Feed Denver:
Urban Farms & Markets
Urban Farms & Markets
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Dedicated to strengthening and securing Denver's urban agricultural foodshed through the creation of
four-season, vertical, urban greenhouse farms transforming Denver into a model green, sustainable, and
productive city with thriving, fresh, delicious, local food sources and communities.
four-season, vertical, urban greenhouse farms transforming Denver into a model green, sustainable, and
productive city with thriving, fresh, delicious, local food sources and communities.
As city dwellers we have abdicated food production to “others” – other people,
other places, other states and other countries. We live in trust that food is being
produced and that it will show up at our local grocery store in time for our hunger.
We live in false security that someone is taking care of our food needs and our city’
s food shed.
Our city used to be surrounded by farms. Those farms became subdivisions. Our
state used to produce a wide variety of foods. In last year’s census we now only
have 354 farms that produce vegetables – most of those under 10 acres and
producing revenues less than $10,000 per year. Only .2% (that’s POINT TWO
percent) of the food we eat in the Metro area comes from our state.
The canary warning us of danger stopped singing a long time ago. We all watched
as Willie Nelson and FarmAid reiterated, year-in and year-out, that we were losing
our family farms. We’ve watched as our diets became more and more dependent
on processed food products. We’ve watched as our health has deteriorated, as
diabetes and obesity became the norm. We’ve watched as our children have
become lethargic with shrinking attention spans attributed to lack of proper
nourishment.
And today we face more challenges. Our unemployment numbers are through the
roof. Jobs are scarce and businesses are closing. Our homes, industry, and
transportation - heavily reliant on fossil fuels – are no longer sustainable.
Erratic weather patterns and changes to the environment add to the
unpredictability. Conventional farming has become so large and unwieldy that the
methods used to produce and protect the food products are adding to our human
heath crises in many forms from e-coli and salmonella outbreaks to new viruses,
from antibiotic resistance to inhumane living conditions for food producing animals.
But there is good news! We eat $5.7 Billion worth of food in the Denver metro
area. In that number is hope.
Food security is getting a lot of attention lately. Many progressive cities are calling
for an increase in local food production to 60-70%. If we committed to creating just
10% of our food locally, we would grow our locally-sourced food market from $4.3
million to $570 million. That would be $570 million staying in our communities,
paying wages, and keeping businesses open.
Producing food in the city would bring fresh food directly into our communities and
homes. Food grown near where we live will be more transparent leading to deeper
understanding of production that is good, clean and fair. Learning the skills of
farming in the city will create a new labor force. Developing city-appropriate, low-
carbon-use farming techniques will create new green businesses. Food production
buildings will secure year-round fresh food availability. And creating these
businesses in communities, in neighborhoods, and on main streets will re-establish
our relationship and responsibility with feeding ourselves.
Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets is working with individuals, businesses,
city leaders and communities to create pilot farms working in conjunction with a
Regional Training Center. We have partnered with 2008 MacArthur Genius Grant
recipient Will Allen and his organization, Growing Power, to develop the training
center with their support.
Our first pilot farm will be at The Urban Farm at Stapleton. Already the state’s
largest 4H Program, The Urban Farm teaches sustainable farming and animal
husbandry to over 4,000 children and youth each year. Through this pilot project
we will grow the farm to include a soil producing compost program as well as a
greenhouse aquaculture operation which will produce nutrient rich greens,
vegetables, and fish. The education program will expand to include re-skilling and
business courses for adults. Through the process we will engage local universities
to assist in research and development to document and to improve our processes.
Our second pilot will be a community-led project in one of our city’s most
challenged neighborhoods. This will be guided by community leaders to create a
community-based operation providing not only jobs and training but a fresh food
market and café in a “food desert.” Included in the location will be a food
processing public commissary for local entrepreneurs to develop and hone their
skills as producers and business people. A board of vision and business leaders
will develop this project focusing on making fresh food available and accessible,
strengthening cultural identity, building health, and creating local job and
entrepreneurial opportunity.
We are also developing an individual entrepreneurial model appropriate for Main
Streets incorporating multi-stories and storefront markets and café restaurants.
Other potential pilot programs will include partnering with schools, institutions,
corporations, churches, research organizations to create on-site greenhouse
farming.
Feed Denver provides resource sharing, project mentoring, and fiscal
management working side by side with the pilot farms to create a strong and
sustainable, community focused operation. Projects will be managed and
mentored for up to five years. At that time the project will become independent
through cooperative or entrepreneurial ownership transfer. The new ownership will
pay back startup capital to Feed Denver where it will join funds in a revolving loan
program to assist new farms and projects.
Read on for more information on our operation. We look forward to discussing this
in more depth and hope to work with you in future.
