Environmental Center

Local Food

About the Program

Demonstration Eco-garden
Demonstration Eco-garden
Giving students the chance to learn sustainable gardening practices and gain hands on experience growing their own food.
Demonstration Eco-garden
Demonstration Eco-garden
Greens growing in our garden.
Demonstration Eco-garden
Demonstration Eco-garden
Hops.
Demonstration Eco-garden
Demonstration Eco-garden
Potato flowers.
Demonstration Eco-garden
Demonstration Eco-garden
Strawberries!
CC 4 Season Greenhouse
CC 4 Season Greenhouse
Community Connections provides programs and activities for people with developmental disabilities.
CC 4 Season Greenhouse
CC 4 Season Greenhouse
The local food team assists with growing seasonally in Community Connections' greenhouse as well as leading classes with the clients at the Holly House.
Garden Partner Collaboration
Garden Partner Collaboration
Garden at Needham Elementary School.
Garden Partner Collaboration
Garden Partner Collaboration
Garden at Needham Elementary School.
 
Pause

The Environmental center’s Local Food program runs an Eco-Demonstration Garden located in the northern CSWS parking lot. This garden gives students the chance to learn sustainable gardening practices and gain hands on experience growing their own food.

Community Involvement

Community Connections 4 season greenhouse

Community Connections provides programs and activities for people with developmental disabilities. The local food team assists with growing seasonally in their greenhouse as well as leading classes with the clients at the Holly House. A long term vision for this greenhouse is to empower CCI clients, providing a space to grow and market food as a source of income in La Plata County.

Garden Partner Collaboration

The EC is part of the Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado, a coalition of local groups working to strengthen our food systems for underserved populations.   Students on the food team assist the The Garden Project of Southwest Colorado in community gardens and a yearly backyard garden giveaway.

Other Collaborations

Other organizations that the teams works with are the Food and Agriculture Committee of the Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado, Turtle Lake Refuge, and Healthy Lifestyles La Plata's Healthy Local Foods Group.

Project News

Throwing Away Energy
3/18/2013 4:14 PM
When you take out your trash, do you think about where it ends up? Most of the waste produced on the Fort Lewis College campus goes to a landfill 45 miles away in San Juan County, NM. Waste-related fees add up to $30,000-$35,000 annually, one of the many reasons why Fort Lewis aims to become [...]
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The Truth About Hunting
2/24/2013 11:37 PM
The subject of taking an animal’s life can certainly stir a lot of emotion in people, especially some supporters of the present day environmental movement. Infringing upon an animal’s right to life goes against an ethic to leave nature as it is. So, it seems that in order to be a “good” conservationist, a human [...]
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The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued. -Robert Frost Snow muffles the sounds in the La Plata Canyon. Last weekend for the winter retreat, a group of us [...]
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If you have any questions, ideas, or would like to know more about our projects, please contact us.