The Indiana Department of Agriculture this week will announce the launch of Indiana Grown, a program promoting products made and produced in the Hoosier State.
The idea of a “Made in Indiana” brand isn’t new. But state Department of Agriculture Director Ted McKinney says the previous version was underfunded and understaffed and, thus, ineffective.
McKinney says the new program, Indiana Grown, is much more robust, with funding from the Department of Agriculture – and Hoosiers can already see results.
“Some milk from Fair Oaks Farms into Kroger carries the Indiana Grown label,” McKinney said. “Creighton Brothers, a very reputable hen-laying operation in north and east Indiana, provides a lot of the eggs to Marsh.”
Indiana Grown project manager David King says the program can help farmers, producers, and consumers – because, as he puts it, the state needs Indiana people buying Indiana products.
“It’s not a very good thing when 90 percent of the food we eat in Indiana comes from some other state,” King said.
The state has already secured more than one hundred Indiana Grown members and partners ahead of its July 7th launch.