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Think about the special moments when you eat. Watching someone blow out the candles on his birthday cake, carving a turkey for Thanksgiving, or dripping juice down your chin while eating peaches in the summer.
All those memories are connected to the working land.
Farmers and ranchers work every day without rest, so you can cherish the moment. When you look back at the happy times, the first thing that comes to mind is not the people in the background, but the people who were there.
Here’s an introduction to some of the people behind the scenes here in Loot County.
Michelle and Colby Townsend of Hayden Fresh Farm raise free-range chickens and free-range pigs. Noah Price and Sidney Elbogen of Mountain Boulevard Farm grow delicious seasonal vegetables with a focus on no-till farming and soil health. Home Ranch Farm manager Courtney Lynn grows vegetables in her 7,000-foot greenhouse on the North Root. Davey Baron of Sand Mountain Cattle Company raises grass-fed Red Angus cattle.
It’s easy to forget agriculture and food production areas during this snowy season.
CAA Market, a program of the Community Agriculture Alliance, hosts products from all of the aforementioned growers and many others. The market is open seven days a week and functions as an indoor farmers’ market, where anyone can enter and purchase delicious local food and products. With about 60 local producers and hundreds of products, there are too many stories, faces to know and local foods to eat in this article.
If you’ve never stopped by CAA Market, check it out. Also, if he’s already shopped at CAA Market, say thank you and tell your neighbors and friends. Buying local produce helps you connect with your produce by knowing who grows it. Customers not only purchase unique, high-quality products not available in grocery stores, they also provide direct support to the local farmers and ranchers who work on their land.
What must you do to support these amazing people and your local AG? The answer is simple. Eat local food. That is the mission of CAA Market.
I want to increase the number of Yampa Valley (people who eat in Yampa Valley) and revitalize agriculture in Yampa Valley. It’s as easy as walking in the door. We will take care of the rest! His CAA Market store at 743 Oak St. in downtown Steamboat is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5:30pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm.
You can also browse an online selection of local foods and products at CAAMarket.org.You can pre-order it from the website and pick it up at the CAA Market store the following week. Everyone is welcome, so what are you waiting for? Eat more local food and be a Yampaboa today!
Meredith Rose is the Community Agriculture Alliance Program Coordinator.
