Food & Agriculture

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Our Food & Agriculture project aims to facilitate a comprehensive approach to sustainable food system development, helping to support groups throughout the area with project facilitation, implementation, and collaboration.

Local and regional activities include:

Local Food Policy Council • Four Corner's Farm to Fork Forum • Beginning Farmer Program • Land Link • Farm to School • La Plata County Local Food Assessment • Mesa Verde Guide to Local, Sustainable Food and Fiber • Food Initiatives ª Food Policy • Rebuilding the Local Food System

For more information or to participate in local food-related activities, please contact Jim Dyer or email the Sustainability Alliance.

New Agriculture Business Course: "Tilling the Soil of Opportunity"

Submitted by Elsa Jagniecki on Wed, 12/21/2011 - 12:55pm

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Business skills course offered to agricultural producers and Ag-related businesses this January!

Experienced and new farmers, ranchers, and agriculture related businesses are invited to attend the Leading Edge "Tilling the Soil of Opportunity" course offered by the SW Colorado Small Business Development Center.

Participate in Our Local Food Policy Council

Submitted by Elsa Jagniecki on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 1:54pm

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Do you know about our Local Food Policy Council, here in Southwest Colorado?

from NY Times The La Plata Food Policy Council is a local group in La Plata County that advocates for local, secure, and sustainable food systems for our community.

The Local Food Policy Council started up in February 2011 after the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center and The Growing Partners of SW Colorado hosted the Homegrown Retreat with keynote speaker Mark Winne, a community food activist from Sante Fe, New Mexico.

The retreat and Mark's talk on local food policy served as a great springboard for Durango and the greater SW Colorado community to come together and start a food policy group. There has been great momentum so far, with over 40 people attending the first meeting at Cocina Linda's and interested community members continually joining in.

The Winter Locavore: Four Corners Grows Into a Four Season Food Source

Submitted by Terry Woodward on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 5:20pm

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Imagine a cupboard packed with neatly labeled jars of beans, pickles, jam and chutney; a freezer full of locally raised beef, lamb, turkey and raspberries; a root cellar stuffed with potatoes, onions and pumpkins. This is the image of abundance, of food sustainability, of the future of the local food movement as it expands to envelop the winter months.

The Durango local food movement has grown exponentially in the last several years, a self-fulfilling cycle of more fervent demand and an increasingly diverse supply...

La Plata County Local Food Assessment

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Food & Agriculture

In 2005, the Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado were funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Food Projects Program to initiate and lead a community-wide food assessment. The assessment took place in La Plata County, a community located in southwest Colorado that is diverse in both its people and geography.