In May 2017, the High Plains Helping Hands food pantry introduced a new program, called the Fresh Start Center, which employs innovative techniques to grow fresh food in a sustainable manner, while creating jobs and building relationships within the community.The Fresh Start Center is located on a 5-acre farm off Woodmen Road, near Marksheffel Road, separate from the HPHH distribution center, which is located at 7375 Adventure Way in Colorado Springs, Colorado.David Edson, executive director of HPHH, said the Fresh Start Center was born out of necessity from the pantryís original food distribution program. ìIn 2016, we evaluated what we had to serve the community and found that fresh food was severely lacking,î he said. ìAbout 5 percent of the food from all the local food banks was fresh.îMost of the produce available at the food bank had been donated, and Edson said it was often rotten, way past its prime or right on the brink of going bad. ìThe last thing we want is to further diminish our clientsí dignity by giving them rotten food,î he said.The Fresh Start Center uses aquaponics to grow about 200 percent more food per square foot, using about 10 percent as much water as traditional farming practices, Edson said. The final product contains about 180 percent more nutritional value than what is found at grocery stores, he said.Clients of HPHH can work for the Fresh Start Center to help them build necessary skills to find more permanent employment. ìA lot of the people we serve are considered unemployable,î he said. ìWe wanted to find a way to employ them, so they work at the center for about three to four months and then we connect them with an employer.îOnce a client has been hired on with an employer, Edson said the center follows their progress for about a year, since about 70 percent of people in similar situations quit within that time frame. Ultimately, the center wants to help create sustainable change in peopleís lives, he said. ìWe do not want to just hand them a box of food and send them on their way,î Edson said.The center produces about 150,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce each year, he said. About 20 percent of that is sold to local businesses to help fund the program, while the other 80 percent is distributed through the food bank, Edson said.Chefs from the American Culinary Federation are scheduled to sample the centerís food, and then the food is purchased by a selection of local restaurants, Edson said. All the proceeds from that partnership will support the workers at the center and the people served by the HPHH, he said.Currently, the center plans to participate in the Farmerís Market at Banning Lewis Ranch, with hopes of expanding to the market in Old Colorado City, he said. In 2019, the center plans to create a subscription program for anyone who would like to sign up to purchase a box of fresh produce at regular intervals, which will in turn allow the HPHH to give a box of produce to someone in need, Edson said.ìBasically, you are buying a box, so we can give a box to someone else,î he said. ìThe whole point is to have food that is going to improve peopleís lives.î
