On Wednesday, June 24, 350 Colorado hosted a webinar to discuss trends in regenerative agriculture with researchers Nicole Civita of the University of Colorado Boulder and Dr. Dawn Thilmany of Colorado State University. Wendy Peters Moschetti, director of strategic initiatives for LiveWell Colorado, also spoke about her organization's rebranding and the Colorado Farm and Food System Response Team.
Presenter Nicole Civita, an instructor at the University of Colorado Boulder, describes regenerative agriculture as going beyond sustainability to promote resilience and redemption for ecosystems as well as communities.
This involves addressing social ailments produced by our dominant food system in addition to continual environmental degradation.
Civita sees the COVID crisis as a disruption and therefore a time of possibility for establishing a healthier foundation for meeting our society's most essential needs.
A steady increase in interest for locally produced food supports these possibilities, as affirmed by Dr. Dawn Thilmany, professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics with Colorado State University.
The presentation concluded with an announcement from Wendy Peters Moschetti, director of strategic initiatives for LiveWell Colorado. This organization, responsible for healthy food incentive programs like Double Up Food Bucks, will soon be rebranding as Nourish Colorado.
Colorado Farm and Food System Response Team, made up of 14 organizations including LiveWell Colorado, responded to the onset of this pandemic with a small grants program. $140,000 was awarded in the first round with $200,0000 more to be distributed among applications currently under review for Round Two. The remaining $190,000 for Round Three will focus on infrastructure for rebuilding a more resilient future.
For the full presentation, click here. Information about joining 350 Colorado's Regenerative Agriculture Committee is available here.
