Cultivating Food Freedom: An Interview with Ty Simmons

Courtesy/Human Agricultural Cooperative

As the Human Agricultural Co-Operative continues to make strides in wiping out food deserts in our community, its co-founder, Ty Simmons has been awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement medal for his work.

Simmons and Chief Condra Ridley, also of Fort Wayne, officially founded the not-for-profit cooperative in 2017 to solve food insecurity in northeast Indiana, an offshoot of Ty’s work with young gardeners, initiated in 2015.

The organization has coordinated with many different stakeholders to facilitate weekly food sourcing and distribution, youth farming programs, and long-term solutions to an inequitable food systems like educational programming, local investment in food infrastructure and a year-round greenhouse.

It continues to expand its working relationship with farmers and underserved populations around the state, by now, amassing nearly $1.5 million in purchasing power from the Indiana Department of Health.

WBOI’s Julia Meek discusses the group’s spreading impact with Simmons, and how its motto, “Together we’re better and stronger,” is driving the mission.

To learn more and get involved, visit the Human Agricultural Co-Operative.

Here’s a transcript of our conversation:

Julia Meek: Ty Simmons, welcome.

Ty Simmons: Greetings, Julia. 

Julia Meek: Now you have been busy with the Human Agricultural Co-Operative since last we talked, which was 2022, by now, amassing nearly $1.5 million in purchasing power from the Indiana Department of Health and very recently, receiving the highest award possible for your work. In a nutshell, how do you feel right now?

Ty Simmons: Thankful. 

Julia Meek: Can you believe it yet? 

Ty Simmons: No, I can't. Just started this organization with $40 with a group of kids, in 2015, to where we've come and where we're going. It's...it's a godsend, and I'm just so thankful every day. 

Julia Meek: Good for you and well deserved. Again, congratulations. 

Ty Simmons: Thank you. 

Julia Meek: Now your cause, the Human Agricultural Co-Operative, wiping out food deserts, providing food freedom. What does that entail, exactly? 

Ty Simmons: Where we started off was learning how to grow food and learning the food system, then learning about the needs of your community. You know, 46803 is the most impoverished community in our state.

46806 is the 13th most impoverished. And with all the resources that we have in Fort Wayne, on north side of town, south side of town and throughout the city, they're still poverty. There's still hunger.

You know, they're still inequitable distribution of food. And what we're doing every day is trying to educate our community, our youth, about all this, in the most holistic way we can. 

Julia Meek: And what are the results so far? Who is directly benefiting? 

Ty Simmons: Well, we usually say the mostly socially disadvantaged communities and anyone in proximity to us, because we feel that individuals, especially with this new grant, we're actually feeding 17 counties.

We're working with not only the food banks, but socially disadvantaged farmers, food pantries and other organizations to get the food directly to the most socially disadvantaged communities.

In the northeast Indiana, 33% of hunger is right here in Allen County. Another 17% is Marion-Muncie area, and then another eight to 10% is like Angola area. So, what we're doing is, basically we're focusing on the most socially disadvantaged communities and hitting them really hard with the food that we have and the resources that we have.

Julia Meek: So, there's food to be had, getting it and getting it to the people, of course, becomes the crazy challenge. And what can you tell us about those amazing grants that we've heard you've received from the Indiana Department of Health?

Ty Simmons: I want to first say thank you to all the people that have helped us prior to these grants, because we worked with the last three administration you know, Chuck Surack and Sweetwater, Parkview, all these great individuals helped us in the beginning, helped us and guided us to where we're at.

Unfortunately, some of that same support is not there. And so, what we had to do is we had to seek out support outside of our community, to help our community, which is kind of backwards to us, but it happens sometimes. So, what we did was, we started working with farmers outside of our community.

Janet Katz and a couple of great individuals you know, John Jamerson, brought us to a table where we could build a grant that is led by socially disadvantaged farmers to assist other socially disadvantaged farmers to assist socially disadvantaged communities.

I mean, it's like I'm getting paid to do what I wanted to do all my life, grow food and help our community. Because growing up, we weren't poor, but growing up where we had food insecurity, I mean, not knowing if you're going to have a good meal? Don't get me wrong, there's going to be food in the cabinet, but having a good meal is different, and that's where I want to help most and more.

