Mile High Locavorist

If you went to the Union Station Farmers Market in the 2016 season, you saw an adorable couple running a stand stocked with gorgeous gourmet mushrooms. That’s Liz and Michael Nail and they are Mile High Fungi. Liz and Michael are “both passionate about fungus.” They’re pioneering the locally grown gourmet mushroom business here in the Mile High City. Not only that, they’ve already embarked on their next major effort, building what will become a full permaculture homestead. Liz and Michael both hail from the Pacific Northwest and studied sustainable agriculture and environmental science, earning degrees from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. Together, they spent many days foraging for wild mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest. Let me quote from their website; “For us, mushrooms just make sense. They blend our desire to provide healthy, local produce with finding creative solutions to harnessing the city’s organic waste stream. In this time of environmental instability, we strive to produce using the most s

It's a big enough problem that is touching enough of these different segments of the industry: restaurant, retail, consumers, institutional, farm...that here in the Denver Metro area, there’s room for a lot of solutions...” – Brendan McCrann, Future Pointe Food waste. Over the last year or two, this issue has been finding its way into the headlines more and more, both at home and abroad. From features on John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight to major national initiatives in Europe, food waste has reached the mainstream consciousness. And Denver, of all places, is becoming a focal point for solving our food waste problem here in the US. In this episode, we’re going to talk about what’s happening now in food waste at the national, state and local levels as well as what we might see in the future. Exactly where we’ll go is unclear, as it’s still early days, but significant efforts are starting to come together and again, with Denver as a national focal point. Brendan McCrann is President of Future Pointe LLC,

Natural. Organic. Local. Heritage. Heirloom. In this episode, I explore the confusing, even misleading range of choices we often face in the marketplace through the experience of buying an 18-pound turkey for my family's Thanksgiving celebration. I also delve a bit into the history of how today's modern turkey was created. Did I make the right choice? What would you have done? Let me know at nate@milehighlocavorist.com or at the website, www.milehighlocavorist.com.  – THANKS FOR LISTENING –   This episode (#26) comes from Mile High Locavorist.

It’s August in the Mile-High City which means we’re in the middle of the harvest season in the Denver region. I’m pleased to welcome back Chef Elizabeth Buckingham of Moveable Feast Colorado to the second in a series of three episodes designed to help us get the most of the locally-grown fruit and vegetables we’ll see in the early, mid and late-harvest seasons in the Denver region. Check out the first episode in the series on early-season produce, some of which we are still seeing (leafy greens, herbs): Episode 22: Make the Most of Early Season Produce. In the mid-season, we’re seeing: The Holy Trinity: Tomatoes, peppers and summer squash Colorado’s best fruit: Melons from the Arkansas River Valley and peaches from the Palisade region Sweetcorn from the Olathe region Chef Elizabeth is going to talk us through: What we’re going to see in the mid-season What to look for when we buy How to best store it before we’re ready to use it How to prepare it Chef Elizabeth Buckingham is a Colorado native; she earne

“We’re a health equity organization before we’re a food security organization so we’re not going to deliver someone a totally unhealthy meal just for the sake of filling their stomach.” – Turner Wyatt Increasing healthful food access is an effort that has grown in prominence over the last few years. It’s a complicated issue. So many factors influence healthful food access – the built environment, food costs, shelf-life, government regulation, nutrition, even social norms and stigmas. Denver Food Rescue is a young organization meeting the challenge of expanding healthful food access with a unique operating model featuring bicycles, fresh local produce and a “no-cost grocery” concept. In 2015, they delivered enough food for 175,000 healthy meals with a focus on health, not just calories. “Denver Food Rescue is a health equity nonprofit that uses an innovative bicycle-based delivery system to increase the nutritional value in the emergency food assistance system.” And while reducing food waste is not their pri

