July 2024 || Newsletter Edition 167
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In this issue:
CSU Food Systems Spotlight
Mark Your Calendar
Funding Opportunities
News, Resources, and Reading
From Our Communities
About Us
Stay Connected
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CSU Food Systems Spotlight
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Maya Lee
Student and Summer Extension Intern, Colorado State University
Maya is an undergraduate food science and human nutrition student researcher. She is in multiple research positions this summer including her Extension internship which examines the impact of local food sourcing, supporting socially disadvantaged producers, and targeting underserved food distribution locations.
In this role she is exploring the various and wide-reaching effects of the Local Food Purchasing Assistant Grant (LFPA) on food systems in Colorado. Maya looks forward to conducting further data analysis, interviews, and conversation about the impact of LFPA with our partners at the Colorado Dept of Human Services and applying what she learns in her internship to her future work in her pursuits to become a registered dietitian.
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Seeking Colorado Regional Food Convening Hosts
The Colorado Food Summit works to bring together food and agriculture stakeholders from across the state to help build shared understanding of the complex opportunities and challenges facing our food and agricultural systems. The Colorado Food Summit has taken place three times over the last four years and is the largest gathering of stakeholders from across Colorado's food system. In order to incorporate and elevate regional specificity, as well as support statewide food and agricultural organizations in prioritizing programming and investments, the Colorado Food Summit Steering Committee is seeking to support hosting regional convenings starting in the fall of 2024 through March 2025 across Colorado. These regional convenings will support the statewide gathering to be held in late 2025.
The Colorado Food Summit Steering Committee is looking to partner with organizations and leaders with roots in communities, and contextual expertise and relationships to foster conversations and assure diverse representation in the room. Most importantly, the aim is to enrich bridge building; not duplicate or replace existing efforts. You are the experts!
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Food Safety Training for
Colorado Cottage Foods Producers
Learn how to safely produce food from home as a cottage food business. This online course covers a variety of topics, including: basic food safety, foods that are permissible under the updated Colorado Cottage Foods Act, ingredient labeling, special considerations for food preparation at high altitudes, and safe food sampling best practices.
Registration is $50; times are all in Mountain Standard or Daylight.
Courses will be offered online on the following dates. Click each date below to register and learn more about the program. For additional dates, check here.
CSU Extension Cottage Food Safety Training Online:
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July 12, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm, online
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July 25, 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm, online
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July 26, 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm, online
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July 30, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm, online
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August 2, 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm, online
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2024 San Luis Valley Farm Tours
Save the Date for a San Luis Valley Farm Tour!
South Valley - July 27, 9-5pm
- White Rock Specialties
- Rio Grande Farm Park
- Elevation Farms & Orchards & more!
North Valley - September 21st, 9-5pm
- Jones Farms Organics
- San Juan Ranch
- Alpine Valley Mushrooms & more!
Tickets are $35, and include local lunch and transportation to the farms from Valley Roots Food Hub. Click here to buy tickets or find more information about these events.
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Virtual Grain Chain Meetup
The Pig and the Plow and Daniel from Dry Storage are hosting a Northern Colorado Grain Chain meetup to discuss some of the amazing projects happening in NoCo around current and new access to grains and flours. Participants will be invited to share about what they would like as far as products, infrastructure, etc. Organizers will also share about potential grant/funding/partnership opportunities.
When: Thursday Aug 1, 2024 ⋅ 4:30pm – 5:30pm
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2nd Annual Colorado Food Collision
Join us for an exciting and delicious event as we bring together food entrepreneurs from across the beautiful state of Colorado. We identified teams that showcased and won in their respective regions, and now they are invited to compete for the title of Food Champion of Colorado! We hope to have new regions represented in 2024 as well!
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When: September 13th, 2024 from 4:00-7:30pm
- Location: Sky Lounge and Terrace (4th Floor), Hydro Building: CSU Spur 4777 National Western Dr., Denver, CO 80216
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Mark your calendar for CSU's Ag Day on September 7th on campus. Ag Day is a long-standing tradition and celebration of Colorado agriculture and CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences. We are proud to host the Nutrien Ag Day BBQ in partnership with Colorado agricultural partners from around the state. This tradition honors both the institution’s roots and Colorado’s rich agricultural history in a celebration that appeals to all ages.
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Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Utilized Plants Symposium
Please join this symposium to assess progress toward conserving North American crop wild relatives and wild utilized plants. We invite the unique perspectives of botanic gardens, Indigenous groups, land managers, researchers, breeders, and seed and gene banks as we discuss future conservation priorities for this important group of plants.
