Sustainability Spotlight - May 2022 - Grow a Garden…for Your Neighbor!

By: Laura McGarry, Sustainable Wheat Ridge member


While many of the food shortages brought on by the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic have subsided, too many people are still struggling with food insecurity. In fact, according to Hunger Free Colorado 33% of Coloradans report that they are food insecure, and 44% of Colorado households with children report struggling to have regular access to nutritious food. Unfortunately, these are not just statewide statistics, with three Elementary Schools in Wheat Ridge having over 80% of students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program.



What can we do about food insecurity in Wheat Ridge?

If you’re a gardener living in Wheat Ridge, there is something that you can do to address local food insecurity—grow extra food in your garden to donate! Whether you are a new or seasoned gardener, 2022 is a great year to grow more food, knowing that you can donate to your neighbors in need.



How to donate your extra garden veggies:

  • Step 1: Download the Fresh Food Connect App: Sign up as a gardener living in 80033.
  • Step 2: Grow lots of food!
  • Step 3: Donate your extra produce: Follow the donation instructions on the Fresh Food Connect app. and you’ll be able to donate extra produce in Wheat Ridge. The current drop-off site is the Family Tree located at 38th and Marshall. All food donated to the Family Tree is donated to families living in their shelter.


Why use an app to donate food?

Sustainable Wheat Ridge partnered with Fresh Food Connect to support food donations in Wheat Ridge for a few reasons:

  1. We hope to have more donation sites in the future, and the app is a one-stop shop for gardeners in Wheat Ridge to find information on these sites.
  2. The app helps Sustainable Wheat Ridge gather data about the food being donated; this data can be shared to gather more support for the program in the future.
  3. Using the app makes it easy for gardeners to track what they are donating—you get to collect and see your own donation data!


I want to learn how to garden:

Check out these awesome local gardening resources:

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