INDYpendent BytesINDYpendent BytesShared structure for a stronger local food economy
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Proposed stakeholder research workshop

Food Cycle: Information in Motion

A working session for growers & buyers—and anyone before, after, or in-between.

INDYpendent Bytes is developing a two-day workshop so the people who grow, buy, move, study and govern local food can help decide what information is useful, what can be compared and what must stay private.

Register for the workshopSee who is needed

Why this is needed

Different records. Same product. The meaning has to travel.

A crop plan, purchase order, receiving record, processing log and delivery record perform different jobs. They do not need to use identical language or contain identical information. But shared details—such as product identity, unit of measure, quantity, lot, harvest date, condition, certification, ownership and status—must retain a consistent meaning as the product moves between people and systems.

Farm

Crop plan

Product · planned volume · harvest window

Buyer

Purchase order

Specification · order unit · delivery date

Hub

Delivery log

Received quantity · condition · outcome

The goal is not one universal form. It is agreement on what information must travel, what each shared field means and how separate records connect without exposing information that should remain private.

Proposed participant mix

Who needs to be in the room?

Selection will prioritize practical knowledge, varied operating conditions and balanced representation—not only familiar organizations or people with clean spreadsheets.

8–10

Growers

Small and mid-sized producers and cultivators

5–7

Buyers

Institutional and nonprofit procurement staff

4–6

Hubs and logistics

Food hubs, aggregators, distributors and intermediaries

4–6

Extension and research

Extension, university and applied researchers

3–4

Public and regional

Public-sector and regional-planning representatives

3–4

Data and governance

Privacy, interoperability and data-rights specialists

3–4

Community perspective

Food-access, workforce and equity organizations

No one organization or stakeholder group will control the agenda or final priorities.

What participation would involve

Contribute practical knowledge—not your books.

  • Complete a short pre-workshop survey.
  • Describe one representative decision, workflow or information source.
  • Join mixed working groups across stakeholder roles.
  • Review the draft synthesis before anything is released publicly.

What the workshop is for

Build the research conditions before building more tools.

  • A minimum regional food-system information framework
  • Draft shared definitions for supply, demand, procurement and outcomes
  • Recommendations for privacy, access, validation and responsible reuse
  • A prioritized research agenda and next-step study designs

Workshop registration

Register to bring your real operating experience into the design.

Registration is open to growers, buyers and anyone working before, after or in-between. Tell us your role, the decisions you make and what would make participation useful and safe for you.

Register for the workshop

Or text WORKSHOP to 317-759-1780 · Email indypendentbytes@gmail.com

Registration records your interest in participating. Final dates, venue, funding and participant selection remain pending.