When: September 17-19, 2024 at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado.
Interested in attending? Sign up to receive symposium notifications here.
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Farm Resilience Online Course
(Free Before October 1st!)
Asynchronous, self-paced course now open for enrollment!
Learn practical strategies and tools to help your farm’s resilience amidst the challenges of climate change. This self-paced, online course is designed specifically for farmers and ranchers in the West, focusing on real-world solutions and hands-on techniques. Join a community of like-minded individuals and gain the knowledge you need to secure your farm's future.
Free enrollment for a limited time only - sign up before Oct 1st! We have grant funds to subsidize the costs of farmers and ranchers to take this asynchronous course for free if you enroll before October 1st (with more time to complete the course after enrollment). After that, we will offer the course on a sliding scale.
Enroll today and deepen your journey towards climate resilience and sustainability.
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Regenerative Food Systems Investment Forum
October 9-10, 2024
The RFSI Forum is the gathering for learning the why, how and where to invest capital in agriculture and food for financial and impact returns. Whether you have been engaged in the regenerative space for decades, are ready to dig in to this emerging opportunity, or are just a little curious, this event offers unparalleled insight and networking opportunities.
Who should attend?
- Impact investors, family offices, pension funds, fund managers, foundations, and banks
- Financial advisors and other investment services
- Entrepreneurs
- Farmers, ranchers, and producers
- Corporate food companies, emerging brands, agricultural and food service providers
- Advocates for healthy food systems
To better enable farmers to join the conversation we are offering a limited number of Farmer Scholarships to cover registration fees to the RFSI Forum and the RFSI Bootcamp. The winners of the Farmer Scholarships will be announced August 14, 2024. Apply here for a Farmer Scholarship.
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Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Offering Several Grant Opportunities
The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundations is offering several grant opportunities that support healthy eating for children and adults. These include:
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Sprouting School Gardens Grant: supports school gardens and non-profit organizations that run school programs.
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Growing Healthy Kids Grant: supports nonprofits that offer healthy lifestyle and nutrition education programs outside of the school day, and community programs for children and their families.
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Wellness across the Lifespan Grant: supports nonprofits that offer health and nutrition education via cooking, community gardening programs, and healthy lifestyle programs.
Nonprofits and schools must be in a community where Sprouts Farmers Markets has stores.
Applications due June 30, 2o24. Click here to learn more and apply.
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USDA's 2501 Program Offering Grants to Entities that Help Underserved and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers
The USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagements (OPPE) is accepting applications from community-based and non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and tribal entities who provide assistance to socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers. In partnership with the OPPE, eligible entities may compete for funding on projects that provide education and training in agriculture, agribusiness, forestry, agricultural-related services, and USDA programs, and to conduct outreach initiatives designed to accomplish those goals.
The overall goal of the 2501 Program is to encourage and assist underserved farmers and ranchers, military veteran farmers and ranchers, and beginning farmers and ranchers with owning and operating farms and ranches and in participating equitably in the full range of agricultural, forestry, and related programs offered by USDA. It also includes projects that develop underserved youths' interest in agriculture.
Applications are accepted from May 7 to July 5, 2024. Click here to apply.
You can also learn more about this program through an informational webinar to be held on June 26 at 12pm MDT. Connect here.
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Regenerative Practices Grant Funding Available
Restore Grants has announced another round of funding for farmers and ranchers in California and Colorado who are using regenerative practices that sequester carbon. This may include cover cropping, prescribed grazing, hedgerow establishment, and more.
The deadline to apply is July 20th, 2024. For more information, click here.
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Colorado Department of Agriculture's Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Grant
Grants are available for projects that study the potential, benefits, and tradeoffs of agrivoltaics in Colorado. The Agrivoltaics grant program is part of CDA’s Agricultural Drought and Climate Resilience Office (ADCRO), which helps Colorado producers mitigate and respond to drought and a changing climate.
Applicants can find the Grant Guidelines as well as instructions for submitting an application on the ADCRO website, at ag.colorado.gov/adcro. The maximum grant award is $249,000 for a single project application. Eligible project types include construction or expansion of agrivoltaics systems and demonstration projects, outreach and communication efforts focused on agrivoltaics benefits or obstacles, and research projects that focus on understanding the benefits, incremental costs, and tradeoffs of agrivoltaics systems.
