As you’ll learn below, Farm to Crag connects outdoor enthusiasts, such as climbers who frequent rock “crags,” to sustainable food options. This connection helps support regenerative food systems, create viable careers for farmers, and increase the nutritional density in people’s diets.
Thank you, Farm to Crag, for your important work!
Q: What issue(s) are you seeking to solve, and in what ways are you working to solve them?
We are working to solve the broken food system that negatively impacts the environment, human health, food equity, cultural food ways, farm communities and rural economics.
We are on a mission to inspire action to reverse climate change by investing in regenerative food systems. Our tool kit of solutions includes educational workshops, a Local Foods Map, a resource rich website, farm partnerships, and community gatherings that inspire joy and positive action. In addition, we are working to offer a subsidized CSA program to address food access inequity and get money into farmers' hands so they can keep doing the good work of building biodiversity and healthy soil that sequesters carbon out of the atmosphere. These tools directly feed the grassroots movement to transform our food system. We offer the reality check that 30% of greenhouse gas emissions come from food systems and then we offer tangible ways to act through investing in regenerative food producers.
We believe that when the outdoor community invests in regenerative food systems at every meal, we lead a cultural shift towards healthier lives, thriving communities and a resilient ecosystem.
Q: What do you find most challenging in your work?
It takes a lot of time and patience to build relationships and mutual respect, and yet there is an urgency to make change as fast as possible. Global temperatures and species loss numbers are ticking upwards.
There is potential to have blind spots, we hope never to be extractive and only add health to communities, but it takes time to learn all the pathways.
At times, the climate crisis feels like an insurmountable problem, but we keep putting one foot in front of the other. So few people really know or care about where their food comes from and changing food habits is a sensitive area that needs to be bio-individualized.
But we do not lose hope, and keep returning to our core values of relationships, health, reciprocity, respect, and diversity to allow folks to enter the conversation whenever they are ready.
We want to help people understand that nourishing food is medicine that helps us to heal our modern diet-related diseases and improve our mental and behavioral health. This type of food cannot be cheap, it requires an investment at every level.
Technology is hard sometimes, working with the Local Foods Map brings joy and challenges every step of the way.
Q: What do you find most rewarding?
Seeing young people find their place with us and get involved with the regenerative food movement through their relationship to outdoor sport is incredibly rewarding.
Our work empowers participants to take local action in their homes and it is a joy to witness the impact unfold. For example: we began the first farmers market in Yosemite NP; we have growing relationships between climbers and indigenous leaders in Montana, Yosemite and Bishop, CA; we have climber-led farm to school educational programs; a farmer-climber team called Food Lense is advising city planners and developers in Bozeman, MT on climate resilience; and climbers are reaching out to have Farm To Crag events in their communities all over the world.
This Farm To Crag work is an inclusive and welcoming space that is needed.
The mutual respect is part of what nourishes our communities beyond the seasonal flavors and leads people to vote on behalf of healthy soil and the farmers that tend to it.
People from different walks of life, ethnic backgrounds and political orientation sit together at the dinner table and find common ground.
One of our most rewarding aspects of this work is to help feed hundreds of climbers from marginalized communities at events like United in Yosemite and the Memphis ROX Festival in Tennessee.
Photo by Eric Bissell
Q: What do you wish people knew more about the issue(s) you seek to solve?
The food system is one of the ways that we can connect to the land, and we wish that people understood the value of being part of the food growing system. We exist at the intersection of the wild and the cultivated and the health of both of these planetary systems are interconnected.
The joy that comes from knowing your farmers and ranchers and the work they put into keeping the environment healthy for future generations is a powerful relationship to the ecosystems that support our lives. It is rewarding and energizing to be part of a regenerative food system, part of the climate solution.
Once we are connected to the land through food we learn to respect all beings that are part of a healthy ecosystem, we learn to have gratitude for the plants and animals large and small that we share this planet with and we become better decision makers.
Q: How can people support your work?
Beyond attending our Farm To Crag gatherings and donating directly to our organization, we always have volunteer opportunities—everything from writing blog posts and seasonal recipes, to map software development, grant writing, marketing, education at climbing festivals, event planning, guiding, cooking, harvesting and online resource development.
Also please use the Local Foods Map! We love it when people add new sustainable farms, restaurants, breweries or bakeries. Our map is built for our community, by our community.
The work to transform our food system requires people to engage in their own community. We would love to support folks in hosting their own Farm To Crag style dinners or events. We have a network for chefs and farms so please be in touch if you need help to connect conference or event planners who need help to provide seasonal organic meals. We also coordinate folks to volunteer on local farms.
And lastly, but most importantly, please vote on behalf of these ecologically based food systems that support biodiversity, clean air, clean water and food security for all.
Please reach out to farmtocrag@gmail.com with ideas you might need support with.
Q: How do you create joy and hope in your life during the ecological crisis?
We go climbing!
Time outside playing in nature is our way of connecting deeply with the land, witnessing the beauty, and practicing reciprocity by cooking beautifully grown food for people we love. Through climbing and food, we build a community that feels uplifted as we engage in the regenerative food system. We lean into the mentorship and partnership that climbing offers. Together, we’ll contribute to a food community that’s restoring human and ecosystem health, increasing access to healthy food for everyone and stewarding the land, waters and climate for future generations.
