Program areas at Alternative Energy Resources Org
Community engagement: aero serves as a statewide information resource hub on sustainability topics, particularly those relating to sustainable Energy and agriculture practices, reslilient community food systems, and related policy and legislative matters. Aero shares information and Resources through its website, newsletter, social media, and events. Abundant Montana and its local food guide are building the demand for local food and providing marketing services and assistance to food and farming enterprises so they can build successful, well-connected, and thoughtful businesses.
Network weaving & education: key to aero's success in developing community leaders and inspiring community models for sustainable, climate-healthy agriculture, food systems, and Energy across the state is bringing people together to learn from one another through workshops, panel discussions, webinars and community gatherings designed to promote learning and knowledge-building, connection, networks, resource-sharing, problem-solving and finding common ground. Aero's annual expo brings together montanans committed to the culture of stewardship to share ideas, make enduring connections, and find sensible, lasting, people-oriented solutions to food and Energy issues.
Food systems programming: with a producer-centric focus, we help Montana communities build place-based, robust, sustainable food systems with climate-healthy solutions. The Montana food economy initiative(mfei): aero is coordinating community stakeholders in conducting their own 18-month food system assessments in helena, billings and the fort belknap reservation. Value-added producer success: responsive to Montana's new law, the Montana local food choice act, this program produced a food safety tool for home producers, conducted on-farm raw milk trainings, seminars, and webinars statewide as guides to food saftety practices for reducing risk and liability.