Colorado Local Sustainability
Are you looking for locally grown food, that is grown in a sustainable manner? Colorado Local Sustainability brings you The Rocky Mountain Growers Directory, a directory of sustainable Colorado growers and marketers of their products.
Why local, sustainable agriculture?
- Did you know that 17 % of petroleum demand in the US is for the food production industry? (http://www.energybulletin.net/5173.html)
- Did you know that the food on your plate has traveled an average of 1500 miles to get there? (Barker & Mander, 1999, Invisible Government: The WTO Global Government for the New Millenium)
- Did you know that the average age of a farmer in Colorado is 55?(“Losing Ground - Colorado’s Vanishing Agricultural Landscape)
- Did you know that between 1997 - 2002 Colorado lost an average of 690 acres of prime agricultural land per day to residential development? (“Losing Ground - Colorado’s Vanishing Agricultural Landscape)
- Did you know smaller farms tend to be 2-10 times more productive than larger farms? (http://www.energybulletin.net/5173.html)
- Did you know that 90% of the agricultural subsidies benefit corporations and big farmers growing food for export; while 500 family farms close down every week in the United States? (http://www.energybulletin.net/5173.html)
- Did you know that 91 cents of each dollar spent at traditional food markets [ie: commercial] goes to suppliers, processors, middlemen, and marketers; only 9 cents of each dollar actually goes to the farmer? (Smith, Stewart. 1992. “Farming Activities and Family Farms: Getting the Concepts Right.” Presented to the US Congress Symposium, “Agricultural Industrialization and Family Farms: The Role of Federal Policy.”)
In our own search for locally grown food here in Colorado, we have looked far and wide and know how hard it can be to find local farms and ranches with sustainable agriculture principles. Not everyone can be found on the web. Not everyone can be found in the few, scarce directories that may exist, and definitely not solely sustainable growers, producers and marketers.
With The Rocky Mountain Growers Directory it is our goal to provide the definitive guide to local sustainable growers and ranchers of Colorado, organic produce of Colorado, other local food products of Colorado, and businesses that offer these products. Since the population of our state is so unevenly dispersed, in order for as many as possible to be able to eat locally the agricultural resources across the state need to be more visible and available to consumers. It is extremely important that we support our local farms and ranches, as well as other locally owned businesses. We hope that you feel the same, and help to create a sustainable local food economy.
What is sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers, preserves agricultural land, provides a fair wage to the farmer, supports and enhances rural communities, does not harm the environment and respects animals.
Some principles of sustainable practices include:
- Reducing off-farm inputs including petroleum based synthetic chemicals
- Managing instead of controlling pests and weeds
- Reestablishing natural biological relationships with the farm setting
- Farming within the physical limitations of the farm
- Using plant and animal species that are adapted to the environment of the farm
- Conserving soil, water, energy, and biological resources
- Integrating the idea of long term sustainability into the design of the system
For more information on sustainable agriculture, and definitions of terms, click on the “Info” link.
The Rocky Mountain Grower’s Directory
Colorado Local Sustainability is producing the first, annual, statewide, sustainable growers directory for Colorado, The Rocky Mountain Growers Directory, The purpose of the directory is to stimulate the sustainable agriculture industry in Colorado, networking consumers, restaurants and businesses with sustainable growers, so that the industry will have the infrastructure to expand. We want the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory to be Colorado’s definitive sustainable agriculture directory. If you are a farmer, rancher, marketer of locally produced sustainable products, or a Colorado business and would like to be included in the directory and/or support Colorado’s growers please click here for more information or click here to sign up to be a part of this unique and relavant project.
