Sustainability Spotlight - August 2021 - Regenerate Wheat Ridge: Regenerative Urban Agriculture Project

By: Amy DePierre, Sustainable Wheat Ridge Co-Chair

Regenerate Wheat Ridge is a collaborative urban agriculture project focused on boosting awareness and technical capacity for restorative and agroecological farming practices in Wheat Ridge. The City of Wheat Ridge (COWR) and the Jefferson Conservation District (JCD) were jointly awarded an urban agriculture conservation grant for this regenerative agriculture project through a partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

While there is not a single definition for regenerative agriculture, it is broadly understood to mean agriculture that utilizes farming, grazing, and land practices that restore organic soil matter and support healthy natural ecosystems.

Practitioners of regenerative agriculture consider their farms or gardens as holistic, linked systems. Examples of practices used on regenerative farmland may include, yet are not limited to: composting, no- or minimal- tillage, cover cropping, perennial crops, native and multi-species planting, pollinator habitat, and rotational grazing. These adaptive, location-specific land management techniques can help to sequester carbon, reduce waste, decrease chemical use and pollution, save water, increase pollinator habitat, and lower ambient air temperatures while producing nutrient-rich food.

Regenerate Wheat Ridge Goals

Regenerate Wheat Ridge has two goals:

1. To bring together farmers and landowners to identify opportunities, barriers, and actions needed to create new regenerative farms in Wheat Ridge.
2. Connect the community to conservation practices already in place at Happiness Gardens, Wheat Ridge’s community garden, through a series of free educational workshops.

Join the Conversation // Get Involved

If you are a landowner or local food producer in Wheat Ridge interested in joining the ongoing conversation about producer-landowner partnerships for regenerative agricultural opportunities, please email Amy DePierre: amy.depierre@gmail.com

Sign up for upcoming educational workshops and see notes from past workshops here:

http://www.rootedinfun.com/302/Regenerative-Agriculture

August Sustainability Updates

• The City of Wheat Ridge is accepting new neighborhood applications for the Sustainable Neighborhoods program! The City will be accepting applications for the program until Monday, August 30, 2021. To find out more about the program and the application, click here.
• The City is participating in Fresh Food Connect again this growing season to partner local growers with those in need of food assistance. Residents can download the Fresh Food Connect app on their phones to donate their excess produce to Family Tree - which provides the fresh food to those in our community experiencing homelessness.

More about Sustainable Wheat Ridge

Sustainable Wheat Ridge is a resident-led committee that was established in 2018 to provide the city with recommendations to enhance the environmental sustainability of Wheat Ridge. Included in these recommendations are goals around preserving Wheat Ridge’s agricultural history, connecting local producers and consumers, and establishing partnerships to support local food production. Check out the full Sustainable Wheat Ridge action plan here!