Ekar is a communal urban farm, on a mission to build a local, healthy, and equitable food system. We work with our food access partners to distribute organic/regenerative fruits, vegetables, and her to the local community and provide experiential, on-farm education. Volunteer, give, and support our growing work!
Now in its 14th season, Ekar serves as a focal point for the Denver community to come together around issues of food security, environmentalism, and urban farming. Each year, Ekar commits to growing at least 25,000 pounds of produce for food access partners including Jewish Family Services’ Weinberg Food Pantry, Metro Caring, Kavod Senior Life, Hope Communities’, preschools throughout the Denver area, SAME Cafe, Spirit of the Sun, and a WIC immigrant CSA program.
We’ve brought together thousands of people–young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish–to cultivate a better food system. Through garden-based programming, celebrating Shabbat and other holidays, and acting in solidarity against systems of oppression that impact our environmental and social wellbeing, we’ve created a meeting place for people to come together outdoors and connect, grow, nourish, and repair the land and our human ties to one another.
In 2024 we're on track to grow and distribute over 20,000 pounds of food (2+ million calories), engage over 15,000 program participants and volunteers, and interact with over 75 community partner organizations.
“Ekar Farm's food boxes are a major help for numerous families in our community. Located in Montbello, our community is classified as a food swamp, offering fast food options, while lacking nutrient dense, high quality foods. Thanks to Ekar Farm, our students were able to take home fresh produce, among additional ingredients to complete healthy meals at home. Accompanied with recipes, that were easy to follow, and provided generous portions to feed an entire family. We are a year-round school and depend upon community partners in our mission to combat food insecurity and advocate for food justice. Thank you for being part of the solution supporting our community towards a healthier future.” - Jessie Boukarim, Facilities, Health + Wellness + Outdoor Learning Specialist
"Ekar is invaluable to the Denver community. I observed their impact firsthand with their monthly visits to my son's 1st grade classroom last year. To top the year off, Ekar graciously hosted a field trip for our kids to plant seeds, see bees hard at work, and even pull weeds. Throughout the year together, the kids were very moved to see how every one of us can play a part in fixing the world. They were amazed to learn that extra space on the farm, and extra food that grows there, is provided for people in our community who otherwise may go without. In a time when so many children think food comes from grocery stores and restaurants, Ekar gives kids in our community an opportunity to learn the value of water, earth, and hardworking people in making sure we always have enough healthy food to go around, lessons all of us can learn!" - 1st grade parent from the International School of Denver
"Another year of fresh organic vegetables for our senior residents here at Kavod Senior Life. We always look forward to receiving this wonderful gift that helps us to live healthier and certainly helps to expand our limited food dollars. Every week we look forward the "surprises" that we receive from Ekar Farm. Many of us have had our own personal gardens over the years and we all know the work that it takes to keep this fabulous produce and fruit to reach those who have such a great need. We appreciate you so much. Thank you again." - Ondalee Kline, Former President of Kavod Senior Living Resident Council
"Ekar Farm's partnership with Hope Communities to bring food justice and garden education programming to kids has been a remarkable collaboration. Together, we're nurturing young minds to become stewards of a more equitable and sustainable future.
Through this initiative, we've witnessed children from Hope Communities not only connect with the earth but also with their own potential to make a difference. It's inspiring to see how these young learners eagerly embrace gardening, learn about where their food comes from, and develop a deep sense of responsibility towards addressing food inequities.
Ekar Farm's collaboration with Hope Communities is a testament to the positive change that can be achieved when organizations come together for a common cause. I'm proud to be a part of this journey and look forward to seeing the continued growth of these young change-makers as they sow the seeds of a brighter future." - Teacher at Hope Communities
Ekar Farm and Community Gardens is a communal urban farm, inspired by Jewish values. We work to build community, provide experiential and environmental education, and grow sustainably produced fruits and vegetables, expanding access to those in need.
Ekar began in 2009 when the Denver Academy of Torah sought guidance from Rose Community Foundation and Denver Urban Gardens over the utility of an unused five-acre plot of land. Two prominent leaders in the Denver community, Ilan Salzberg and Aaron Ney, were contacted about their interest in using the plot to create an urban farm that was dedicated to education about sustainable agriculture, promoted food justice, and donated a significant portion of its harvest to local food banks. This resulted in the formal creation of Ekar, which has multiple meanings; "root source (of an idea)", "farming", or "the most important thing".
Ekar was established to address issues of food insecurity in Denver through building local, healthy, and fair food systems. Despite its status as one of the nation's healthiest states, Colorado continues to struggle with widespread food insecurity, which, as used here, describes the limited or uncertain access to nutritious foods necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle (The Colorado Health Foundation, 2010). To address this issue, Ekar donates thousands of pounds of healthy, organic vegetables to local hunger relief agencies each year, educating volunteers who help grow and harvest the vegetables about food injustice and sustainability in the process. Ekar likewise addresses the issue of nutrition education through ongoing programming in Denver schools, engaging students at a young age about the importance of balanced diets and food justice in communities and inspiring the next generation of organic farmers.
Since its inception, the farm and garden were designed to involve the entire Denver community in growing and giving organic, local vegetables to those in need. Today, Ekar serves as a food-producing farm and space for experiential learning that is open to anyone willing to engage with its mission; simultaneously supplying sustainably-grown fruits and vegetables to hunger relief agencies while also engaging and educating groups about local, healthy, and fair food systems.
In this short time, Ekar has become an invaluable asset in the Denver community. Ekar's programs and activities impact children in Denver by including them in the conversation around food justice and cultivating them as leaders in the movement toward a sustainable food system. At schools and at the farm, Ekar's programming fundamentally shifts the food system from one of disconnect and disparity to one of participation, abundance, and equity. In partnership with a growing network of urban farm and community garden groups, local businesses, and hunger relief agencies, Ekar hopes to inspire children and communities alike to mirror this shift in focus and address issues of malnutrition and food access across the country.
Organization name
Ekar Farm
2010
Tax id (EIN)
45-1567217
Category
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
181 South OneidaMailing
PO Box 460983Denver County, CO, US
DC, US