy listening to music from a smartphone.
“We got the chickens in September,” said Lowry, 42, who lives in Emerson Heights and is a community builder for the United Northeast Community Development Corporation. “They are just getting to the age where they are ready to lay eggs.”
Another growing urban farm
The Plant to Plate Project isn’t the only Marion County urban farm that’s expanded in recent years.
The Soul Food Project began in 2017 with two sites: one in Martindale Brightwood at 25th and Sheldon streets, and another in Avondale Meadows.
Eventually, the project needed more space. There is now a third site in Irvington near 10th Street and Arlington Avenue.
The nonprofit’s mission expanded with its footprint.
Danielle Guerin, 34, is the project’s founder and executive director. She now teaches a youth program to spread her knowledge.
Youth Grow Indy offers a six-week program in the summer that accepts teens ages 14 through 17. Guerin said they earn $11 per hour and gain experience in seeding, harvesting and more. They also handle the project’s weekly veggie boxes, which function like community-supported agriculture.
However, she believes the program transcends farming. Participants pick up career skills, such as putting together a resume and financial literacy.
Guerin, who grew up in Martindale Brightwood, said she had heard the area was a food desert but didn’t realize it when she was younger because she had access to a car. However, an interest in farming changed her perspective.
Beyond the youth program, there also is a farm fellow apprenticeship for adults. The apprenticeship was 12 months long last year, but it will be 20 months starting this year. The four fellows selected for 2024 will start in February.
Some participants already have land “so this is a really cool way to learn with us and then go back to their place and apply that knowledge,” she said.
Guerin, who previously served in the Peace Corps in Cameroon, also has two apprentices from Public Allies Indianapolis assisting her with farming. Public Allies is part of AmeriCorps.
Mirror Indy reporter Diane Moore covers the east side of Indianapolis. Contact her at diane.moore@mirrorindy.org or 317-732-5122. Follow her on X at DianeMoore80711.
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