Author: barefoot-mayte

In tiny Creede, where the school district is home to just 90 students, one man has a goal for himself and his team.

Malcolm Snead, the school’s nutrition director, wants his dining rooms to be considered the “best rural food service program in Colorado.” If you look at his menu and the response from the kids who come through the lunch line, he’s well on his way.

His menu features lentil stew sourced from Dove Creek, micro greens and hydroponically-grown lettuce from the San Luis Valley, and yak meat from a rancher in Saguache.

The San Luis Valley spans nearly 8,000 square miles of southern Colorado, where much of the land in the world’s largest alpine valley provides for the local community as well as people all over the state and nation. They’re the second-largest producer of potatoes in the United States and the largest supplier of native hay for Colorado. With the high-mountain desert’s climate, farmers also grow alfalfa, barley, wheat, and vegetables as well as raise livestock and use their land for grazing.

Dana Wood, the Blueprint’s Community Investment Manager, recently visited several partners in the San Luis Valley who are centering community-driven solutions to transform their local food systems and address hunger locally. This included the Valley Roots Food Hub, San Luis People’s Market, and Saguache Food Access Coalition. See her photo essay to learn more.

Greta Allen, the Blueprint’s Policy Manager, recently visited the Pueblo Food Project and RMSER in Pueblo County in late August. She also traveled to Prowers County to make a presentation and meet with Lamar Unidos. 

Michelle Ray, the Blueprint’s Visibility Manager who’s based in Colorado Springs, is becoming more active with the Southeast Food Coalition. In addition to attending coalition meetings, she recently volunteered at Solid Rock Community Development Corporation’s free farmers market and helped facilitate a small-group conversation around local food access during a community dinner at Food to Power. 

Find out a little more about each group’s efforts to build community and address hunger locally.

As part of our work, program staff for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger find it important to visit and connect with network partners right in their communities. We want to see what’s happening locally – especially the great work being done by community coalitions and organizations.

Dana Wood, the Blueprint’s Community Investment Manager, recently visited with recipients of Food Pantry Assistance Grants in southwestern Colorado. This included the Montezuma School to Farm Project and Pine River Shares in Bayfield, along with a joint food distribution by Good Sam’s Food Pantry and Dolores Family Project in Cortez.

It’s a known challenge within the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in most communities. How do we get more people eligible for the program to actually use it?

The Community Food Bank of Grand Junction is tackling that question with a significant grant from the USDA. One of only 36 organizations selected to participate in the work, the food bank is certainly one of the smallest and also one of the few in a more rural part of the country.

Children flocked to a neighborhood playground in Fort Morgan last Friday afternoon. Young adults wearing bright blue T-shirts, denoting them as staff for Kids at Their Best, were already on-site, getting ready to serve lunch and connect with any kid or teen who came. And they showed up for fun and food.

“It’s all about solving issues but also having fun,” shared Jodi Walker, founder and executive director for Kids at Their Best.

What started as a way for James Grevious to spend more quality time with his kids has grown into a fledgling non-profit, Urban Symbiosis, with the ambitious mission of becoming an urban farm incubator, fresh food provider, and economic engine for the Aurora community.

It all began with too many zucchinis, tomatoes, and leafy greens.

The initial group, made up of Grevious’ family and a few additional local kids, adopted the name Rebels in the Garden to describe their efforts to grow food for their families. They found that their plan to sell excess fresh food from their front yard — lemon aide-stand style — was met with an unexpected level of interest and need.

One year ago, Food to Power opened its Hillside Hub in southeast Colorado Springs to meet the needs of its local community with a no-cost grocery and urban farm that supplies some of their store’s healthy food options.
“People have always asked for a grocery store in the Hillside community, and this fresh-food access point is needed now more (than) ever,” shared Executive Director Patience Kabwasa.