More than Just ‘Better Food’

Photo: Mountain Roots Project

Story by Ashton Brown

Photos courtesy of Mountain Roots Project

The Mountain Roots Food Project has been helping those less fortunate in Southern Colorado for over a decade and donates 52,000 boxes of food each year. Mountain Roots is a small organic farm located in Gunnison, CO, and is known for giving away what they grow (also food from other local farms and farmers) to anyone that needs it.

Mountain Roots is not a run-of-the-mill food pantry; the organization regularly grows its own food using regenerative farming techniques. Regenerative farming is a group of techniques that “balance and prioritize the health of the soil and restore the nutrients” in the water and crops. This allows their boxes of food to be fresher – and also much healthier – than the average food pantry or food bank.

Holly Conn the executive director at Mountain Roots said, “One of the things that sets us apart from a traditional food pantry is that we’re sourcing food from local farms as much as we possibly can, and we’re providing fresh fruits and vegetables — not boxed mac and cheese or Wonder Bread.” Conn said she wants the underserved community of Gunnison to come away from the experience with more than just a full stomach.

“Our goal is to build comradery and self-efficiency, promote health, and promote social and mental well-being because it’s all tied together.”

To achieve this goal, Mountain Roots hosts a four-week cooking class to show families how to cook healthy food for $10 or less. This is one of the many ways they try to erase some of the stigma surrounding people with low incomes.

“I think we’re bringing a lot of stability to families who kind of just have to swallow their pride and hold their hand out for the handout,” said Conn.

There has always been a need for food and shelter in the Gunnison community, but not like the growing demand over the last couple of years. “It’s a little bit heartbreaking to see an increase in requests this year,” said Conn. “You would think coming out of the pandemic, things would be getting better. On the other hand, it’s heartwarming to see how much our community has stepped up to support their neighbor in need.”

Even though there was an increase in food requests in 2022 for Mountain Roots, there was also a record number of volunteers that assembled, sponsored, or dropped off boxes.

Because they had so many volunteers, they were able to drop off 200 double boxes of food for Thanksgiving. “Every box included a small turkey or a whole roasted chicken, plus another stash of vegetables to get them through the next couple of weeks,” Conn said.

 Mountain Roots’ work doesn’t end there, though. They also have their Backyard Harvest Program, which is a food relief and rescue program. The organization works with a select list of 100 referred households that are in need for a variety of reasons — not just those with low incomes. For example, women living in shelters to escape domestic violence.

According to Conn, this approach is different than other charity efforts because it’s an effort to address the immediate needs of food and security.

For anyone interested, the organization always needs volunteers. As Conn explained, “We need people on Mondays to help assemble boxes, and on Tuesdays, we need people to help deliver.” They also need volunteers for their four-week cooking class — which is made up entirely of volunteers — and for the community garden, which runs from May through October.