Field to Fork Project will address food insecurity in the Pine River Valley
Pine River Shares has been selected by La Plata County Commissioners to receive $390,000 through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to implement its valley-wide Field to Fork Project Plan. According to Pam Willhoite, director of Pine River Shares, the ARPA funding will “activate agricultural capabilities for a sustainable independent food system that supports the food and nutritional needs of our residents.” Additionally, the Field to Fork Project Plan aims to keep Pine River Valley food and food purchases in the Pine River Valley.
“The ARPA funding will assist valley residents in returning to practices that once existed here of growing food for you and your neighbors. And working together to harvest, process, transport, share, and store food grown by and for Valley residents,” Willhoite siad. The American Rescue Plan Act was established by the federal government and funds distributed to counties throughout the United States to “provide additional relief to address the continued impact of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses.
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pine River Shares (PRS) began work on the Field to Fork (F2F) Project Plan in response to rising food insecurity in the valley. The Plan provides a blueprint for rebuilding an independent food system in the Pine River Valley that will provide for the food and nutritional needs of its 16,000 residents. PRS, along with its partner the Pine River Garden Club, developed the Plan over eight years ago from input by over 200 valley residents gathered at numerous community conversations throughout the valley.
The process of researching and sharing 100-year-old narratives, collected by Dr. Jim Fitzgerald and others about Native and non-native food production practices in the Valley, was central to developing the F2F Plan. Following historic practices, key themes of the F2F Plan are growing food at home, community food production, and sharing labor and resources for other food system functions including food processing, preservation, and storage.
The Plan seeks to revive agricultural practices in the Pine River Valley where there was once a vibrant and self-sustaining food system comprised of people growing food at home, family farms, grain mills, and dairies. Areas earmarked for infrastructure support are food production, food processing and storage, and community education. Geodesic grow domes, season extension high tunnels, a tractor and trailer, and community compost shredders will assist in food production. Community and commercial kitchens equipped with food dehydrators, food processors, freeze dryers, refrigerators, and a walk-in freezer will support food processing and storage. The shared kitchens will be used by community members to process food grown at home and in the high tunnels, greenhouses, gardens, and orchards.
Also included are funds to begin the rehabilitation of the historic Harrison Farm as a teaching facility near downtown Bayfield, a joint project of PRS and the Town of Bayfield. Throughout 2023, PRS will host meetings in Pine River Valley communities to inform residents about the impact ARPA funding will have on local food production and processing capacity, helping to further grow food security in the Pine River Valley. During 2022, the F2F Plan moved forward significantly when PRS partnering with Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project, gave away over 100 heritage apple trees to valley residents.
During the summer of 2021, the Plan took foothold on the PRS campus in downtown Bayfield, where a 33’ geodesic grow dome and a 2000 square foot garden were installed along with 25 heritage apple trees planted by Bayfield School District’s Wolverine Academy. The greenhouse and garden are currently producing food for PRS Food Share programs. This production area is the established model for three new garden sites in the Pine River Valley that ARPA will fund, making strides toward a food secure future in the Pine River Valley. More information about the Field to Fork Project can be found at http://www.PineRiverShares.org.
Pine River Shares, a constituent-led social justice leadership project, brings together the knowledge, skills, and resources of people in the Pine River Valley to increase collective power and bring about positive social change resulting in healthy, thriving Pine River Valley communities.