| Farm-to-flour: Colorado Grain Chain connects local producers and buyers Colorado's Grain Chain collective is revitalizing local agriculture by connecting small farmers with artisanal producers, creating a sustainable economic model that benefits everyone from field to table. | ||
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| Farm economies involve a lot of complexities, touching on everything from weather to market dynamics to tractor loans. But at their core, they all can be boiled down to a straightforward premise. Farmers grow things. Others buy the things from the farmers, and turn them into other things. Simple. At the big ag level, that description remains technically true—but the contingencies affecting everything from soybeans to beef render it quaint. On the edges of our sprawling agricultural industrial complex, however, it remains possible to find uplifting examples of the simplicity that once undergirded all farm economies. Colorado supports an especially active iteration of this healthy dynamic, through the Colorado Grain Chain. Founded in 2019, this collective of farmers, bakeries, breweries, restaurants, markets, nonprofits and more brings together relatively small operations for the benefit of one another—this is not the province of 1,000-plus-acre Iowa corn farms selling grain to cattle-feed operations. Even CPGs get involved. Pastaficio, a pasta brand based in Boulder, was an early member and remains active. Continued below… |
