Food justice at The growhaus

GLCers found an oasis in the Elyria-Swansea community at The GrowHaus, a non-profit organization working towards food justice in their community. The GrowHaus is a nonprofit indoor farm, marketplace, and educational center in Denver's Elyria-Swansea neighborhood.  Their vision is a world where all communities have the means to nourish themselves, and to create a community-driven, neighborhood-based food system by serving as a hub for food distribution, production, education, and economic opportunity. 

The evening started in the facilities “growasis,” a beautiful education center with plants growing as high as the ceiling. The activity was led by Monica about how we see food in our daily lives. Do we know what healthy food is? Do we eat healthy? This showed the GLC team that we are all starting off in different places when talking about food justice and healthy eating. We then switched gears and Kristin gave us a wonderful tour of the facility, from the history of the Elyria-Swansea community to the awesome hydroponics, aquaponics, and mushroom farms! 

Due to the neighborhoods industrial past and present, the community has poor soil quality, so GrowHaus uses these indoor systems to decrease their footprint and create a beautiful greenhouse farm in the middle of an industrious neighborhood. They also are a community led organization which means many of the staff live in the community.
​After our walk in and around the facilities we sat down to do an activity where we threw beads into a bowl anytime we related to specific statements surrounding food justice. By the end of the activity we were able to see how we and our family are affected by food injustices.
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Our evening was wrapped up by the GLC team giving back to The GrowHaus, by helping feed and water their rabbits. A perfect and soft end to an educational evening.

We want to thank The GrowHaus, and specifically, their educational team, Monica and Kristen, for their insight into food justice and how we can make an impact in our communities!