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For its ninth consecutive year, Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado\u2019s Homegrown Food Retreat is gearing up to discuss the needs and concerns of Southwest Colorado\u2019s local food world. This year\u2019s retreat will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 8 at the ELHI Community Center in Ignacio.<\/p>\n
Attendees will be treated with coffee, lunch, a tour of the community center and a variety of discussions and panels covering pressing topics in the food industry today.<\/p>\n
Chef M. Karlos Baca, whose credits include executive chef for Dunton Hot Springs, is the founder of Taste of Native Cuisine, an indigenous chef cooperative, and will act as keynote speaker of this year\u2019s retreat. Also trained in Japanese and French cooking, Baca founded Taste of Native Cuisine with a mission to practice pre-colonial methods of cooking and acquiring foods and to restore Native American food traditions. Baca\u2019s talk, \u201cFull Circle: An Indigenous Foods Tale\u201d will discuss the loss of tradition brought about by events such as the displacement of tribes and government rationing, food warfare and modern indigenous cuisine.<\/p>\n
Baca will not be presenting alone. He will be joined by three other presenters. Fort Lewis College alumnus and Old Fort caretaker Brandon Francis will be on hand to discuss soil quality and the healing of the Animas River following the Gold King Mine spill. Beth LaShell, coordinator of the Old Fort at Hesperus and former agriculture and biology instructor, will elucidate the Cottage Food Act, which allows individuals to sell food produced in their homes without licensing or inspection. Olga Gonz\u00e1lez of LiveWell Durango will give an overview of community organization and discuss food justice and its importance as a social justice movement.<\/p>\n
Also featured will be a panel of prominent regional gardeners discussing the ins and outs of running a successful community garden.<\/p>\n
Retreat goers also have the option to spend the morning in a hands-on rain barrel workshop. Colorado\u2019s ban on rain barrel water collection ended in 2016, and residents can now collect up to two barrels with a combined capacity of 110 gallons. Dan Pushard of Santa Fe will teach participants how to construct barrels for this purpose. Retreat attendees should note this workshop has a different registration fee, and following the workshop attendees will join the rest of the retreat for lunch and the Keynote.<\/p>\n