Julia Meek: And knowing that your neighbors and your loved ones and the people in concentric circles all out, circulating from you don't have food, that's a tough one, too. And you are addressing everything on so many levels. Does it ever get confusing to you?

 Ty Simmons: It does. It does. It's...fairy tales and reality, you know, play a major role in our society right now. Everybody wants, you know, the dream house, the dream car, and work a million hours, but in reality, we're gonna be working and paying the 70-80% of your money every week to someone else.

Yes, it's freedom, but what kind of freedom? And so, we're just trying to really focus and try to help people understand that there's more to life than the fantasies. We have to start thinking about reality, our future of our children, the next generation, because if we don't stand up now, you know, this next generation is gonna be so at odds with themselves.

It's only 1% of the farmers that are already growing food for 99%. So, imagine this next generation. No one wants to be a farmer. And the scientists see that, and then that's why we're getting all this fake food, and that's why we're getting all this soybean-riddled food in all the fast food restaurants. That's why you're getting all of this, you know, plastic in food, and it's causing more health issues.

It's causing more chemical imbalances with us. So, we just feel that we gotta have common sense and go straight to the points.

 Julia Meek: And you're doing that and thank you for that. Now, if it started with 15 disadvantaged farmers in and around Southeast Fort Wayne, able to provide food for disadvantaged neighbors in that area like you said, where are you today?

 Ty Simmons: Well, actually, there was only three socially disadvantaged farmers in Northeast Indiana, right, that are registered with the USDA. So, what we did was we helped some of those farmers that weren't registered, register.

And we also had to get help from other farmers throughout the state, because if you're a farmer, you know that certain vegetables are going to be ready in southern Indiana before they are in northern Indiana. So, the collaboration and cooperation that you have to have as a farmer, where one farmer might raise cows, one farmer might raise sheep, you know, one farmer might be a produce farmer.

We need each other. If we can keep that money within our farms and within our communities, that's going to allow us to train more young people, hire more people, spend more money in our community.
So, that's where it's kind of at right now.

 Julia Meek: So, you just keep doing more and more and including more and more people on both ends of the food chain?

 Ty Simmons: We have to, because Indiana imports 90% of our food, 90%! So, if I'm not working with my white farmer friend, my black farmer friend, my Mexican farmer friend, then all that food is just gonna basically not be available, and there's gonna be more waste.

So, if we're working more together, and our motto is: Together, we're better and stronger. And every day when people say, hey, what gets you goin’? Working with other people, seeing their passion come along with our passion to create a better avenue and better cure.

Julia Meek: Now you also have your own goal. That's the Share the Harvest campaign. Where and how does that fit in?

Ty Simmons: Well, when you talk about band-aids, band-aids is basically us getting food and providing food to feed people for a certain period, right? But the real cure is to educate them, train them and mentor them in farming, food distribution and vocational training.

Because the whole thing about it is the old adage, if I give you a fish, you know, you'll eat for a day. If I teach you how to fish, you'll eat for the rest of your life, right?

And I say the same thing with farming. If I teach you how to farm, one, you'll be able to teach others. Two, you'll be able to feed your family wherever you are in the world. I can take my skill as a farmer anywhere in the world, and I could prosper, because everyone has to eat, right?

So, our thing is utilizing not only the education part, but also the community part with Share the Harvest. So, growing food, training the next generation to create. Most people don't know about Job Corps. Job Corps is basically a training facility that they've had for, I want to say, about 80 years now.

What we're trying to do is create a more holistic Job Corps, where not only are we providing you the skills we're working with you on the social skills as well, where you understand that in this world, you have to work, you have to work with others. You know you have to go by the rules.

There's a lot in detail to our programming, but we have to show our young people and our adults that living in this society, you have to live by the laws of the land, and you have to be able to provide for yourself.

So, we say the simplest thing you can do to teach people how to survive is show them how to get their own water, show them how to grow their own food, show them how to build their own shelter. Share the Harvest, that's what we're doing.

Our goal is $1 million. What that'll do is help us buy the infrastructure, the land that we need, the equipment that we need, and then we're already growing 100-200,000 pounds of food on the little land that we have.

