Through three pillars of action:
Food Access
Using a "direct redistribution" model, we transport surplus healthy foods from local supermarkets, backyard gardens and cafeterias to 20+ non-profit and community-based grocery programs. CSFR engages an expansive network of volunteers and neighborhood partners to co-create healthy food access programs, with over $5 million of healthy groceries redistributed since 2013.
Food Education
We believe that food insecurity is not separate from the context of our wider food system. Through project-based youth internships/employment, school-based food rescue programs, & events, we aim to foster youth leaders in food innovation and promoters of food equity in our community. Youth-led projects have ranged from community cookbooks to the management of healthy food distribution programs.
Food Production
Currently, over 95% of the food we eat in Colorado Springs comes from outside our community. That's why we redistribute healthy produce from overgrown gardens into our grocery programs and return the nutrients from household food waste back into the soil. And in 2019, we’ll be digging into more intensive food production with our most ambitious project yet: developing Colorado Springs’ first neighborhood food center!
A message from our Founder/Director of Operations, Shane Lory:
Dear CSFR Family,
It is with both sadness and excitement that I announce the end of this particular adventure and the beginning of the next. When October rolls around later this year, I will be making like an autumn leaf and departing from my position at Colorado Springs Food Rescue.
Over 6 years have come and gone since the day we started this thing, and with them countless lessons. I’ve worn a good many hats, weathered a few storms and setbacks, celebrated successes and surpassed milestones, felt the warmth of being embraced by this incredible community, and made friends and allies that have filled my heart to the brim with love and hope. Watching CSFR grow up and take root has no doubt been the crown jewel of my existence thus far! I cannot express the gratitude I feel for all of those that have been involved in this work and for the community I’ve come to call my home.
What started as an acorn of a thought scrawled on a whiteboard in a college dorm room so many years ago has slowly but surely grown deep roots in the Colorado Springs earth. Now, well on our way to realizing our dream of creating a brick-and-mortar neighborhood center for food equity, CSFR is as strong as ever in our commitment to this community and to transformative, grassroots change. An incredibly important part of that process has been transitioning leadership from a group of wily, passionate but largely transient college students over to folks who have lived and breathed and worked for justice in this community far longer than myself and the original cohort of founders. Being the last of the founders still involved, handing over my director keys marks the next inevitable step towards true community ownership of Colorado Springs Food Rescue. (On that note… looking for a job? Keep reading…)
Additionally, on a more personal note; my feet are growing itchy for a journey and I can’t help but heed their call. I was a measly 20 years old when we got this ball rolling and I’ve spent a whole lot of time pretending to know what I’m doing… I can attest, it is a great way to learn quickly! However, I am looking forward to spending the next chapter of life learning from others in the movement. Come fall, I’m going to be packing up my car and bike and heading off to do just that. Do you have favorite grassroots organizations or cooperatives doing important justice/equity work around the nation or beyond that I should pay a visit? If you’d be willing to share, I’d appreciate any and all recommendations! You can email shanelory@gmail.com.
It won’t at all be easy to go (already crying), nonetheless I am ready to venture forth to new pursuits and I am so, so, so excited to watch new life and leadership grow from the CSFR branches.
With unending love and admiration,
Shane