Rural Resilience in a Time of Change
Agriculture, food systems and the U.S. Southwest are all on the front line of coming climate and ecological disruptions. But the impacts of global warming are not the only changes coming our way. Political changes in Washington DC may also impact western Colorado in significant ways. Uncertainty about what the near- and longer-term future holds seems a prevelant mood.
“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.” -Octavia Butler
Our transition to clean energy, developing new pathways to help agriculture shift toward more regenerative practices, and improving watershed health and irrigation efficiencies, could all be impacted by decisions pending before the incoming administration and the new 119th Congress.
Issues that Congress and the incoming administration will be addressing include the Farm Bill, funding to mitigate and prepare for climate change, Colorado public lands and how the Colorado River and western water supplies are managed.
As the Colorado Farm & Food Alliance looks forward to our work ahead, we will pull from a locally-rooted model of action. Our theory of change cultivates local leadership and partnerships as we grow a more resilient, fair, and prosperous community.
We are already making a tangible difference in western Colorado, defending progress made and places we care about, and advancing community-rooted projects that boost local food security, ecological health and healthy farms.
The Colorado Farm & Food Alliance works from this locally-rooted model for our work, but we look to having broader impact. And of course what happens at the federal level, with agencies and in Congress, does matter greatly here in western Colorado too. Through affiliations with national organizations like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the US Climate Action Network, the CO Farm & Food Alliance monitors federal developments, and represent what is important in western Colorado with peers from around the nation and world.
Locally-Rooted Action and National Impact
We highlight and elevate the projects and issues here in western Colorado into these networks to amplify our community’s work with policymakers and national organizations. That brings resources to projects that matter in western Colorado.
Being a partner in these national networks benefits our healthier futures in Colorado, and enables us to keep ourselves and our neighbors, and partners better informed too.
We are making it a a key 2025 priority to share information, resources and inspiration from and with peers, both here and around the nation.
Rural resilience in a time of climate change, disruption and overall uncertainty is about perseverance and adaptability: conserving what matters most, being prepared for what lies ahead, and building community adequate to meet an unknown future.
Informing, developing and elevating local solutions and supporting community action will remain our top priorities.
With your support, we are ready for 2025.
