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Healthy Archuleta is happy to announce the first Growers & Producer Forum of 2025 today at 4:00 pm at the Library. The topic is hot water, to be specific our local resource, geothermal hot water, and its role in agriculture.
Our main presenter is Kirsten Skeehan who was employed by Pagosa Verde in 2015 when this small start-up together with the US Dept of Energy and the Colorado School of Mines, was deeply involved in locating and drilling for sources of geothermal water here in this county. - their objective is to produce heat for greenhouse production year-round. Kirsten will share her experience with that venture. Courtney King, a local architect who counts among her accomplishments the site plans of the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership, will bring along some photos and impressions of her recent trip to Iceland, specifically that country’s huge investment in greenhouses powered by geothermal heat. We expect this first Forum of 2025 to be very worth your while. In fact, we expect the same of your attendance at the regular monthly Forum. And here is the reason. We intend to deal with a variety of topics intended to make us think of the role of grower or producer on a broader stage. Take, for example, the topic of world hunger. How are we, growers and producers of Archuleta County, connected to that issue? What meaningful action can we take? Let’s see. A recent letter signed by 150 Nobel Prize and World Food laureates (see World Food Prize Foundation website) foresees a World Hunger Catastrophe in the next 25 years without political and financial backing to develop “moonshot” technologies. Exaggeration? Hard to hand it off as such, given the uncomfortable twin truths of the numbers (700 million hungry world-wide and growing) and the implications of climate on water and food production. Still wondering how we fit into this scenario? Just take a look at what this group of experts identifies as local action: 1) Prioritize local, seasonal, and Indigenous foods whenever able, 2) Eat everything in your fridge before it goes bad, 3) Elevate farmer voices and success stories in your communities, and 4) Use our voices to move institutions. Sound like something you are already doing or could do? These four make up a large part of the Healthy Archuleta Agenda; what better place to see in action than at the Growers & Producers Forum? This is what the Forum is all about! Join us and contribute to creating local “moonshot” technologies aimed at increasing the local food supply and work toward its equitable distribution. Create community, share knowledge, learn and take action. Healthy Archuleta’s Growers & Producers Forum meets monthly now that the holidays are over, bringing interesting topics for discussion & learning. This month, the Forum will meet on Thursday, the 30th, from 4 pm to 5 pm at the Library. The topic deals with an important local resource, geothermal heat, and will be discussed from different points of view. Kirsten Skeehan will bring to light past efforts here in Archuleta County to locate new sources and harvest the heat for commercial purposes. Courtney King will share some impressions and photos of Iceland’s use of geothermal heat to supply the country with greenhouse produce. Next month, Chris Frederics will contrast his experience growing produce in a geothermally heated dome, the GGP Education Dome in Centennial Park, with growing outside on his own farm. This is a great opportunity for our local growers and producers to network and learn from one another.
Yes, it is January. Yes, it is cold outside. But this is Pagosa! We have the privilege of living in one of the most beautiful areas of southern Colorado. Each day has its own magic. Whether it is the bluest sky ever seen, or dark grey clouds that threaten snow. It is all beautiful and wonderful. And if you’re always indoors, you’re missing it.
But aside from the gorgeous views, being outdoors in nature has a slew of benefits for us. As Richardson and colleagues in an October 2020 article in the Ecosystems and People journal state, “The ‘pathways to nature connectedness’ (sensory contact, emotion, meaning, beauty, and compassion) provide an important and flexible framework to help improve the human–nature relationship.” This connectedness also gives us a sense of ownership, a realization that the natural world exists for our benefit. But it is fleeting. Urbanization reduces the amount of green spaces. Concrete replaces earth. We lose more than just oxygen. We lose that absolute interaction with what created us in the first place. By being in nature, we should be more protective of it. Awareness of how our actions can change, good or bad, the ecosystems that surround us, for years to come. What are we leaving for future generations if we do not take the necessary actions to protect our own environment? What do we think Pagosa Springs will look like in a hundred years if we fail to consider where we stand with nature? As we delve into this new year, perhaps we should take a moment to gaze at the beauty of our wonderful location. Breathe in the cold morning air as the sun is rising over the mountains. Walk among our tall Ponderosa Pine trees, study the carpet of spent pine needles on the ground, slowly breaking down over time to become one with the earth once again. Nature is a cycle, and we are a part of that cycle. Embrace it and appreciate its purpose in our lives. Experience it every chance you get. If you are going to be outdoors in the cold, remember to dress appropriately. Be aware of the weather conditions and if there is a chance of snow or extreme cold. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back. We hope that everyone in Archuleta County is off to a fabulous 2025 with new beginnings and blessings. Our team at Healthy Archuleta would like to let everyone know that our offices have moved to a new uptown location. We moved from our old downtown office space on the second floor of the Methodist Church to a new office space located above RG Bank. With this big move, we still plan to keep serving Archuleta County residents in having equitable access to food and health resources within the county. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from those we’ve met over the last year and hope to keep building on more support over the next year. Especially with our upcoming efforts on equitable mental/behavioral health services for our Spanish-speaking community, health access and utilization for those who are underinsured or uninsured, and equitable food access for underserved Archuleta County residents. We wish everyone a happy and healthy start to the rest of the new year!
Our team at Healthy Archuleta wishes everyone a healthy and happy new year. At Healthy Archuleta, we have lots of exciting new projects to look forward to this year. Last summer, we were awarded four new grants that we will be implementing in 2025. These grants focus on expanding equitable food access and behavioral/mental health services. Related to the local food system we will begin planning for a food hub in Archuleta County. The goal of this food hub is to expand fresh and healthy food access to the underserved populations in Archuleta County by strengthening our local food supply chain. The long-term vision for this food hub is for it to become self-sustaining and foster local food sovereignty that improves access to local foods. We will start the work for the food hub this year by bringing a group of individuals together to establish a Food Hub Community Learning and Leadership Circle (CLLC) to start the planning process.
In 2025, we will also be focusing on efforts to make behavioral and mental health services more accessible to our monolingual Spanish-speaking community. This effort looks to expand access to Spanish-speaking mental health providers through telehealth and in-person appointments via a comprehensive referral system. As part of this effort, we will also be working with Community Health Workers/navigators/advocates to expand access to resources and training opportunities to increase our bilingual mental health workforce and provide cultural competency training to primary care and behavioral and mental healthcare providers. Our hope is that these efforts will help our community be more equitable and healthier, but we can’t do this alone. If you are interested in learning more about any of these projects, you can email us at [email protected]. Visit us on our social media pages and check out our website, www.foodcoalition4archuleta.org, for events and happenings in 2025. We hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year and that you will consider getting involved in our work! |
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June 2025
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