On Feb. 21, a group of over 50 local citizens gathered at the Hillside Hub (1090 S. Institute St.) for Healing the Ground Beneath Us: Common Ground Community Film Screening and Panel. The event was part of the Colorado Food Summit’s Regional Convenings, a state-wide initiative to raise awareness about local food and agriculture. The event centered on the 2023 documentary on regenerative agriculture “Common Ground” and a panel discussion with local farmers.
Food to Power – a nonprofit dedicated to healthy foods access, local food production and education – hosted the event. Among its initiatives include a city-wide composting program, community garden, youth agricultural education and a food recovery program.
The documentary film covered soil health efforts within the regenerative farming movement, including a history of U.S. industrialized farming practices in the 20th century and the effects they had on humans and the environment. The film highlighted large-scale conventional farming practices that deplete soil and are associated with health risks, and sustainable farming practices including contributions from the African American and Indigenous American communities.
Soil health principles involve cultivating healthy soil environments by working with nature’s processes to preserve soil structure through no or low-till practices, maximizing living roots, maintaining adequate soil cover, plant diversity and livestock integration. These measures increase the beneficial microorganisms and nutrients in the soil to create a more resilient and robust growing environment.
The film highlighted farmers whose mission was to add to a healthy ecosystem not only for present benefit but for future generations.
After the film, Patience Kabwasa, Food to Power’s Executive Director, led a panel of farmers who answered questions about issues surrounding the film and regenerative agriculture. The panel included Perdita Butler, Shane Nelson, Will Frost, C.W. Mallery and Susan Gordon.
Panelists were asked about what they saw as major challenges to practicing regenerative farming and soil health principles.
Frost is part of the family-run Frost Farms, a multigenerational family farm in Fountain that raises and sells produce and livestock. He shared how the farm, which sits within the Fountain Creek Watershed, had lost 65 acres from erosion, city development and poor watershed management over the last 40 years. He had heard similar complaints from farmers and ranchers all the way down to Pueblo.
“My biggest challenge I see for overall soil health is the urban encroachment and development, especially the Colorado Springs area and the Fountain area. There [are] a lot of … acres that are being turned into housing developments … The impermeable surface is a huge issue for that, because if the soil is not there, we can’t even steward it in the first place,” said Frost.
Gordon runs New Roots Farm in Canon City. She spoke about the economic tension she faces when trying to incorporate regenerative agriculture practices, maintain a viable business and make food available to those in greater financial need. For her, supporting local agriculture involved a significant change in thinking.
Without the soil, we get nothing. – C.W. Mallery
“It’s a whole different kind of mindset. It’s like, I’m going to go to my Farmers Market. I’m going to give my farmer a fair price. I’m going to get to know my farmer. I’m going to talk to my farmer about their growing practices, and I’m going to spend some time in the kitchen, with my family, with my friends, to take the extra time to prepare the raw produce and create a great meal and know that I’m supporting regenerative agriculture, and my health is going to benefit, and the planet is going to benefit and my local economy is going to benefit,” she said.
Mallery is a veteran and rancher in Yoder. He runs Freedom Acres Ranch where he raises lamb, pigs, chicken, goats, turkeys and cows. He thought the film validated many of his own practices and encouraged him to keep doing more of what he’s doing.
“Without the soil, we get nothing. If we don’t take care of it, it won’t take care of us. We create our own food security. If we take care of the earth, it will take care of us back and our communities,” he said.
Jay Hardy, community outreach manager at Food to Power, shared his own experience addressing today’s industrialized food system along with his personal journey. Hardy spoke about examining his own habits and the ways he contributed to the faulty system. He spoke about how working on a farm changed his relationship with food. After that came a different level of engagement.
“The next big thing was sitting down with community members and eating together and that was so transformative,” he said. “We went from first-day eating like pizza and Twizzlers and all that kind of stuff to … everyone in that group [having] a better idea of how to cook, how to access local produce, the importance of it … So, yeah, healthy soil, healthy people, healthy community, all those things tie in.”
How you can get involved
As far as ways to support local farmers and efforts to improve soil health, the farmers provided a variety of suggestions. The panelists discussed areas local citizens could get involved in including policy, youth education, replacing lawns with native grass and plants, composting and buying into a farmer-run CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). One community member even came forward and offered use of her property for farming.
Nelson, who is the farming manager for Food to Power’s community garden (which welcomes volunteer support), also spoke about the labor needs in farming.
“Just getting some willing hands-on farms is a huge help, because there’s always, always too much to do,” he said.
Butler, who runs Quarter Acre and a Mule Farm in Pueblo, has farmed extensively in multiple states around the U.S. She talked about the vastness of the food system and the many areas of potential engagement that exist and encouraged people to work within an area of passion.
“Wherever it is that you have energy about something, that’s where you should plug in,” she said.
Kabwasa concluded the night’s discussion speaking about Food to Power and its journey working as a food-rescue operation and how their expansion was made possible by the network of community relationships they have built over the years. She spoke of the importance of challenging one’s own knowledge and experiences to further community conversations.
She concluded the event by saying, “This should not be the only conversation that is being had in community. We should be having this conversation that is relative to our own neighborhood, zip code, city, county and then regionally, talking and connecting with folks who are doing similar work, building relationships and building mutual aid and reciprocity in our food system because it’s not going to happen at the brass top. What is going to be sustained for longevity is the relationships that we build in this community here today and the relationships that we sustain.”
A recording of the panel discussion is available on the Food to Power Facebook page. More info at FoodToPowerCo.org.
