This post was written in response to a February 19 article “Hogsett appointee faces questions over treatment of employees,” published in Mirror Indy.
The Indianapolis Office of Public Health & Safety (OPHS) is absolutely corrupt. I worked under Romy Bernard Tucker in this office two years ago, and it was the most unhealthy work environment I had ever experienced. She didn’t pay part-time Food Division employees for three months, then used intimidation tactics, like bringing in lawyers, to intimidate them. I stood up for the unpaid employees who worked directly under me. As a result, I was no longer invited to leadership meetings.
I can go on and on about private interests and the gatekeeping that exists within OPHS: namely their close ties with Jump IN for Healthy Kids. Jump IN is a non-profit created by a conglomerate of corporate CEOs, including IU Health, Eli Lilly & Company, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, Fairbanks Foundation, and so on (you can find their founding CEO list here).
Jump IN is responsible for writing the majority–if not all–of major federal grants dispersed into our Indianapolis food system. The CEO of Jump IN also was a major writer of the municipal code 202-751 (which you can find here).
The mishandling of this code makes clear that oppressors and people in power co-opt black and brown farmers and food workers’ voices and make it work for their own interests. In 2022-2023 I watched OPHS and our Food Policy Board as they applied for and received millions of dollars in grants to distribute to organizations and individuals of their choice. Jump IN’s CEO makes over $280,000 per year, and pays the salaries of two consultants who don’t even live in Indianapolis! Be on the lookout for a new proposal for $8 million to the City-County Council written by Jump IN and their consultant, Joe Welsh, affectionately known as Joe the Grocer. They want the money to build a centralized food hub to lower meat and milk prices in local grocery stores. Why not ask for $8 million to go to building capacity for local black and brown farmers? This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Friends, I ask you to wake up to the reality that local politicians and CEOs are not only trying to destroy public education, they are also dead set on having their dirty hands and dirty interests in our food system.
Last thing I will say. There are a number of smaller non-profit organizations that know this information. They actively manipulate the community so the people don’t understand this system of power. Wake up and watch who you’re working with. If Mirror Indy sees this post, I’d be more than happy to talk to them about the clear destruction and privatization of resources that are meant to go directly to local farmers and food producers.