So having a larger amount of land, we could grow more food, and then we also could build infrastructures like a vocational training center.

Julia Meek: Great plans. And this is actually dollars from the community, and it might come in and dollar increments and pledges and everything, from the community, staying in the community, doing all this work for the community?

Ty Simmons: That's our goal. But as you look at how funding is going with not-for-profits, especially during this political time, it's real partisan, you know.

And being a nonpartisan organization, our goal is to work with Republicans and Democrats and independents for a common goal. Unfortunately, a lot of times it's really partisan, even with dealing with food and health and education, which we should be all on the same goal with that.

We want all Americans to have clean and healthy food. All Americans have an equal opportunity to education. When we go back to it, that's the fairy tale, everyone does it. So, what we're doing is, we're trying to change that curve.

Julia Meek: And good for you. And now, at this point, Ty, it's time to discuss that Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award that you received exactly for your extreme volunteer hours and this attitude. Now, how did all that go down?

Ty Simmons: Well, we worked with the last three administration, and basically, we provided food in over seven states, over 14 different cities. We worked with the Care Program. We worked with Michelle Obama. Now we're working with Biden and this administration to provide food, not only in Indiana, but in other parts of the country.

And basically, one of my mentors, Apostle Bridget Outlaw, nominated me. She's actually a Presidential Nominee, I want to say, mentor, and they sent the information to the White House. I had to pass all the background checks. They had to verify our hours, everything. And then they called me up and said, hey, you've been awarded.

And it was just right after my birthday. And just so thankful, like I said in my speech, this award is for, you know, my first-grade teacher that encouraged me to keep going. Mrs. Condra, that told me that we can do it with $40. My kids and, you know, my mom and my family and my mentors that said, hey, no matter what you're going through, just keep focused and keep positive.

When you look at this work, you know, yes, you can stay positive, but when you're living in this world where everything is basically set up to basically exploit the weak and basically take advantage of the poor and our division, trying to build something that unites rather than divides, you end up dividing because everyone looks at a different perspective, because some people are ingrained in this society so much that if they try to change it, that they'll lose their livelihood, they'll lose their job, they'll lose their political clout, or whatever it may be.

But the people who are really trying to change it that aren't stuck down with those vices, we go through some of the hardest things because we're trying to buck the system. And not only do you have to buck your own people, but you have to buck the professionals, the politicians, the pastors.

The system wants things to keep going, right? But instead of providing band-aids with these not-for-profits, let's start thinking about more cures and stop thinking about how we can get the next check, but how we can utilize the check for the betterment of the people.

Julia Meek: And do more good, for more people.

 Ty Simmons: Exactly.

Julia Meek: That's what made you eligible for such an award Ty, and now that award itself, you and Tony Betten, Jr. are the most recent, if not the only, Fort Wayne recipients to have gotten that award. And Tony's not even a native! (all laugh) But we're so happy for that as well.

Of course, it's a rush, and you haven't had time to barely let it sink in, let alone focus on it. but how could it help you move others directly, especially youth?

 Ty Simmons: I think the story, you know, Javier Mondragon told me several years...he's actually the CEO of Bridge of Grace Ministries, well he said, Ty, if you don't tell your story, no one else will. He basically told me, tell your story. And since that day in December, about six years ago, that's what I've been doing, telling our story.

And no, I haven't had time to tell this part of the story, but I think once we start telling this part of the story, how we've started this program with $40 where we're at now, and how we can be more efficient, and how we could, you know, work with some of these big corporations and help them with providing some of the services that they need for their communities.

I think it's really going to help later, because our next plan is to actually start different Human Agriculture Co-operative chapters in different parts of the country and going on speaking tours, where I can not only talk about farming and food distribution, but also about cooperatives and buying power and grocery stores.

Because I think, when you talk about farming, people just think of just putting food in the ground. But as a farmer, I need every professional that you can think of, from mechanic to plumber to everyone, but you also have to think the same way. Each one of you need us as well. Yes, you get your food from the grocery store, but is that really food?

Julia Meek: And we are all in this together. Mmhhmm. And what kind of feedback are you getting in your community about all this activity from both sides of the food chain?

