For a culture that values stewardship and sustainability, Americans are surprisingly wasteful when it comes to the kitchen. As much as forty percent of the nation’s food supply ends up in landfills. Here where I live in Fort Collins, food waste—much of which is whole and unconsumed—makes up about a quarter of our trash bags. 

What’s the most resilient strategy that comes to mind for developing a locally adapted, healthy food supply? Specifically, one that has the best chance of producing in difficult conditions such as drought, flood, pestilence, “poor” soil, and crop disease in a changing, challenging climate?  We know that the most bio-diverse ecosystems are the healthiest.

by Sam Killmeyer With the federal declaration of the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River; the largest reservoir in the country, Lake Mead, at a drastically low level; and our second-largest reservoir, Lake Powell, at 33% capacity, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the climate crisis.