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Working Co-ops

Interested in what is going on in the RMFU Cooperative Development Center?

Explore some of our ongoing projects!

Farm Labor Contractor Co-op

In 2017 the RMFU Co-op Center and Uproot Colorado conducted a mobile farm workforce pilot project in Colorado. The pilot was successful and proved what we already know is that there is a significant need for farm workers in Colorado. The pilot came to a halt during the pandemic and the passing and implementation of the Ag Workers’ Rights SB21-087.  RMFU co-op center has decided to continue explore this idea further and in 2023 – 2024 RMFU contracted with Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center (RMEOC) to conduct a feasibility analysis of an Employee-Owned Farm Labor Contractor Co-op in Colorado. The results of the study can be found below.

Employee-Owned Solution to the Farm Labor Shortage

Mimbres Food & Agriculture Cooperative

Mountain Views, heirloom fruit trees, and community is the vision of the majority of senior residents who live in Mimbres the Mimbres Valley of Grant County in SW New Mexico.

The Mimbres Food & Agriculture Cooperative was established in 2023 to promote local agriculture and healthy eating. These goals will be accomplished through the Mimbres Marketplace, which will provide a grocery store and eatery which will emphasize the use of local farm products. Future projects will include educational events and demonstrations. The Marketplace will serve as a hub for entrepreneurial activity in the Mimbres Valley for farmers, artisans, food vendors, and other small and local businesses.

The project is in the Mimbres Valley, located in Grant County in southwestern New Mexico, and is being led by the Mimbres Food & Agriculture Cooperative. The Valley has approximately 2,000 residents, with a majority over 65 years of age. The area currently has no grocery store or gas station, requiring residents to travel to the nearest towns of Bayard or Silver City for shopping; a commute or at least 30 miles round-trip, and can be up to 60 miles.

More about Mimbres Food and Agriculture Co-op

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Magdalena Food Cooperative

The village of Magdalena, NM seeks to operate a cooperative grocery store to serve local residents and those in surrounding communities, including the Navajo chapter of Alamo, NM. The last grocery store in Magdalena closed in 2012.

The village of Magdalena, New Mexico, is located 27 miles west of the closest grocery store in Socorro, NM. In addition, the Alamo Chapter of the Navajo Nation, which also lacks a grocery store, is located an additional 30 miles from Magdalena, making Alamo residents round trip to Socorro about double that of Magdelena residents.

The Mission of the Magdalena Food Co-operative is to provide access to a nourishing full-service grocery store, with preference for products of local origin and minimal packaging, for our member-owners, Magdalena and surrounding areas, and visitors.

MFC’s Vision is to create a cooperative grocery that is financially sustainable and provides nutritious fresh food, economic stimulation, and community building, in the village of Magdalena, New Mexico.

To learn more about or support this start-up co-operative grocery store visit MFC’s website.

Magdalena Food Cooperative

The Grasshopper Collective

When grasshoppers and drought laid waste to many specialty crops in the Mancos area of Southwest Colorado in 2021, one crop managed to pull through, providing some local farmers with hope, fresh ideas, and a cooperative pivot.

At a meeting to discuss improving their economic and mental health, four neighbor farmers quickly agreed that garlic was faring better than most crops under water stress and insect pressure and the market for specialty varieties looked promising. Mike Nolan and Mindy Perkovich of Mountain Roots Produce, Dave Banga of Banga’s Farm, Duke Jackson of Sol Vista Farm and Max Kirks and Megan Davey of Outlier Farm had a mere 5-6 weeks of irrigation water to work with in 2021, yet all harvested premium garlic bulbs that year.

The Grasshopper Collective

Colorado farmers hope to create a grocery co-op in one of Denver's largest food deserts

Imagine having the ability to walk into a neighborhood store on a daily basis and purchase local, regeneratively grown products direct from producers across our region. Then imagine knowing these profits went back to farms, ranches, and small business owners to continue building vibrant agricultural communities and a healthy food system for all community members and our environment.

Watch here on PBS

Farm to Institution

What would our food systems look like if we sourced directly from farmers? Check out our three-video series in collaboration with Nourish Colorado and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on the institutional procurement of local foods as a vehicle for supporting Colorado’s local farms, and providing access to fresh, healthy food to a wider swath of all of our communities.

Farm to Institution

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