Life & Work with David Laskarzewski

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Laskarzewski.

Hi David, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I worked in advertising agencies for ~17 years, first as an account executive then, after heading to portfolio school, as a copywriter. When my family and I moved to Colorado in late 2008, I worked as a freelance writer but the recession was in full-bore mode and freelance work was sporadic. I decided to go back to school. The program was an experimental graduate program at CU Boulder focusing on design thinking, social entrepreneurship and front-end development. This program introduced me to possibilities; that is, it’s important to dream big and one person, or a small group of individuals working together, can truly make a difference.

When I completed the program, I worked for a couple of early-stage startups: my first role was in communications for a startup that was creating digital tools to make impact investing more accessible to the public; my second gig was working for a food-systems startup that delivered farm-fresh food to your door.

These experiences reinforced the power of possibilities and connected me more closely to food-systems work. They also inspired me to co-organize an event called Feeding the 5000 Front Range (5K Front Range), a one-day food-waste-awareness event that was held in Denver’s Skyline Park in mid-October of 2016. The premise—developed by the London-based nonprofit Feedback—was to rescue food headed for the landfill, partner with local chefs (we partnered with Jennifer Jasinski and her group) and share a free lunch to passersby to educate the community on the ubiquity of food waste in our culture. The City of Denver and EPA Region 8 were incredibly helpful in facilitating 5K Front Range as were the volunteers on hand that day and the numerous nonprofits that tabled at the one-day event.

Jen and her chef-team needed vegetables for the curry they were making and gave us a shopping list. We contacted two farms along the northern Front Range and held two gleaning events where we recovered ~1,500 lbs. of food in a couple of hours, collectively. We also noticed the amount of food that remained unharvested and unsold in the fields in mid-October.

After 5K Front Range wrapped up, a few of us decided to investigate why surplus remained on farms and if there were any organizations addressing it on a statewide scale in Colorado.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The folks at Feedback introduced us to staff at food-recovery organizations in Europe and from Maine to the Pacific Northwest here in the states. One of our early mentors, Theresa Snow, co-founder and director of Salvation Farms in Vermont, mentioned that she did not receive a paycheck for the first three years of her work in establishing Salvation Farms; she basically (but nicely) asked: are you willing to make sacrifices to bring your idea to increase social good to life?

We remained under fiscal sponsorship for a little more than 36 months to determine whether the mission and work we were proposing was relevant in the Colorado food system.

In mid-2019, our then advisory council suggested that we had proven concept and that we should file for federally recognized status as a nonprofit. We received our Letter of Determination in the mail in early March of 2020 and realized enough funding to establish two full-time roles in 2021. Today, UpRoot has two full-time staff and four part-time gleaning & food-systems coordinators.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am co-director at UpRoot Colorado. In a young nonprofit organization, that means you may be shepherding volunteers at a gleaning event in the morning, writing a grant proposal in the afternoon, and attending a social event or sitting on a panel in the evening. If variety remains the spice of life, this role has copious amounts!

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Virginia Till of EPA Region 8 was seminal in helping to organize Feeding the 5000 Front Range, which led to the development of UpRoot Colorado. Hayden Dansky of Boulder Food Rescue also provided sage advice early on. Ciara Low, one of UpRoot’s co-founders, filled the co-director role from 2018-2021 and UpRoot would not have made the progress it’s seen without Ciara’s perpetual intelligence, good humor and collegial and kind spirit. Our part-time gleaning coordinators who stepped up to the plate over the first few formative years—Helen, Sara (now a director at Highwater Farm), Géneviève, and Claire—helped us to generate momentum, community interest, and tangible results. And today, Rita Mary Hennigan, Abbey, Emma, Jenny, Marisa and Sierra (UpRoot’s summer intern) continue to think creatively and mindfully to make connections, ask good and sometimes tough questions, and share their inspiration and courage—and belief!—with me and with our Colorado communities. UpRoot Board members also offer consistent support, insights, and inspiration, and our volunteer gleaning corps selflessly laces up their workboots to glean (i.e., harvest) surplus, nutrient-dense produce so that we can distribute it to our hunger-relief partners. Last but not least, our farm partners’ humbling generosity allows us to work towards increasing healthy-food access for more residents of Colorado.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.uprootcolorado.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uprootcolorado/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NothingLeftOver/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/UpRootColorado

Image Credits
Abbey Andersen, Jennifer Gurev, Rita Mary Hennigan, David Laskarzewski, Ciara Low, Shannon O’Gara