On February 27, Alliance Food & Ag Committee Co-Chair Wink Davis and Organizer Leah Lopez attended the Governor's Forum on Colorado Agriculture in Denver. 

A principal purpose of this outing was to support Colorado’s new Commissioner of Agriculture, Kate Greenberg and hear from leaders around the state. 

Ms. Greenberg’s background is as a farm worker, community organizer, and executive director of social-change-oriented agricultural organizations.  Most recently, as President of the National Young Farmers Coalition, she worked to help young farmers overcome obstacles to entry into farming. Before that, as President of the Quivira Coalition, she worked to build effective communication between landowners and conservation groups to build soil-health and reduce erosion in sensitive working-landscapes. Based in Durango, she served on the steering committee of the annual Food and Farm Forum in Montrose.

We see an exciting opportunity to move our priorities to the top of CDA’s agenda. We also recognize that CDA has a lot of administrative responsibilities, that there’s a good deal of inertia in any bureaucracy, and that the Ag Commissioner has not traditionally been considered a policy leader. To make the most of this opportunity will take active engagement on the part of WCA.  Our first step was to hand-deliver a letter to Commissioner Greenberg during the forum outlining our priorities and hopes for vibrant agriculture communities on the western slope.