Huerta Urbana Provides Healthy Options in a Food Desert

Farmers market season is a highlight of the summer for many in the Denver Metro. These events are staples of their communities, and in Globeville-Elyria-Swansea (GES), there is the Huerta Urbana Farmers Market (HUFM) at Focus Points Family Resources Center. The parking lot is blocked off and cars are temporarily replaced by tents selling fresh produce, food and other goods that aim to fill the needs of residents of the neighborhood. 

“It’s really made for community, and we definitely need more of these, especially in GES, because we are a food desert,” said Danna Martinez at the HUFM on June 20. “We don’t have a lot of grocery stores, so this is creating another chance for people to come out and get their groceries.”

Martinez was at the market that day representing GES Safer Streets, but has also attended Huerta Urbana as a patron. “I think specifically having a community farmers market in this area is basically giving people the chance to come out and experience something they maybe haven’t,” Martinez said. 

Martinez now lives in Green Valley Ranch but is a former resident of the GES neighborhood and still works in various non-profits in the GES area. 

“It’s really nice to see because then people don’t have to go all the way to City Park or Highlands to go to one [a farmers market] as well, and those, usually, are really expensive farmers markets on top of that,” Martinez said. “It’s super hopeful that it’s convenient for people to walk here.” 

Behind the Focus Points building and amidst the industrial background of I-70 is an oasis. Focus Points has been quietly cultivating a lush backyard with raised beds filled with growing fresh produce. A portion of the produce provided by the market is grown on site.

Bucket List was able to receive a tour of the site from HUFM’s lead specialist, Karen Bustillos, to see the work it takes to make the farmers market a reality. HUFM has 15 rows of raised garden beds, in addition to rows of crops dug into the soil of the site itself.

The tour took place in early June, and Bustillos showed some of the produce being grown at the time: “We have a bunch of leeks, we have garlic, strawberries, radishes.” 

During a tour of the farm, Bustillos handed me a freshly picked strawberry to sample. My family had a strawberry bush in our front yard when I was growing up, and eating the red fruit brought back fond memories of my childhood. 

“We actually rotate the crops into something that the community would really like to harvest when we’re not open, so it would be the tomatoes, squash,” Bustillos said. “Then there’s other experimental plants that we usually grow, like okra, something that we can entice the community to try out.”

Fresh produce is not the only thing that the market aims to provide. There are two chicken coops on site, one for summer and one for winter, that are home to nine egg-laying chickens that Focus Points takes care of year-round. 

“We actually had a name competition, so the community actually named the majority of our chickens,” Bustillos said. Some of the names that were chosen were Salsa, Pepper, Taylor, Dahlia and Chickaren.

This year, Huerta Urbana has introduced a hive of “rescue” honeybees to the farm. “We work with Free Range Bee Hives,” Bustillos said. “They found a colony that was just on a tree, and they couldn’t find a home, and so our box was home to them.”

Also along the Focus Points building is a community garden with 10 beds of assorted flowers and herbs that are planted in the spring to encourage pollinator populations.

Focus Points was not originally intending to run a farmers market. The site started as an educational program that aimed to teach people how to farm locally, start their own businesses and sell produce. “However, we have transitioned into more of a food access program since the GES area is a food desert and a food swamp,” Bustillos said. 

Food deserts are areas in which people do not have readily available fresh food, and food swamps are areas that have more access to processed food. Huerta Urbana started to address the issue in the GES neighborhood.

Huerta Urbana also addresses the economic needs of the residents of the area by running on a “pay what you can” model. The market is split in half: on one side, they accepted “Booth Bucks,” and on the other side were vendors from the community who did not accept “Booth Bucks.” 

According to Bustillos, Booth Bucks can be exchanged to a vendor for the products they sell. This can range from fresh produce, bouquets of flowers, and earrings, just to name a few. The non-booth bucks side of the market had agua frescas, jewelry and hot food.

“We give $20 per household to cover the first purchases that they do, and that’s all through produce or food to support the food access,” Bustillos said. “Vendors are able to have something in return, and then they turn those vouchers in, and then Focus Points actually reimburses them for the vouchers that they receive.” 

The reasoning for the Booth Bucks model is to help remove the economic barriers that are typically a reason people cannot access fresh produce. 

“Our goal this year is just being able to focus more on the produce that we’re growing and building a network with other local farmers’ businesses and then being able to open up the market and be that little social space for the community, but also be the opportunity to have access to fresh local produce where they [attendees]  don’t have to spend too much,” Bustillos said. She does not want people to have to choose between paying for their bills and other expenses over purchasing fresh produce. 

Cindy Vasquez lives in the area and has been attending HUFM since 2023. As the market has expanded, Vasquez and her family have continued to attend regularly. 

“All the things they provide here, I feel like it helps a lot, all the food,” Vasquez said. “It’s because I come from a big family and we use a lot of it.” 

When BLCC attended the market on June 20, musicians from the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts played for the patrons of HUFM. Attendees took breaks in between stands to watch the performance. Every table and tent housed a way to give back to the community. Whether it was giving a platform for local musicians to perform or securing the GES neighborhood’s access to fresh food. 

“Everybody has the right to have organic, healthy food, so that’s our main goal for the community,” Bustillos said. “To be able to ensure that they have the opportunity without them having to lose other things while obtaining that right.”

The market is off for July 4 but continues on July 11 and every Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. until mid-October.