Teter Organic Farm Awarded $52,000 by Indiana Department of Health to Address Food Insecurity

Teter Organic Farm announced yesterday it received a grant totaling $52,000 from the Indiana Department of Health to address food insecurity as part of the state’s Health Issues and Challenges program, which was established by the Indiana General Assembly in 2021 with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Teter Organic Farm is a not-for-profit organization in Hamilton County growing produce for Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank, area pantries, meal programs, and neighbors in need in order to improve food security.  This grant provides the funds for the farm to build two additional high tunnels and will help lengthen the growing season and increase production. In 2019, Feeding America reported Hamilton County had more than 27,000 food insecure residents, a number that has increased during the pandemic.

“People eat year round and the health benefits of fresh produce, as well as the consequences of poor nutrition, reverberate for a lifetime. There’s a huge need. These tunnels allow us to produce more, longer,” explained Katy Rogers, who manages the farm.

Teter Organic Farm is one of more than 150 entities to receive funding for the Health Issues and Challenges program, which focuses on the following priority areas: tobacco use, food insecurity/obesity, lead exposure, hepatitis C, chronic disease, public health prevention programs, and substance use disorder and community health workers. Priority was given to applicants that demonstrated high need and high impact in their grant proposals.

The state awarded more than $35 million statewide in the initial round of funding.