Inspired Magazine November | Page 24

Sponsored b y COMMUNITY Indy Urban Acres Farm Iris Gambold High School Indianapolis, IN Note: As director of Youth Power Indiana, I am committed to connecting young people to sustainable practices. When it comes to visiting local sustainable farmers, Tyler Gough’s Indy Urban Acres is a natural destination. I’ve been taking kids to Indy Urban Acres for quite some time; this city park grows food to feed the hungry of Indianapolis. They use organic practices and are mindful of how they treat the soil — and all of earth’s resources. This summer, Fountain Square area kids took me to Indy Urban Acres on a city bus. Thanks to them, I realized pairing sustainable food education with mass transit was a perfect fit. Cars are bad for the environment. So, when Project Libertas decided they wanted to visit Mr. Tyler’s farm, I suggested they navigate their way there on IndyGo. They seized the challenge; here is their story… — Jim Poyser When we got off the bus Mr. Tyler was waiting for us at the bus stop near Indy Urban Acres Farm. First he showed us the nearby community garden.  He said that people who didn’t have room for gardens at home could come here and plant their own. Next he took us to a free pick garden where we tried radishes and tomatoes.  When some people tried the radishes some them started saying “HOT!!!!HOT!!!!.” Some of the other kids said “I NEED WATER!” Next we went to see the bees and chickens. Mr. Tyler even let one of my classmates keep one of the eggs. Then we went to see the green house and then showed us their flowers. He told us that since all of their food goes to food pantries they sell flowers to support the farm. We got to plant radishes to take home with us. We sat at the bus stop until the IndyGo bus came. We played games and read on the bus until we came to our stop. We waited for the next bus. Some of the passengers were happy that there were kids on the bus, others were not so happy. When we got to our bus stop we still had a few blocks to walk.   24 Inspired /InspiredKidsIndy /inspiredkidmag