Community Movie Nights Summer 2023 Series
Drought Resilience and Food Security
Hosted by Mesa Conservation District and Western Colorado Community College
Where does our water come from?
Film: Water - Earth’s Blood with Zach Weiss of waterstories.com
Tuesday April 18, 2023
Learn where water comes from, where it goes and how human activities contribute to cycles of drought, flood and fire. This theory takes us beyond popular concepts of climate change and helps explain the extremes we currently experience. We can reverse this trend! After the film we’ll discuss where we see these trends in our own community. We’ll look at where our water comes from and how it gets to our tap as we consider what we can do to make a difference in our part of the world.
Local Food and Healthy Soil
Film: 3 Year Soil: A Community Farmstead
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Follow the journey of Dawn and Brian Adams as they create a sustainable market farm right here in our valley! If you ask Dawn and Brian what they grow, they’ll tell you they grow soil. Learn how they developed a productive farm on a small acreage. Dawn and Brian will be available to engage in conversation after the film where we’ll discuss the importance of healthy soil in creating healthy food and how local farms support a vibrant local food supply.
Harvesting water to create resilience
Film: The Water Harvester
Tuesday June 20, 2023
Tucson Arizona used to have a river running through it. By constantly withdrawing more water than nature could recharge, they ran their river dry. The Colorado River is considered the most endangered river in the United States. The people who steward the river in our valley will tell you, it’s reached historically low levels during this prolonged drought. We’ll follow Brad Lancaster’s journey as he learned how to become part of the solution to Tucson’s water challenges instead of being part of the problem. We’ll engage in guided discussion after the film about how we can implement changes in our communities so that we can remove some of the burden from the Colorado River.
How biodiversity builds resilience
Film: 100,000 Beating Hearts
Tuesday, July 18
This is one of my favorite short films. Learn how one man changed the way he approached ranching and in so doing revitalized not only his own land, but an entire community. It is often thought that if we just stop eating meat we can save the planet, but it turns out that proper integration of animals onto land is crucial to soil health. After the film we’ll look at examples of this approach to agriculture happening locally. We’ll discuss how this approach ties in with healthy soil, conservation of water and keeping viable local food sources. How can you create more diversity in your backyard?