by Jennifer Wells

Southeast Area Director – CSU Food Systems Extension Team

Colorado State University Research Centers and Extension are part of a team of partners formulating a Blueprint for the state’s food and agriculture system over the coming year, and is inviting all Coloradans to be a part of the effort.  

The purpose of formulating a Blueprint is to have conversations about Colorado agriculture; highlight connections of food and agriculture and its impact across the state; bring Colorado’s regions together around share economic, community health, and food system opportunities and strengths; and to frame priorities and levers that will motivate research and programming or inform policy-making across all sectors of the food value chain.

Who should be involved: those whose lives are touched by food and agriculture. The goal is to hear from stakeholders along the supply chain (from the natural resources base through to consumers), no matter their scale, including consumers, farmers, ranchers, processors, retailers, and food policy groups.

Meetings are being held across Colorado during the first quarter of 2017, and a final report is expected to be released at the end of the year.

Kiowa County Commissioner Cindy McLoud states that Kiowa County ranks “number one in sunflower production, number two in sorghum production, and number five in wheat production” in Colorado.

Berry encourages community members to attend a Blueprint meeting at the Kiowa County Courthouse, 1305 Goff Street, Eads, beginning at 9:30 a.m. March 1. A similar meeting will be held February 27 beginning at 10:30 at the Rawlings Heritage Center in Las Animas. To register for either meeting, call Becca at 970-491-6133.

For more information go to foodsystems.colostate.edu and click on Blueprint or contact Jennifer Wells, CSU Extension at 719-254-7608.