Grow to Share program provides fresh, local produce to Grand County families with young children
Grand County Public Health/Courtesy photo
As spring blooms in Grand County, residents and organizations will begin gardening. Some gardens will provide food for the community’s most vulnerable populations. These include gardens and greenhouses at Grand County Public Health and Mountain Family Center.
Grand County Public Health operates the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC. Part of WIC’s mission is to provide fresh produce for mothers, caregivers and children who qualify financially. This is where community gardens — like those at Mountain Family Center and public health — come in.
The Grow to Share Program connects these gardens with WIC families.
Whitney Horner, WIC director in Grand and Summit counties, explained at the Grand County Board of Commissioners meeting March 28 how Grow to Share grew from a Summit County program to help WIC participants in Grand.
The program began as a partnership between Frisco’s High Country Conservation Center and Summit County WIC. Local gardeners grew lettuce, carrots, radishes and more, which WIC staff members then provided to families.
Horner’s team used the model created by Summit’s Grow to Share program for Grand. In 2024, Summit staff members worked alongside Grand County Public Health and Mountain Family to help them maximize their garden space and grow more fruits and veggies for those in need.
Now, these local organizations have “figured out how to take minimal local growing space and put fresh locally grown produce into our WIC families’ hands,” Horner said.
Horner said that together, the Mountain Family and public health gardens provided over 100 pounds of produce for Grow to Share. In addition to this 100 pounds, Mountain Family grew lots more produce for its food pantries in Granby and Kremmling. Community members with their own gardens can also donate their extra produce to Mountain Family.
Education combines with nutrition
According to Horner, Grow to Share reached 59 Grand County WIC households, representing 226 individuals in 2024.
“Anytime we hand out the food that we grow, we’re also sitting down with the family, talking about how to use it, brainstorming ways they can utilize the whole plant,” Horner explained.
This ensures that no part of the produce is wasted when the family goes home. This is great for veggies like carrots, celery, Swiss chard and spaghetti squash.
“One thing we’re really proud of for WIC … our families know how to rinse off carrot tops, snip them off, add them to salads, add them to smoothies,” she said. “Our families know what garlic scapes are.”
Horner said program staff members had 86 educational sessions with families in 2024. Each week, staff talked with parents and caregivers about unique ways to use the produce they received.
For 2025, WIC hopes to partner with the CSU Extension community garden in Kremmling. Recently, the public health department received funds from the Colorado Garden Association. Staff used some of the funds to purchase a greenhouse, meaning an even larger variety of produce will be available to WIC families this summer.
To learn if your family is eligible for WIC and its Grow to Share program, visit Co.Grand.Co.Us/220/public-health or contact Grand County WIC at 970-406-1243 or gcwic@co.grand.co.us.
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A woman holds a bag full of produce from a garden in the High Country.
Joe Kusumoto/High Country Conservation Center
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A purple cauliflower grows at the garden at Grand County Public Health.
Grand County Public Health/Courtesy photo
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WIC families can learn how to use all parts of the carrot in educational visits with Grand County WIC.
Grand County Public Health/Courtesy photo
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Aspen Bias, Mountain Family Center’s director of hunger relief and nutrition, helps plant at the gardens at Grand County Public Health.
Grand County Public Health/Courtesy photo
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Fresh produce is pictured from the Mountain Family Center garden.
Aspen Bias/Courtesy photo
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A bee lands on a blooming plant at the Mountain Family Center garden.
Aspen Bias/Courtesy photo
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Fresh produce from the Mountain Family Center garden.
Aspen Bias/Courtesy photo
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