“Permaculture is the best toolkit we have to craft a truly sustainable future.” – Creighton Hofeditz Permaculture – just what is it, exactly? Here to tell us is Creighton Hofeditz, a CO native, permaculturalist, food educator and Board Member of the Denver Permaculture Guild. The Denver Permaculture Guild is a vibrant, sizeable and still growing group of folks focused on growing the practice and growing practitioners of permaculture in Denver. They also bring in some internationally recognized speakers from time to time and have a very active online community. This episode is broken in to two parts. Part 1 – What is permaculture? and Part 2 – What is the Denver Permaculture Guild? – IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN – The origins of permaculture The major elements and principles of permaculture design Why permaculture is necessarily customized to each place it’s applied How permaculture works with food production and with animals How you can get involved, in a big or small way, with permaculture and the Denver P

“I want people to know that fresh is a flavor and should be considered as such.” – Chef Elizabeth Buckingham We’re entering mid-June, the early harvest season in the Denver region. I’m pleased to welcome back Chef Elizabeth Buckingham of Moveable Feast Colorado to the first in a series of episodes to help us get the most of the produce we’ll see in the early, mid and late harvest seasons. In the early season, we’re expecting: Salad greens: lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, mustard greens, collard greens Herbs: mint, arugula, flat-leaf parsley Radishes Early onions: chives, scallions, walking onions Green garlic and garlic scapes Really limited time veggies like fava beans and early-season peas Chef Elizabeth is going to talk us through: What we’re going to see in early season What to look for when buying it How to best store it before we’re ready to use it How to prepare it Chef Elizabeth Buckingham is a Colorado native; she earned a Grande Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. A spontaneous scuba diving trip t

“…What the markets offer in this growers-only context is an opportunity to reconnect to the food in a very meaningful way and it happens really simply by actually having that authentic connection to the source.” – Brian Coppom The heart of Denver finally has its own farmers market! Union Station Farmers Market will launch on Saturday, June 6 and run weekly until October 22nd. Union Station Farmers Market is operated by Boulder County Farmers Markets (BCFM), the non-profit that already runs the very well-respected and established farmers markets in Boulder and Longmont. According to their website, “We are a nonprofit organization operating producer-only farmers markets in Colorado since 1987. Our mission is to support, promote and expand local agriculture, making fresh products accessible to our community and strengthening relationships between local food producers and food consumers.” Brian Coppom is Executive Director of Boulder County Farmers Markets. Brian, his team at BCFM and all his vendors have a lofty

“There is literally no one thing that you can do that’s more beneficial to your health, both physically as well as financially, than cooking at home.” – Chef Elizabeth Buckingham Engaging with local, whole foods requires a skill and that skill is cooking. For many of us, it’s a skill we haven’t mastered but for all of us, it’s a skill we can master. It takes practice, confidence and a few tips from an expert chef and teacher. Chef Elizabeth Buckingham is a Colorado native; she earned a Grande Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. A spontaneous scuba diving trip to the Bahamas following her culinary school graduation led to a passion for the ocean and the next eight years of her career, first cooking aboard dive boats and later progressing to head chef aboard private yachts worldwide. In 2009, Elizabeth returned to Colorado and started her own private chef venture, Moveable Feast Colorado through which she offers all kinds of fun and useful services from in-home classes to edible garden setups. Elizabeth is also

“We’re starting to hear ideas that I’ve never envisioned or never imagined coming out of these plans and that’s really the exciting part of a community process like this. We hear what our businesses really need. We hear what our residents really need to have successful lives and we’re able to say, “How do we bake that in to a longer term vision and then how do we turn that in to immediate action…” – Blake Angelo (Welcome to Season 2!!) The City and County of Denver are in the process of creating a city-wide food plan called the Denver Food Plan. This subtly-titled document will help shape Denver’s food future through the year 2030. Community Listening Sessions are running from March through early June, 2016. These well-run meetings are YOUR CHANCE to offer your thoughts on what Denver’s food system should look like. What are your priorities? What’s your vision? Let your government know! While the creation of the Denver Food Plan involves many people and organizations, in this episode, we speak to one leader c

In this episode, I’d like to check in with you about the show; what’s gone well, what hasn’t, what we’ve learned and what I’d like to talk about in the next season. I also address some of the good and bad I’ve observed in both the local organic and the larger food system in the last year. This is a lightly produced, solo episode. Just you and me. – THANKS FOR LISTENING – This episode (#18) comes from Mile High Locavorist.

