Durangoans can get the real dirt next week, as the Growing Partners of SW Colorado present the Homegrown Retreat: Cultivating Your Role in the Local Food System. The event runs Feb. 25-26 and will take a two-pronged approach to improving the local food system – enhancing agriculture in the home and improving ag in the larger community.

Mark Winne, a community food activist and author of Closing the Food Gap, will open the retreat on Friday, Feb. 25 with a talk on food policy and changing the food system. The free event is set for 7 p.m. in 130 Noble Hall at Fort Lewis College, open to the public and no registration is necessary.

An all-day workshop, designed to inspire individuals’ role in the local food system, is set for Sat., Feb. 26. The event includes a free, local-food lunch; a sit-down with Winne; and a variety of sessions on everything from garden design and community food pantries to enhancing the local food economy and using the farm as an educational tool.

For more information or to RSVP for Saturday’s session, email ec_food@fortlewis.edu.