Ty Simmons: I think the community loves it. Since this grant is limited, it still is not allowing us to provide the food that we did during the pandemic, or when we receive funding from United Way or some of the big not-for-profits in Fort Wayne.

We're trying to, you know, reach back out to them and try to pull them back in to assist us. But what we're doing is what we can, we're growing our own food. We're working with farmers. We're providing food to several food banks.

It might not look the same where we're doing our drive throughs and stuff, but we're still doing the work that we have. The reason why we're not doing most of this stuff is again, funding. When you said, hey, you got a $1.5 million grant, yeah, that's a great grant. But when you're writing grants, grants are very specific.

It'll tell you exactly what you can do and what you can't do, and what we need as farmers is what most grants won't help us with. And that's infrastructure, and that's equipment that's not renting equipment, purchasing equipment, where we can have equity within it. With farming, you have to build just like everything else. You have to build your farm up; you have to build your clients up as well.

Julia Meek: We wish you all the luck in the world, and going forward now, what exactly is next for the Human Agricultural Co-Operative, if you had your choice?

 Ty Simmons: if I had our choice, we would get about four big corporate donors that would provide about a million dollars apiece, and we would purchase 50 to 100 acres, we would provide an agri-business where we would provide tours. We would build a vocational training center where we would train our young people.

And it's going to happen. Our story is, you know, it reached the president, it reached other people across the country. It's just going to take one or two like-minded people that see the vision, that really want to invest in our community, rather than, you know, unequitable entities in our community, rather than gentrification, rather than worrying about quality of life, as in material things, rather than the actual quality of life.

Once we start getting out of the politics, out of this, and start bringing in the bipartisan, you know what I'm saying? I think politics, when people talk about it, they only talk about it one way. It's either gonna be right or left, right. (chuckle) When I talk about politics, it's always in the middle, because we need both of them to actually create a better place.

 Julia Meek: And understanding is the glue.

 Ty Simmons: It is, it is, it is. And once you understand that it doesn't matter if you're right, left or in the middle, if we all come together for one major thing, it's going to change quicker than it is if we all try to do it our own, separate way.

 Julia Meek: Quite momentum, mmhhmm. Now I am curious. Ty, this really is a big mission, and many say it's a Mission Impossible. How do you answer that? How do you keep faith and hope alive everywhere you are?

 Ty Simmons: First and foremost is God, and then your family, your friends. But if you're not confident in self and your abilities and your work, all that's for none.

Don't get me wrong. I have hard days. It's unbearable some days. You know, you look at how society is, and you see that you can create change, and you have black, white, women, men, basically putting up obstacles directly.

And people that you've work with, people that you consider your mentors, you can see some of those things. And what gets me keep going is again, my faith in God, my family and friends, and the confidence in myself to not allow them to stop my ministry or my destiny.

Julia Meek: So, it's Mission Possible?

Ty Simmons: Of course, it's definitely Mission Possible. I look at it even more optimistic on my darkest days, I think, because if it, if it wasn't something that could change, they wouldn't try to stop me!

Julia Meek: That's an interesting point and a golden one. Good for you, good for you. And so, last question, Ty. It's back to food freedom. What words do you want to leave with all of us, right here, about that most essential and precious right?

 Ty Simmons: I would say, to create a better food system, it's going to have to go back to our mission statement and our motto: Together, we're better and stronger. And, I'll say it again. Indiana imports 90% of our food.

If we're not working together in the next crisis, how can we feed our community? How can we feed our state? And that's gonna be the next challenge. Share the Harvest campaign is the cure. It's the cure to food desert and hunger in every city.

We could take this program anywhere in the world, and when we have enough funding, we could implement this and feed millions of people annually. But again, the society is set up on band-aids and temporary funding. If we can focus on the cures, that's where the real positive work happens.

 Julia Meek: Ty, Simmons is co-founder of the Human Agricultural Co-Operative and recipient of the President's Lifetime Achievement Award medal. Thank you so much for sharing your hard work and the story of it with us, Ty. Congratulations. Do carry the gift.

Ty Simmons: Thank you so much. I appreciate you.