Groundwork News

I want to write a few words about mental health in local food systems. Casey’s suicide has been overwhelming, partially because of the loss of such a visionary person and partially because in our agricultural community, there are most certainly people who have walked close to that edge and felt alone and unsupported during at their lowest moments. Small-scale organic farmers are being squeezed—crushed rather—between the economic pressures of a hyper-industrialized food system and the risky challenges of growing food for uncertain local markets in […]

Continue reading >>

Listen to a conversation between Groundwork’s director Jeff Wagner and Kelly Moody, an incredible botanist, teacher about people’s relationship with land, and instructor for Groundwork’s field programs. Kelly interviewed Jeff for her Ground Shots Podcast. The conversation focuses on the Colorado River, industrial food production, and how the Colorado River is a microcosm of the U.S. relationship with the natural world. Listen Now

Continue reading >>

At the end of May, Lance Swigart, Jill Spears, and Lulu Volckhausen visited Groundwork’s educational farm for a tour and interview. We chatted about Groundwork’s educational farm programming and the work that needs to be done to inspire young leaders in environmental and agricultural fields. You can listen to the interview on KVNF’s website by clicking here. The interview is split across the radio hour into segments, which begin at about 17:00 and 40:00. Click here to see more of Groundwork’s interviews and articles in […]

Continue reading >>

Groundwork began in 2019 as a collection of Bite-Sized Books that had the goal of contributing to more expansive, holistic, and creative conversations about addressing environmental issues. With encouragement from friends, I (Jeff) am returning to writing and publishing on a regular basis. In the next few weeks, watch for the first release of The Winnowing Tray. You may ask, what’s a winnowing tray? It’s a type of flattish basket used all around the world to winnow seeds, separating the viable seeds from chaff, dust, […]

Continue reading >>