Free concert to benefit urban gardening

Local activist and musician Joshua Strodtman said he hears about another forest soon to be destroyed — like the local bike trails of Wapahani — every week.

Several organizations have planned a free benefit concert from 3 to 7 p.m. Sept. 4 in Dunn Meadow. The concert, which was planned by members of Oasis Spasis, Sprouts, Bloomington Urban Gardening Society (B.U.G.S.) and the IU Forest Protection Alliance, aims to promote awareness of sustainable practices, urban gardening and forest protection by providing entertainment and education to the entire community.

Strodtman will be performing at the concert.

“A lot of this development doesn’t make sense to community leaders, yet they are powerless to stop what is happening without everybody’s support,” Strodtman said.
One of the event’s organizers, Zach Wendell, is president of IUFPA and Oasis Spasis director. He said Oasis Spasis is a community project focused on educating the young on harvesting and growing their own food.

“Having a neighborhood garden is an example for other neighborhoods to follow,” Wendell said.

Ben Smith, vice president and head of community operations for Sprouts, said Sprouts stands for “Students Producing Organic Under the Sun.” Smith said anybody can help plant or harvest, and all the food that people don’t take home is donated to Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

“We really have this mission to help make Bloomington more sustainable,” Smith said.
Another organizer, B.U.G.S., is aimed at providing people with the resources they need to start their own urban garden.

“B.U.G.S. acts like an umbrella organization for Oasis Spasis and Sprouts,” Wendell said.

The organization will give start-up money when needed and act as a fundraiser to help support projects based on community issues.

Wendell said IUFPA, the student group of the Indiana Forest Alliance, strives to stop commercial logging in Indiana forests.

“Commercial logging rates in our state and national forests have increased by 500 percent under the current administration,” Wendell said. “We believe that it should be reserved for private land.”

There will also be information booths and community activists at the concert.

“It is a way to build a network of people from all academic backgrounds and ages from inside and outside the student community,” Andreina Sweitzer, student activist and member of IUFPA and Oasis Spasis, said.

There will be a panel discussion featuring experts on these environmental issues. Among them are David Haberman, head of the IU Religious Studies Department, board member of the Indiana Forest Alliance and deep ecologist; Heather Reynolds, ecologist for Strangers Hill Farm; Benji Fraser, former president of Sprouts and sustainable designs major at IU and others to be announced.

“Anyone will be able to ask the panel questions from a range of topics, including urban gardening, the state of the forests, activism, permaculture, sustainable practices in general and how to get involved,” Sweitzer said.

Several local bands will also perform. The line-up includes Local Stereotypes, Carpenter N’ Clerk, Moor and the Northmen and Elephant Quiz.

“They are made up of students most of the time and are just as concerned with what is going on as anybody else,” Sweitzer said. “They are also amazing artists and musicians, and this is a way to promote them as well.”

Attendants will have an opportunity to sign up to be a member of the participating organizations or to donate to their causes. There will be free food from Bloomington Bagel Company, cornhole and other activities.

“The mission is to promote sustainable practice in the community and to raise environmental and ecological awareness,” Smith said. “We’re trying to get people tuned in to what’s going on.”