Issue Paper 9: Agritourism as an Economic Infuser and Equalizer

Issue Paper 9: Agritourism as an Economic Infuser and Equalizer 

Indiana’s House District 3 is both a food desert and a burgeoning scene for urban agriculture. 

(Remus Farms Fall Harvest in Hobart, Indiana.)

With the loss of Lake Station’s Central Market, Jansen’s Fruit Market, along with the wide range of limited food options across Gary, our nutritional situation can seem bleak. 

(Volunteers plant the beginnings of an orchard in Gary's Emerson Community.)

However, there is some light here too. We have INHD3 anchors like Remus Farms and Johnson’s, as well as emerging groups like Gary’s Emerson Spotlight’s FAITH Farms initiative and the recently planted orchard in Emerson.

There's an #orchard going in #Emerson. It's taken almost 3 years from when we wrote the first draft of the #grant to the implementation of this #CommunityGoal but we're making it happen. #WeAreDistrict3 and we're here to work. 💪🍒🍐🍏 #CommunityOverCompetition #FocusOnOurFuture #INDistrict3

A post shared by Renslow4Rep (@renslow4rep) on Nov 10, 2017 at 8:54am PST

 

Marketing our area as a tourism destination is paramount to Indiana House District 3's economic development. Agritourism is a unique opportunity for INHD3 to capitalize on a combined blending of both the tourism and agriculture spheres to bring financial, educational and social benefits to our community. It will enhance the tourism industry by increasing the volume of visitors to our area and the length of their stay, while also infusing our House District with locally grown food sources.  

(Volunteers plant an orchard in Gary's Emerson Community with artist, Francis Whitehead.)

Agritourism grants farmers an opportunity to create extra revenue streams and a way for direct marketing to consumers. It also leads to a higher quality of product, which helps bridge the food desert divide. 

(The Renslow4Rep crew supporting one of Gary's Pop-up markets.)

(Shannon Farm Homestead is part of the effort to get Farmers Markets to urban communities.)

Agritourism can provide Hoosiers communities like ours the potential to expand their tax base and new job opportunities.  Additionally, agritourism provides educational opportunities to the public, helps to preserve agricultural lands, and allows House Districts to develop micro and macro enterprises. 

Checking out #INHD3's newest coffee shop. #CultivatedCulture on Lake Street in Gary, Indiana. ☕️✔️💕 #WeAreDistrict3 #CommunityOverCompetition #BuyLocal

A post shared by Renslow4Rep (@renslow4rep) on Dec 31, 2017 at 12:20pm PST

(The Cultivated Culture Cafe features locally sourced goods from INHD3 farmers on their menu. )

Agritourism can include:

• U-Pick operations

• hay rides
•on-farm farmers’ markets

• corn mazes
•demonstration farms
•cut-your-own Christmas tree farms
•living history farms

• pumpkin picking patches

• agricultural museums
•winery tours and wine tasting

• dude ranches
•garden tours

• bed & breakfasts

Tourisms will raise our quality of life, beautify our blighted areas, build up our transportation networks, all while raising Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart’s profile on the national/international level. 

(Jessica Renslow helping plant the orchard in Emerson last November. Jessie helped Francis Whitehead write the original version of the grant for the orchard's seed funding.)

If elected, Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Create and implement an INHD3 tourism strategic plan and marketing campaign that will give our area presence on the national/international level.

• Cultivate better communication between our rural and urban farmers so that they can advocate for Indiana House District’s nutritional needs on the local and state levels. 

• Pursue local businesses to start prioritizing active and passive tourism in all seasons as an economic driver.

• Advocate for business investment in INHD3 that is complementary to promoting life-long communities. 

• Foster sponsorship relationships between area businesses and industries to help infuse tourism initiatives, support active transportation, improve infrastructure and protect our environment, so that the burden of funding is not on INHD3 residents.

• Encourage local eateries and food venders to build relationships with local farmers to promote “farm to fork” products.

• Increase jobs and economic development by monitoring/ maintaining compliance of our local and targeted hiring programs. 

• Ensure that INHD3 tourism revenues and benefits stay in Gary, Lake Station, New Chicago and Hobart.

(The regionally famous Marilyn's Bakery at Johnson's Farm in Hobart sells a wide range of products.)

Issue Paper 8: International Women’s Day and Continuing to Advocate for Equal Pay

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! Women and their allies celebrate March 8th on the global scale. Many are calling 2018 "The Year of the Woman."

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of women first getting the right to vote. Many great strides have been made to bridge the gender parity gap, however for two decades our state legislature has refused to agree that women should make the same wages as their male colleagues. 

(Dorothy Day with her prison dress. In November 1917, Day went to prison for being one of forty women in front of the White House protesting women's exclusion from the electorate. )

(League of Women Voters members from across Indiana advocated for HB1390 in January.)

Sadly, House Bill 1390 did not make it this year. According to our census, our most common head of household in Indiana House District 3 are our single mothers. 

(Rep. Linda Lawson addressing an audience on International Women's Day 2018.)

If you consider that 51% of our families are only averaging 74 cents to the dollar, you can see how this gap affects funding for everything from our roads, to our schools, to our parks. 

Now think about how much money the majority of IN HD3 families can spend to support our local businesses. What does that 26 cent gap mean for all of us? 

(That 51% of our population is not even including our working single childless women, or our married mothers!)

The wage gap is not a partisan issue. It is not just a problem for women, nor House District 3, it affects all Hoosiers.

What made House Bill 1390 different than the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990? 

In a Right to Work State like Indiana, employers can choose to fire workers at will. This can include an employee who discloses his salary to a female coworker.  House Bill 1390 provided protection for coworkers to discuss their salaries without fear of losing their jobs, which would have led to more transparency of discrepancies in the Indiana workforce, thus allowing all Hoosier heads of households to better advocate for wage increases with their employers. 

According to the Indiana Institute for Working Families  “In 2016 in Indiana, the median earnings of full time male workers were $12,717 higher than the median earnings of full time female workers. This is a 26 percent wage gap. Even as the nation’s wage gap narrowed between 2015 and 2016, Indiana’s wage gap widened 2 percentage points. The Hoosier gender wage gap is now the 6th highest in the nation, not far behind Louisiana and Utah, which, at 30 percent, are tied for the highest in the nation. Within Indiana, there is considerable variation from county to county, with some counties in Indiana showing nearly a 40 percent gap, while others have gaps in the teens.”

(League of Women Voters members/ state representative candidates Jessica Renslow, Carolyn Jackson and Chris Chyung advocated for HB1390 in January.)

If elected, Jessica Renslow will fight to:

• Continue to advocate for equal pay for all working families.

• Promote business investment in INHD3 that is complementary to creating life-long communities. 

• Increase jobs and economic development by monitoring/ maintaining compliance of our local and targeted hiring programs. 

• Bring back the outreach and pride of the labor movement into our schools by facilitating mentorship opportunities to help bridge the disconnect between our educational institutions and our regional employers. 

• Advocate for entrepreneurial education and financial literacy across INHD3 via community partnerships with local financial institutions/ business incubators. 

(This vintage sash showcases the International League of Women Voters colors. Suffragettes traditionally wore purple and gold.) 

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