Creating a food system that works for everyone in Lake County
Greta Allen, the Blueprint’s Policy Director, recently visited Leadville to celebrate with some partners in Colorado’s Lake County. Located in a mountain valley of central Colorado, Leadville is the highest-elevation incorporated town in North America at 10,158 feet.
During her time there, Greta attended a full-day celebration of food and earth, with the collective goal of creating change to see food in abundance and in ways that allow everyone to eat healthy and be well. The event called “Future Town: Lettuce Gather” was hosted by Lake County Build a Generation (LCBAG) and Warm Cookies of the Revolution on September 17, 2023.
Part of the full-day celebration of food and earth
LCBAG is a nonprofit organization that’s building a movement for community health and well-being. It consists of coalitions focused on food access, housing, childcare, youth advocacy, and community organizing in manufactured home parks. Warm Cookies of the Revolution is a civic health club that combines arts and culture to help communities, such as rural and small towns, exercise their civic engagement.
The event kicked off with an herbal health conversation, highlighting artemisia tridentata, more commonly known as sagebrush, that’s native to Lake County and high elevations. They honored the plant’s medicinal properties and its ability to grow outside the doors of Leadville homes despite harsh conditions.
All attendees wrapped their own sage smudge sticks to take home – a way to commemorate the native plant and its importance in repairing our relationship with the land that’s been historically marred by mining. Mara Gwin, who facilitates the LCBAG’s food access coalition, shared how this activity was grounded in food justice and reconnecting with the earth: “We wanted to show how we can learn from the plants around us, the medicine right outside our doors, the food that nourishes our bodies, and the land we cohabit.”
All attendees wrapped their own sage smudge sticks to take home.
It can be a challenge to eat for many residents in Lake County. There’s the difficulty of growing food in the area’s high altitude and challenged soil health. Residents also find empty shelves and high food prices at the one grocery store in Leadville – 18% higher than surrounding counties and 14% higher than the national average at last count. Residents with reliable transportation and the ability to travel will often drive one hour or more to neighboring counties for better selection and prices, but that’s not possible for all who live in the county.
Over the past few years, LCBAG’s food access coalition has explored, researched, and actively listened to the community about what it means to access healthy food in Lake County. This effort culminated with a comprehensive food action plan that focuses on “working together to ensure healthy food is affordable and available to everyone.” It was unveiled during the September 17th event.
The Lake County Food Action Plan was unveiled during the September 17th event.
The plan includes eight strategies to transform and create a food system that works for all in their community. They intend to create evergreen resources, link community members to collective action, and serve as a source for communications about the coalition’s work.
Learn more about LCBAG and the Lake County Food Action Plan.