"Growing on a small scale in the back yard is actually not that hard, even in Colorado. You're well rewarded - you can grow a lot even in a small space." - Jane Shellenberger  Whether you already have a garden or you're thinking about starting one, if you want to have a great garden next spring and summer, you have to put in the work before winter sets in. Jane Shellenberger is a recognized expert in the field of organic gardening in the Western United States and especially Colorado. For almost twenty years, Jane has been Editor and Publisher of Colorado Gardener, a freely distributed news magazine published five times a year, focused on everything important to gardens and gardeners. Colorado Gardener has a readership of "well over 70,000" per issue and "emphasizes waterwise and environmentally sound practices" and local suppliers. Jane is also the author of Organic Gardener’s Companion, Growing Vegetables in the West and a regularly featured speaker at gardening and educational events across the Front Range.

“When people are making things on a smaller scale, usually they’re doing it with a lot more care and they’re not going to that size where you need crazy fillers and preservatives and…weird things.” – Elizabeth Mozer The best businesses are started by people solving problems that they themselves experience. While struggling to efficiently purchase local food for their Lyric Cinema Cafe in Fort Collins, Elizabeth Mozer and her husband Ben realized there was a gap in the marketplace. In 2011, LoCo Food Distribution started out of a basement. In 2015, they have $2.3M in revenue serving much of Colorado’s Front Range with thirteen employees. Tremendous growth and a testament to the idea that local food can make good business sense! Elizabeth Mozer is Founder, CEO and COO of LoCo Food Distribution. – IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN – What kinds of businesses are generating demand for local products How supply and demand varies across different products How they define local and how organic and sustainable relates to

On the Westwood Food Coop – “I’m excited about it but my excitement doesn’t even compare to the excitement of this community when they say, ‘we’re going to own this store,’ and the pride there is palpable.” – Eric Kornacki  Since 2007, Re:Vision has worked in the Westwood neighborhood in west Denver in pursuit of their mission to “develop resident leaders, cultivate community food systems, and grow self-sufficient economies.” Why Westwood? Well, it’s a food desert, one of many in Denver and across America. Over the last eight years, Re:Vision has gone from an idea inspired by a trip to Nicaragua to portfolio of programs that, among other things, supports over 400 families in growing their own food. This is the largest concentrated community-led urban agriculture project in America. Eric Kornacki is Executive Director & Co-Founder of Re:Vision. Along with his co-founder, Joseph Teipel, and a Re:Vision team that now numbers over twenty, Eric’s made a big impact in Denver already and has more in the works. M

“…As we look at the opportunities we have to make a positive difference that actually feels like we’re doing something, food just seems like a very relevant and immediate option.” – Mickki Langston Mickki Langston founded Mile High Business Alliance in 2007. For the past 8 years, she and her team focused on organizing local business owners in working together to build a more resilient, connected and healthy Denver economy. MHBA worked with thousands of business owners to launch Denver’s ‘localism’ movement, including campaigns focused on local food, energy efficiency, independent retail, transit, and more. Their work changed the way people think about local businesses, local food, and building local capacity to fulfill on Denver’s needs and create economic opportunity. In fact, Mickki and MHBA was so successful in catalyzing localism that since Mickki and I spoke in July, MHBA has ceased operations! According to a post on their website, “Our community has embraced the ‘local first’ mentality in a way we never

