Valley Sustainability & Food Sovereignty
In the San Luis Valley, local food is much more than nourishment, it’s the heartbeat of community, culture, and resilience. Organizations like the Valley Roots Food Hub and the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition are weaving together farmers, townspeople, and vendors to build a food system that keeps dollars, produce, and power right here at home. Through initiatives like farmers markets, CSAs, farm‑to‑school programs, and innovative loans for small producers, they’re nurturing a regenerating landscape where soil health, economic opportunity, and access to fresh, culturally meaningful food go hand in hand.
These efforts not only sustain local farms and beloved crops like quinoa, barley, and potatoes, they also uphold justice, equity, and traditional foodways, inviting families, elders, migrant workers, and Indigenous voices into every step of the process.
Valley Roots Food Hub
The vision of the Valley Roots Food Hub is of highly regenerative agricultural and socio-economic practices that can fulfill human needs while leaving behind a legacy of biologically productive soils, sufficient water, and healthy communities of plants, animals, and people.
The mission of the Valley Roots Food Hub is to build, operate, and sustain a local food system that increases the demand for and accessibility of fresh, healthy food.
Saguache County Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (ScSeed)
Mission: to work together as a community to develop a sustainable economy that builds on our existing strength, contributes to a strong integrated community, and protects the environment, rural lifestyle and the character of Saguache County.
SLV Local Foods Coalition
The mission of the SLVLFC is to foster an equitable local food system that restores the health of the people, community, economy and ecosystem. Some of their projects are the Valley Roots Food Hub, Local Foods/Local Places, featuring the Moki Food Truck, Rio Grande Farm Park and SLV Cooking Matters.
SLV Seed Exchange
The San Luis Valley Seed Exchange has been an annual, community gathering and seed swap since 2010. It’s currently taking place at Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa in Moffat, Colorado and hosts a Speaker Series of experts talking on agriculturally relevant topics.
SOIL Sangre de Cristo
SOIL Sangre de Cristo is a membership based community loan fund that awards 0% interest loans to local farmers, ranchers and other food producers. It is a new way to fund local food. Using charitable donations from Investor Members funds are available to local farmers, ranchers and other food enterprises for 0% Interest Loans. Together, we are building a permanent, member driven, revolving loan fund.
Nourish Colorado
Our complex, yet efficient, food system produces an abundant amount of food. But it lacks resiliency and does not equitably deliver nutritious food to all people. Nourish Colorado works to reshape the food system by shifting the food supply chain into a true food value chain. We pursue systemic change by engaging in state and federal policy advocacy, managing innovative programs, and developing community partnerships and grassroots networks to employ multiple-win strategies that rebalance the food system and create healthy food environments. Strengthening nourishing food environments takes all of us. Please join us and support our efforts to ensure equitable access to nourishing food for all Coloradans.
