UpRoot has rescued and redistributed into Colorado's hunger-relief system more than 2 million servings of nutrient-dense, locally grown surplus food since our beginnings in 2017, though we estimate that more than 1 billion servings remain unharvested and unsold on Colorado farms annually. This project will allow us to purchase the equipment needed to glean more surplus food as we expand our programming into Colorado's agriculturally-abundant Delta County.

Challenge

Nationwide, ReFED estimates that 34 million pounds of food remains unharvested and unsold on U.S. farms annually. In Colorado, we estimate that more than 1 billion servings of surplus fruits and vegetables remain unharvested and unsold on Colorado farms each year. Meanwhile, Hunger Free Colorado estimates that in 2021, 33% of Coloradans are experiencing food insecurity, meaning that one-in-three Coloradans do not have reliable access to the nutritious food that they need.

Long-Term Impact

Increasing the number of counties where we work will allow us to harvest a larger portion of millions of pounds of surplus food that remains on Colorado farms annually and bring us closer to our vision of a Colorado food system in which everyone has access to the nutritious foods they need. It will also increase food wisdom, or an appreciation for a life-sustaining resource and for the farmers who bring it to us; we believe increasing community food wisdom will reduce household food waste.

References

1. https://www.uprootcolorado.org/

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