The groundbreaking ceremony for the Garnet Mesa Solar Project in Delta County, Colorado, marks a major milestone for renewable energy and solar co-ops. This collaborative effort between DMEA, local organizations, and community members highlights the potential of solar energy to support local economies, preserve agricultural land, and create jobs. The project will provide affordable, sustainable energy to the Delta-Montrose area without raising costs for members, thanks to strategic partnerships. With a focus on agrivoltaics, it will also combine solar energy generation with agricultural activities, setting a blueprint for the future of solar co-ops across the country.

Discover the transformative journey of Global Gardens, a non-profit cultivating community and ethnic diversity through sustainable agriculture. Explore how this initiative began as a community garden and evolved into a thriving market garden involving farmers from diverse backgrounds. Uncover their unique approach to growing ethnic vegetables, fostering local connections, and addressing food system fragilities, all within the vibrant landscape of Boise, Idaho.

The Black Hills Farmers Market runs year round, accepts SNAP and EBT and has now expanded access to fresh local foods even more. Through community sponsorships, the Black Hills Farmers market is now able to double the SNAP benefits up to twenty dollars per market-day through their Double Up Food Bucks program. Various organizations in the community donated money so that people already receiving SNAP benefits could double up and receive up to 20 dollars more per day.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders were enacted and for the first time farmworkers were deemed essential and required to continue to work in the fields and food processing plants of the country. Members of Oregon Rural Action (ORA), a grassroots organization in Eastern Oregon, were already well aware of how essential farmworkers are to our food system and the challenges they face. They were also aware of the many challenges those farmworkers face. As the pandemic began, ORA launched a successful campaign to get COVID-19 related information out to Eastern Oregon’s farmworker communities on the platform that’s most accessible to them, the radio.

Young and beginning farmers face a behemoth of uphill battles when starting out. Capital, land, a client base, equipment, climate, and weather are just a few of the things standing between young people and a dream to provide fresh, local produce to their communities for a living. Patrick Certain’s Stone Soup Garden is a result of the power of community.

The Troyer’s started their farm several years back, slowly adapting their growing and selling methods to the changing times. Utilizing water saving techniques helps them combat drought while expanding their sales into the CSA market helps them keep that food local.

Carl Kimmerle opens a small-scale meat processing plant in Lemmon, South Dakota in 2019. Corporate consolidation within the United States food system has caused opening up a business like this to be very difficult for the average person despite how important these businesses are to local economies, the environment and the health of the people.

Fruit of the Coop, LLC is a 7-acre farm located in the watershed of the Big Sioux River near Brandon, South Dakota and is owned and operated by Stephanie Peterson. Stephanie attended Dakota Rural Action’s Farm beginning course to learn how to operate and succeed in her chicken egg business where she sells pasture raised eggs to restaurants, local stores and more.

On the outskirts of the main town of Porcupine, KILI Radio Station sits on top of a hill with scattered sagebrush and prairie grass. The station is surrounded by solar panels both on the hillside and attached to the building, and the entrance opens to a wind turbine. The combination of these renewable energy sources powers KILI Radio Station entirely. Over its history, the station had seen power outages, lack of funding, and had moments where they struggled to stay on the air. Switching to renewable energy has allowed the station to remain on the air as a reliable source of information for the community.

People living on Turtle Mountain pay two to three times the average amount per kilowatt-hour for energy than people on the other side of the reservation border. In the past, rural electrical co-ops have not invited Indigenous people into conversations about joining and being a part of the co-op movement. As the facilities manager, Wes has fine tuned the geo-thermal energy that the school was built on along with a 600w wind turbine to be one of the most sustainable colleges in the nation. Moving forward, Wes sees opportunity to increase Tribal Sovereignty through the benefits of renewable energy.

People are attracted to farmers markets because they know it’s a place to get local foods and to connect with producers as well. Inspired by Sheridan’s indoor farmers market that runs all year long on the weekends, Christine decided to open a market that would host local producers and their products five days a week.

COPEKA cafe in Grand Junction, Colorado is a progressive coffee house designed and located with the intention to be as inclusive as possible with the hopes that people can converge in this space to have important conversations about issues facing their community. Jana Joramo and her family own and operate the cafe with a constant awareness of where the products in their shop come from and how they can best support ethical foods.

Soil has been depleted to a point where in order to get a harvest every year, farmers must use more and more chemical fertilizers and pesticides just to produce the same amount of food per acre. Biochar is a special form of charcoal that is specifically made to be used as a soil amendment. Black Bison Organics produces products that have the potential to improve the soil structure and biological activity even in clay or sandy soils.