Lisa Rogers
Executive Director
other places, other states and other countries. We live in trust that food is being
produced and that it will show up at our local grocery store in time for our hunger.
We live in false security that someone is taking care of our food needs and our city’
s food shed.
Our city used to be surrounded by farms. Those farms became subdivisions. Our
state used to produce a wide variety of foods. In last year’s census we now only
have 354 farms that produce vegetables – most of those under 10 acres and
producing revenues less than $10,000 per year. Only .2% (that’s POINT TWO
percent) of the food we eat in the Metro area comes from our state.
The canary warning us of danger stopped singing a long time ago. We all watched
as Willie Nelson and FarmAid reiterated, year-in and year-out, that we were losing
our family farms. We’ve watched as our diets became more and more dependent
on processed food products. We’ve watched as our health has deteriorated, as
diabetes and obesity became the norm. We’ve watched as our children have
become lethargic with shrinking attention spans attributed to lack of proper
nourishment.
And today we face more challenges. Our unemployment numbers are through the
roof. Jobs are scarce and businesses are closing. Our homes, industry, and
transportation - heavily reliant on fossil fuels – are no longer sustainable.
Erratic weather patterns and changes to the environment add to the
unpredictability. Conventional farming has become so large and unwieldy that the
methods used to produce and protect the food products are adding to our human
heath crises in many forms from e-coli and salmonella outbreaks to new viruses,
from antibiotic resistance to inhumane living conditions for food producing animals.
But there is good news! We eat $5.7 Billion worth of food in the Denver metro
area. In that number is hope.
- We urgently need to become involved in feeding ourselves.
- We also urgently need to create jobs.
- We need to take responsibility for producing food for our city.
- We need to develop more locally based and sustainable industries.
Food security is getting a lot of attention lately. Many progressive cities are calling
for an increase in local food production to 60-70%. If we committed to creating just
10% of our food locally, we would grow our locally-sourced food market from $4.3
million to $570 million. That would be $570 million staying in our communities,
paying wages, and keeping businesses open.
Producing food in the city would bring fresh food directly into our communities and
homes. Food grown near where we live will be more transparent leading to deeper
understanding of production that is good, clean and fair. Learning the skills of
farming in the city will create a new labor force. Developing city-appropriate, low-
carbon-use farming techniques will create new green businesses. Food production
buildings will secure year-round fresh food availability. And creating these
businesses in communities, in neighborhoods, and on main streets will re-establish
our relationship and responsibility with feeding ourselves.
Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets is working with individuals, businesses,
city leaders and communities to create pilot farms working in conjunction with a
Regional Training Center. We have partnered with 2008 MacArthur Genius Grant
recipient Will Allen and his organization, Growing Power, to develop the training
center with their support.
Our first pilot farm will be at The Urban Farm at Stapleton. Already the state’s
largest 4H Program, The Urban Farm teaches sustainable farming and animal
husbandry to over 4,000 children and youth each year. Through this pilot project
we will grow the farm to include a soil producing compost program as well as a
greenhouse aquaculture operation which will produce nutrient rich greens,
vegetables, and fish. The education program will expand to include re-skilling and
business courses for adults. Through the process we will engage local universities
to assist in research and development to document and to improve our processes.
Our second pilot will be a community-led project in one of our city’s most
challenged neighborhoods. This will be guided by community leaders to create a
community-based operation providing not only jobs and training but a fresh food
market and café in a “food desert.” Included in the location will be a food
processing public commissary for local entrepreneurs to develop and hone their
skills as producers and business people. A board of vision and business leaders
will develop this project focusing on making fresh food available and accessible,
strengthening cultural identity, building health, and creating local job and
entrepreneurial opportunity.
We are also developing an individual entrepreneurial model appropriate for Main
Streets incorporating multi-stories and storefront markets and café restaurants.
Other potential pilot programs will include partnering with schools, institutions,
corporations, churches, research organizations to create on-site greenhouse
farming.
Feed Denver provides resource sharing, project mentoring, and fiscal
management working side by side with the pilot farms to create a strong and
sustainable, community focused operation. Projects will be managed and
mentored for up to five years. At that time the project will become independent
through cooperative or entrepreneurial ownership transfer. The new ownership will
pay back startup capital to Feed Denver where it will join funds in a revolving loan
program to assist new farms and projects.
Read on for more information on our operation. We look forward to discussing this
in more depth and hope to work with you in future.
Lisa Rogers
Executive Director
The Canary Stopped Singing...
Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets
is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit
Development Center (CNDC). Feed
Denver: Urban Farms & Markets/CNDC
is an equal opportunity organization.
is a project of the Colorado Nonprofit
Development Center (CNDC). Feed
Denver: Urban Farms & Markets/CNDC
is an equal opportunity organization.
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