“I love your food scene."

CU Denver students and researchers are learning that the future of farming is rooted in tradition.

At CU Denver, education extends far beyond the classroom and into Colorado’s soil. Driven by Professor Ruben Viramontez Anguiano, PhD, students in the Human Development and Family Relations program are learning firsthand how indigenous regenerative farming can restore not only Coloradan land, but community as well.

The program partners with Ollin Farms in Longmont to teach science, and sustainability, while showing students how connected they are to the land around them. Students explore ancestral techniques like the Three Sisters planting method, mimicking buffalo grazing patterns, and composting mushroom waste and wood chips to enrich soil. “We all come from the same milpa—the cornfields,” says Viramontez Anguiano. “This connection to the land is spiritual, cultural, and communal.”

Ollin Farms, led by Mark and Kena Guttridge, feeds hundreds of Colorado families weekly while teaching the importance of food justice and ecosystem resilience. What began as a local partnership has grown into a global model for how education and agriculture can work together to heal land and community alike.

From restoring topsoil to rebuilding cultural ties, CU Denver students are learning that the future of farming is rooted in respect for the earth, for tradition, and for each other.