CSU student volunteers grow more than 20,000 pounds of vegetables a year for the campus food pantry, and have passed 75,000 pounds since they started

Colorado State University’s student-led Growing Food Security project farms 1 acre north of Fort Collins with more than 200 volunteers a year. It grows more than 20,000 pounds of produce annually for the Rams Against Hunger pantry, which serves 500 to 600 people a week.

jessicahollandbiz

· Published

October 10, 2026

· Updated

One acre north of Fort Collins is feeding a lot of college students. Colorado State University’s Growing Food Security project, run by students, grows and harvests more than 20,000 pounds of produce in a typical year for the campus community, the university reported in September.

The vegetables go to Rams Against Hunger, CSU’s food pantry, which serves roughly 500 to 600 students, faculty and staff each week during the school year. Since the project began, volunteers have harvested more than 75,000 pounds, and the university expects the total to pass 80,000 pounds by the end of this growing season, the project’s seventh.

How it works

The plot sits at CSU’s Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center. Volunteers tend 60 varieties across 27 rows. Eight graduate students lead the effort, and more than 200 volunteers pitch in each year, coming from more than 40 departments and all eight of the university’s colleges.

At one harvest in early September, more than 20 students picked nearly 2,000 pounds in about two hours. It was handed out on the Lory Student Center Plaza the next day. The project started about six years ago with four rows and about 2,000 pounds a year.

By the numbers

More than 20,000: pounds of produce grown in a typical year
More than 75,000: pounds harvested since the project began
$100,000: estimated retail value of each year’s produce
More than 200: volunteers each year
60 varieties, 27 rows, 1 acre
500 to 600: people the campus pantry serves each week during the school year

What to know

Who it serves: The CSU campus community, through Rams Against Hunger. It is not a public food bank.
Who backs it: The university names the Associated Students of Colorado State University, Nutrien, A1 Organics and local nurseries that discount seedlings.
What’s next: Harvests continue through October.
Read more: CSU’s story on Growing Food Security

More like this: Find the Good, Fort Collins, CSU’s C.A.N.S. Around the Oval, with Collection Day on Oct. 14, Give Next: 5,300 Larimer County students and $1.56 million in grants, Longmont culinary students cook free dinners for seniors

Source: Colorado State University. Verified October 10, 2026.

Details verified with the source on October 10, 2026. See something wrong? Send a correction.

Jessica Holland

FOUNDER + EDITOR, COLORADO LOCAL

Jessica Holland is a Colorado mom, entrepreneur, marketer and founder of Colorado Local. After years of constantly searching for things to do with her family, local businesses worth supporting, educational experiences for her girls, worship nights, community events and simply more GOOD news, she realized the resource she wanted didn’t really exist in one place. So she built it.

Jessica is also the founder of Holland Health Marketing, where she helps businesses grow through digital marketing, local visibility and community connection.

Her Christian faith is a big part of who she is and the way she sees the world. Colorado Local isn’t a faith-only publication, but you’ll absolutely find faith here, alongside stories about neighbors helping neighbors, churches serving their communities and people using what they have to make Colorado a little brighter.

She lives in Northern Colorado with her husband, two daughters and their very large Newfoundland, Mugsy.

Her mission for Colorado Local is pretty simple: help people get out, connect, support local and find more of the good happening right in front of us.