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Pueblo Food Project presents countywide food-action plan and local programs to council
Summary
Pueblo Food Project director Megan Covert presented a six-goal Pueblo Food Action Plan and described the nonprofit’s programs, including a community pantry that has spent about $1.2 million locally and more than 18 community gardens since 2020.
Megan Covert, director of growth, sustainability and operations at Pueblo Food Project, presented the organization’s Pueblo Food Action Plan at the July 6 Pueblo City Council work session and outlined PFP’s programs and partnerships. Covert described six strategic goals grouped under three focus areas—food access, food skills education and a thriving local food economy—and said the plan is intended to guide public policy and community programming.
Covert said Pueblo Food Project was founded in 2019 and has spent roughly $1.2 million in the local economy to supply the food pantry that supports other pantries across the county. The nonprofit has established about 18 community gardens since 2020 and runs food-skills education, an entrepreneur-development program (a 16-week course that has graduated 40 businesses since 2021) and intergenerational cooking classes funded in part by Belonging Colorado.
In questions from council, Covert said PFP partners with Care and Share but runs a separate pantry focused on buying local staples (beef, cheese, tortillas, green chile, beans) and that PFP targets outreach to families through schools and community programs. She said 60 percent of each locally spent dollar tends to stay in the community and that SNAP/WIC redemption in Pueblo County is high, indicating benefits are reaching local retailers.
Covert asked council to consider the action plan a roadmap for agencies and organizations working on food access and invited council and residents to engage with coalition action teams that will develop specific implementations for the plan’s goals.
Why it matters: the plan bundles community-developed priorities into a single road map that city departments, funders and nonprofit partners can use when directing programming or matching grants. Council members said they appreciated the local economic and food-security orientation of the plan and offered suggestions about outreach and programming coordination.
