Local Food Panel Discussion
Saturday, August 27, 2022
3 pm to 4:15pm
at the 33rd Annual Crestone Energy Fair
in the Town of Crestone, Colorado
Our panel of local food producers and aggregators (see their bios below) will discuss the assets and needs of our regional food shed in the spirit of creating more food security for the people of the San Luis Valley.
- Liza Marron
- Amanda Laban
- Dr. Deven Peña
- Micah Roseberry
- Pharmer Bob
Farm & Garden Swap
Saturday & Sunday, August 27 & 28, 2022
10am to 6pm
at the 33rd Annual Crestone Energy Fair
in the Town of Crestone, Colorado
- Bring and share your seeds, bulbs, plants and produce at the San Luis Valley Seed Exchange booth. (No Sales)
- Contribute your ideas about building food security in our region through a quick survey.
- Connect with community!
- Register with Colorado Land Link to find land or resources you need to farm.
Liza Marron is one of the founders of the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition. The Coalition works to foster an equitable local food system with an incubator farm on the Rio Grande and an aggregation and distribution food hub serving regional producers and families. Liza is a community organizer inspired by her belief that solutions to societal problems will be created and activated at the grassroots level. She helped form Saguache County Sustainable Environment (ScSEED) and serves as its chair. She lives in a newly empty nest in Saguache with her two horses, two dogs, a cat, her chickens and her bike.
Amanda Laban has served as the Colorado Land Link Director since 2021. Under her leadership, Land Link has expanded its programming outreach and increased its landowner and land seeker engagement across the state. The Colorado Land Link program serves as a model to other institutions and organizations across the southwest region.
With a background in many parts of the food system, including restaurant management, food hub distribution, vegetable farming, and value-added product marketing, Amanda has both the experience and awareness of seeing both the big picture and the nitty gritty of improving local food systems.
She is honored to join the panel of local food system luminaries at the 2022 Crestone Energy Fair.
Dr. Devon Peña is a biodynamic farmer, seed saver, plant breeder, and philanthropist. He is Founder and President of The Acequia Institute (TAI), a Colorado-based non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting the environmental and food justice movements. He manages the Institute’s 181-acre acequia farm in Viejo San Acacio under a conservation easement with Colorado Open Lands. Since 2006, TAI has provided more than $180,000 in direct-to-producer grants, scholarships, fellowships, and support for acequia and other traditional and Indigenous farmers and their children. In December 2021, TAI was awarded a $1.5 million grant from The Colorado Health Foundation for ia two-year “San Luis Food Sovereignty Initiative” which includes the restoration of the historic R&R Market (est. 1857), now the San Luis People’s Market, and its conversion into a community food cooperative, mutual aid center, and food sovereignty incubator.
Micah Roseberry has been an organic farmer and educator for over 25 years. She founded the Farmhouse Café and Bakery in Taos, NM, the Taos Farm to School Lunch Program, and the Rios Del Norte Farmer & Rancher Coop, which supports local ranchers and gets their beef and lamb directly to local families; and Taos Community Farms CSA which serves over 50 families and aggregates food from over a dozen area farmers.
Pharmer Bob is the founder of Beyond Organica, a farmer and food sovereignty advocate.
Jae Sanders, executive director of the SLV Seed Exchange, will be moderating this panel of regional food producers and aggregators to discuss what assets and needs we have in the Northern Rio Grande / San Luis Valley Foodshed.
2022 Spring Seed Exchange Row Level Sponsors
Sprout Level Sponsors