In the past, solar energy has felt out of reach for many people. The creation of solar co-ops has provided a way for communities to join together to get group discounts, making solar more affordable and accessible.

The COVID pandemic has brought community partners together under the umbrella of Mutual Aid to give support to each other during a times of crisis. From food security to harm reduction, Grand Junction non-profits are working towards alleviating some of the social issues facing the city.

Montana Rancher Irv Alderson describes how the loss of Country of Origin Labeling threatens to put American ranchers out of business.

61 percent of farmers and ranchers today have to work off-farm part-time to support themselves. 52 percent of U.S. farmers actually have a primary occupation and only farm part-time. Seven years ago, Jim and Karen began ranching full time through their operation Grass King Cattle and Produce Company. The key to the Zezas’ success and ability to work solely on the ranch is niche marketing and diversification. “We knew we had to diversify and find multiple streams of income to support us through this operation,” Jim said.

4e Winery is a beacon in the soy and corn landscape that makes up most of North Dakota. The winding grapevines at the entrance of the winery, stand proudly, welcoming guests. In 2015 Lisa and Greg opened 4e Winery in eastern North Dakota. The name 4e comes from Lisa and Greg’s interest in the ancient Greeks' belief that everything was made up of four unchanging elements – Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, as well as a nod to Greg’s profession as a chemist.

In 2016, mother-daughter team Ronna and Veronnaka opened Swanky Roots, an indoor, year-round, aquaponic farm. Swanky Roots serves the Billings, Montana area with fresh produce like butterhead, leaf lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and more.

Don Lumbardy was born in 1948 in Mesa County. He has always believed in the connectivity of food, the land, and human health. Throughout his life he watched as development endangered his values, vastly changed his surroundings, and altered the way of life he knew and loved. Don’s upbringing on the ranch coincided with one of the biggest shifts in agriculture to date.

Farmers Jacob Gray and Ben Gillespie set aside their individual poultry operations to join forces under Diamond G Poultry. Their operation values the health of the land, the animal, the consumer, and the farmer. “I hope stories like this will help shift farmers’ mindset on getting involved and paying closer attention to the quality of food we produce. And for consumers, shift their mindset to care about where their food comes from, why it costs what it does, and what it does for the health of all of us,” Jacob said.

Zay & Leah López are first-generation farmers. Together, they own and operate The Produce Peddler. On 26 acres at the west end of the Grand Valley, they grow a large variety of vegetables, melons, and raise chickens and sheep for eggs and meat. The Produce Peddler’s mission is simple: Connect people to their food source and grow excellent produce for their community in a safe and responsible way.

Kathryn Bedell runs Roan Creek Ranch in Fruita, Colorado. In addition to rancher, Kathryn is a businesswoman, advocate, and steward, in the hopes that she can make ranching in Colorado more lucrative, sustainable, and accessible to all.

Frank Wallis is involved in all things local foods in Gillette, Wyoming. Thanks to the Wyoming Food Freedom Act, Frank was able to help start the Downtown Gillette Farmers' Market, a cooperatively owned indoor farmers’ market in Gillette. With the help of other local producers and friends, Frank and his team are able to provide a host of local foods to the community year-round.

On just one acre of land, Dawn Trujillo and Brian Adams can feed 500 to 700 people per week. Dawn and Brian’s farmstead, Green Junction Farmstead in Clifton, Colorado, is a beacon for all things fresh, local, and delicious. Brian and Dawn grow 50 varieties of vegetables and produce for their 73 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members, two farmers’ markets, a handful of local restaurants, the homeless shelter, and a community food bank. All of the food grown at Green Junction Farmstead stays in Mesa County.

Reed Youngbar and his wife Jessica Hart started Swift Microgreens, a local, year-round microgreen farm, in 2018 in Billings, Montana. In June, Reed and Jessica were unable to continue growing microgreens. Like thousands of other U.S. farmers, their financial return did not cover the time and money spent producing. They’ve decided to shut down their farming operation and focus on their food waste recycling company Swift Buckets.

Farmer Amy Young runs Young Roots Farm in Baker City, Oregon. Young Roots Farm is a small, ever-diversifying, woman-owned and operated farm raising food mindfully for family and community. Amy has committed her farm to improving the land through regenerative agriculture. “People have to have food if they want to survive and how that food is grown determines whether or not the planet is going to survive,” Amy says.

John Brown is committed to building healthy soil. He says healthy soil creates opportunity through higher yields, better water storage, drought resistance, less erosion, healthier food, and carbon storage. “When you get enough diversity, and when you get enough concentration of that diversity and the right biological stimulant, things happen that are outside of what is supposed to be possible,” John says.