Over the past month, something beautiful has taken root at Naropa—a student-led CSA initiative that started as an emergency response to reductions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is quickly growing into a long-term food justice solution.
In just three weeks, first-year Environmental Studies student Sophie Roads helped launch a free, donation-based Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for students by collaborating with campus food justice groups, working alongside supportive faculty, and mobilizing student volunteers. What began with a simple flyer and a seed of an idea has already expanded into a network of more than a hundred participating students, new partnerships with local regenerative farms and small food producers, and a complete reimagining of Naropa’s campus food pantry.
Together, these efforts are becoming the Earth to Table Collective—a student-led ecosystem of mutual aid, sustainability, and community care.
Responding to a Rising Need
The initiative emerged when SNAP benefits were affected by the early-November government shutdown, leaving many students struggling to access basic food resources. Inspired by conversations in Ramon Parish’s Food Justice class and by Naropa’s weekly Teach-Ins, where students and faculty explore practical, community-based responses to current political challenges, the idea took off as a tangible way to meet the need.
The first flyer, which simply read “Naropa CSA Program: Free Food Every Week” and included a QR code, was expected to draw only a few responses. Instead, 50 students signed up within the first three hours—making the need immediately clear.
“People were telling me they didn’t know how they were going to eat that week,” Sophie shared. “It became so clear how much food insecurity is actually present in our community.”
For many students navigating financial aid, high living costs, work schedules, and caregiving responsibilities—realities facing college students across the country—steady access to fresh food provides crucial stability and supports their ability to continue their education.
How the CSA Works
Naropa’s CSA program offers free weekly shares of local, organic, and regenerative food through a simple sign-up process and an optional sliding-scale donation model. Students have been leading every step of the way through the coordination of placing orders, organizing pickups, and partnering with local farms and organizations like:
- Jacob Springs Farm
- Red Wagon Farm
- Switch Gears Farm
- Growing Gardens
- Croft Family Farm
- Moxie Bread Company
- UpRoot Colorado
- and Bjorn’s Colorado Honey.
Each Wednesday, participants select what they need and pick up their share, with 40–50 people attending each week. The CSA program is planned to continue until winter break, pause briefly, and resume in the spring semester. Initially funded entirely by community donations, the program is now supplemented by support from the Student Union of Naropa—with plans underway for the CSA and an expanded student food pantry to receive institutional funding next semester. In the meantime, community donations are still gladly welcomed.
Sign up to receive a CSA share (Naropa Students & Staff)
Donate to the Naropa CSA Program
Planting Seeds for a Larger Campus Food Pantry
The momentum of the CSA is helping catalyze a larger vision to address food insecurity: an expanded campus food pantry. Student organizers are working with university administrators to establish an official university account dedicated to donations and long-term support for the CSA program—an essential shift from a crowdfunded effort to a sustainable, university-backed initiative.
They have also successfully advocated for the current food pantry to move into a larger space in the Wulsin building basement, complete with refrigerators, expanded shelving, and designated work-study positions that allow students to play a direct role in daily operations and community care. Its new name will be the Bodhi Bodega.
Long term, student leaders envision the CSA becoming a permanent fixture of Naropa’s food pantry—ensuring consistent access to both fresh and shelf-stable foods. They also hope it will serve as a model for other universities seeking community-rooted approaches to food access and hands-on environmental learning.
Beyond Food: A Living Lab for Environmental Learning
The CSA has also sparked unexpected educational opportunities. Local farms have invited Naropa students—especially those in Environmental Studies, Ecopsychology, and Interdisciplinary Studies—to participate in hands-on internships and volunteer to learn beekeeping, bread baking, and regenerative agriculture practices.
Instead of studying soil and food justice only in a classroom, students will be able to work directly with the land and the people who steward it. The Earth to Table Collective is becoming a living laboratory for environmental studies, sustainability, and relational learning.
The Collective is also beginning collaborations with Student Wellness & Resilience, recognizing that food security is inseparable from mental health, academic success, and overall wellbeing. In this way, the student initiative embodies the contemplative action at the heart of Naropa—responding to community needs with compassion, courage, and imagination.
A Collective Effort
Although Sophie played a key role in initiating the project, she emphasizes that its growth has been deeply collaborative. Students such as Adriane Kells, who co-leads funding strategy, and Nathan Min, whose group Fighting Food Apartheid brings valuable garden and culinary experience, have become essential partners. Many others volunteer weekly, offer ideas, and help coordinate logistics to keep the effort running smoothly.
Faculty members including Ramon Parish, Vanessa Tavernetti, Stephanie Yuhas, and Monica Mueller, along with staff such as Dean of Students Jeremy Moore and Director of MCIC Seann Goodman, have provided connections, guidance, and crucial logistical support.
“It’s been a community effort from the start,” Sophie shared. “People are volunteering, offering ideas, and reaching out because they believe in this. And this is just the beginning. We can’t solve every problem in the world, but we can start here. We can take care of each other. And that matters.”