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Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements
Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) cooperative agreements assist local and municipal governments with projects that develop and test strategies for planning and implementing municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans. Implementation activities will increase access to compost for agricultural producers, improve soil quality and encourages innovative, scalable waste management plans that reduce and divert food waste from landfills.
There are a lot of resources for potential applicants, including a fact sheet, an FAQ about the program, and a webinar. A list of previously funded projects can be found here.
Deadline for proposals is September 4, 2024. Apply here.
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Western SARE offering grants for projects that communicate local issues related to adoption of sustainable agricultural practices
Western SARE is replacing their Research to Grassroots grants program with a newly-developed Local Education and Demonstration (LED) grants program.
The LED grant program is founded on the understanding that adopting sustainable agricultural practices entails change and managing potential financial, environmental, and social risks. The implementation of demonstration and/or education events can address local issues related to adopting sustainable agricultural practices, bolstering confidence in adoption, and reducing risks.
Successful proposals are required to integrate findings from previously-funded SARE research projects, translate those results into practical demonstrations of application, and bring those results into the field through demonstration and/or educational activities for agricultural professionals and producers.
Proposals are due November 6, 2024
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Rural Development Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loans Available
These loans will be available to projects that are starting or expanding activities in the middle of the food supply chain. For example, the program will support new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling, and distribution. Applications will be accepted until funds are exhausted.
Colorado contact information for Rural Development and its regional offices can be found at:
Robert McElroy, the Rural Business & Cooperative Services Program Director with the Colorado State Office is eager to discuss this opportunity with anyone who has a potential project. His email is: robert.mcelroy@usda.gov.
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News, Resources & Reading
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Resources on HPAI in Colorado
HPAI, or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, has been detected in multiple dairy premises in Colorado.
The Colorado Dept of Agriculture has updated its HPAI in Dairy Cattle website, with the newest links to biosecurity and biocontainment information.
For more information about infections in livestock and for additional resources, please visit the USDA website.
For information about HPAI in birds, check here.
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Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council is Seeking Two Young Leaders
Interested in being active in Colorado’s food system? The Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council is seeking two young leaders – one from a rural part of the state and one from an urban part of the state. For the purposes of the Council, a young leader is an individual between the ages of 15 and 26, someone who is early in their food systems career and/or interested in being more involved in food systems. COFSAC represents a unique opportunity to connect and network with food system leaders from across the state. Members are invited to develop community-informed, research-based policy recommendations to state leaders to address complex food systems challenges.
Applications must be received by July 15, 2024. Individuals will be notified of nominations by July 31, 2024.
Note: Individuals applying for a seat should be prepared to attend COFSAC's quarterly meeting on September 5, 2024, at 11am. Excused absence letters will be provided to all participating students who need to provide a letter to their school.
Click here for more information.
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The 2023 Land Rental + Custom Rates Survey Results are Now Available
Colorado State University Extension annually conducts a survey of custom rates charged for various crop and livestock operations and lease arrangements in Colorado. Electronic data was collected from agricultural producers, landowners and managers, lenders, agricultural consultants, machine operators, and Extension agents. The results from more than 290 respondents were combined with anecdotal data collected throughout the year. View the completed report, available on the ABM website.
Questions about the data?
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Connect with the Northwest and Rocky Mountain USDA Regional Food Business Center
The Northwest and Rocky Mountain USDA Regional Food Business Center (RFBC) is one of 12 Regional Food Business Centers funded by USDA, with the goal of improving local and regional food systems and better serving underinvested farm and food businesses. The Northwest and Rocky Mountain RFBC serves Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Recent updates include:
- sponsoring the Mountain Meat Summit in Bozeman MT to help improve meat value chain connections and profitability;
- sending emerging food businesses to the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York to grow markets for their products--see our Food Corridor team postings on LinkedIn and Facebook
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-food-corridor/posts/
- https://www.facebook.com/thefoodcorridor;
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news and events from across the region; and
- updates on the Business Builder grant programs (coming in Summer 2024)
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ABOUT FOOD SYSTEMS
at Colorado State University
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Food systems are the connections between natural resources, the agricultural and food industries, and the buyers, consumers, and communities to which they contribute. Research, extension and education identify and inform opportunities to bridge how production, supply chains, and eaters respond to changing markets, policy, and the environment. At CSU, we focus on these key areas to train, influence, and communicate ways to connect food-related roles and foster healthy communities, economies, and individuals.
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Find us on social media, get farm or food systems related questions answered via email, forward to a friend, or submit your contributions to our newsletter!
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