"There was technology that came around that allowed nerds (which we proudly are) to tinker and to experiment and to play and we're seeing that in food." - John-Paul Maxfield Seen one way, Waste Farmers is a small company producing soil products for urban farmers (Maxfield's Organics) and marijuana growers (Batch:64) with plans to diversify into consumer food products, soon. Seen another way, Waste Farmers is a purpose-driven organization with ambitious, wide-reaching goals to change the world one innovation at a time. They just happen to be starting with some excellent work in farming and reshaping people's relationship with food. John-Paul Maxfield is the CEO and Founder of Waste Farmers. He leads a committed band of cosmic journeymen as they work to "grow food, eat well and live full" while developing simple solutions to complex problems. In this episode, he not only shares his knowledge but his musical talent as well - stay tuned for an original song at the end of the episode!  - IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LE

"One of the exciting things about the local food movement is that many people in it are beginning to experience a level of community they never experienced in their lives... People who connect in to this local food revolution are finding that there's a growing community here and being part of that community means something. And it is this growing community of eaters, focused on local food, that we want to reach with this magazine. This magazine is for them." Local Food Shift Magazine is a new quarterly publication, both in print and online, covering and catalyzing the local food revolution in Colorado. Colorado creatives are contributing top-quality content on the "awakening Colorado foodshed and its shift from a globalized industrial food system to a localized regional food supply chain." Local Food Shift's first issue comes out in September 2015. Michael Brownlee is Co-Publisher and Co-Editor of Local Food Shift Magazine, along with his partner Lynette Marie Hanthorn. Michael has "long been a catalyst in th

Chef Jon Emanuel on Feeding 1,100 People with Life-Threatening Illnesses as Much Local and Organic As Possible...On A Budget “We consider love an ingredient. When we prepare our meals, we are fully aware of who we are cooking for and why we are doing it.” – Chef Jon Emanuel Project Angel Heart “delivers nutritious meals to improve quality of life, at no cost, for those coping with life-threatening illness.” On top of that, they pursue ambitious sustainability and local purchasing goals. Project Angel Heart started in 1991 supporting a dozen AIDS sufferers with donated lasagna. They have since expanded to serve all life threatening illnesses and today, serve 1,100 people with weekly food deliveries, at no cost, in their time of need. That’s six chefs and countless volunteers making and delivering 5,500 restaurant-quality meals per week, customized to the unique dietary needs of each client. At the same time, they sourced 30% of their food locally and diverted over 50 tons of waste from landfills through compos

“…It’s really important to show off what your town can do.” – Chef Luke Hendricks It’s summertime now and for many, that means ice cream. Refreshing, satisfying ice cream bursting with the local flavors of the season!! Chef Luke Hendricks runs Milk Money, a mobile ice cream company (i.e. good old fashioned ice cream cart) with his wife, Nish. Luke handles the product and Nish handles the business, more or less. Milk Money makes small batch ice cream with local, seasonal ingredients and they’ve been cooling off Denver’s farmer’s market patrons for the past two years. Luke’s a Colorado native and a graduate of Johnson & Wales University. He’s been cooking for 15 years, cutting his teeth in California’s farm-to-table movement before returning to CO. For the last four years, Luke has been the Sous Chef at Potager, a well-respected pioneer in Denver’s farm-to-table movement. – IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN – Why a chef with his experience chose ice cream to branch out How Colorado’s fruit really shines in sor

Organic food is your birthright. – Marilyn Megenity Marilyn Megenity has run Mercury Cafe for 40 years. She’s been committed to local, organic food long before it became fashionable. Mercury Cafe boasts around 90% local products on their menu and beyond food, provides a joyous gathering place for art and poetry, much as you’d expect for a cafe named for the Magician in a Tarot deck. Marilyn combines her calming faith with a love for chaos when she comes to play at work, every day, “serving organic Colorado cuisine.” – IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN – How she started her first cooking job at the tender age of 4 What the dining public isn’t ready to go without How she tries to meet diner’s year-round expectations for fruit Why she thrives on the joyful chaos of a seasonal menu How and why she decides between local suppliers and organic suppliers Why good wool means tasty lamb What foods define Colorado cuisine from the rest of the country Why you can not only educate diners but be educated by them How faith con