Community News
Curated news and information from across the colorado grain chain
Our News Feed is a place for us to share news and information about our members as well as any educational grain chain related content sourced from across the country.
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Westword's The Best of Denver 2026
via Westword
Posted April 2, 2026 2:14 pm
Check out Westword's The Best of Denver 2026! We're excited to see a few CGC members highlighted among a stellar cast of business owners, bakers, brewers, distillers, and restauranteurs.
Best Cafe That’s Also a Bakery | Hearth
Best Brewery Expansion | Cerebral Brewing
Best Latino Third Space | Convivio Café
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie | Moon Racoon Baking Co.
Best Beer Collaboration | Still Here Brewing Collective
Read the full list here.
Best Cafe That’s Also a Bakery | Hearth
Best Brewery Expansion | Cerebral Brewing
Best Latino Third Space | Convivio Café
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie | Moon Racoon Baking Co.
Best Beer Collaboration | Still Here Brewing Collective
Read the full list here.
Connections
Slow Food Colorado Indigenous Cooking Class | May 7
via events.humanitix.com
Posted April 2, 2026 2:29 pm
Join Slow Food Western Slope, Slow Food Boulder County, and Slow Food Denver for an immersive, live-streamed culinary journey. Slow Food is honored to host Chef Andrea Condes, a renowned Indigenous chef dedicated to bringing the flavors, history, and sovereignty of native foods into our modern home kitchens.
This isn't just a cooking class—it’s an invitation to connect with ancestral memory, explore healthy food systems, and preserve cultural knowledge through the universal language of food.
This isn't just a cooking class—it’s an invitation to connect with ancestral memory, explore healthy food systems, and preserve cultural knowledge through the universal language of food.
The Menu: Trout has flourished in Colorado’s waters for centuries, and corn has remained a staple crop for Indigenous Peoples of the Americas since time immemorial. In this session, you will learn to prepare:
- Trout Steamed in Corn Husk
- Dandelion Pesto
- Fresh Corn Pico
As you cook, Chef Andrea will lead a discussion on the cultural etymology and the vital importance of these key ingredients. You will get to trace the roots of what we are preparing & eating together by reclaiming the traditional foodways and flavors.
Connections
Apply for a Restore Grant
via www.zerofoodprint.org
Posted April 2, 2026 2:35 pm
Zero Foodprint is offering grants up to $25k for farmers and ranchers implementing regenerative practices. Applications are open now through April 7th, 2026.
Learn more about the grant application here.
Learn more about the grant application here.
Connections
This Colorado Distillery Is Turning Heirloom Wheat and Prickly Pear Cactus into Spirits
via whiskyadvocate.com
Posted April 2, 2026 2:37 pm
The typical playbook for starting a whiskey distillery in the U.S. often involves sourcing whiskey to bottle while waiting for the own-make distillate to age. But Longmont, Colorado’s Dry Land Distillers has taken anything but the beaten path. After leaving the coffee business in the early 2010s, founder and master distiller Nels Wroe dove headfirst into the world of distilled spirits with no formal training. The mission? To produce spirits using unique ingredients from the American West, showcasing the land’s terroir.
“I'm from Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, so I felt strongly that if we were to tackle something in this craft space, we’d have to find crops that are appropriate to the place and are very true to Colorado and the American West,” Wroe says. “That sent us down the grain path because it gave us an opportunity to create spirits that mimic the wine world in terms of (using and reflecting the) terroir.”
Read the full article here.
Read the full article here.
Connections
The Conscious Business Pitch Competition with Naturally Colorado will take place on April 22nd
via
Posted April 1, 2026 8:55 am
Naturally Rising: The Conscious Business Pitch Competition with Naturally Colorado will take place this year on April 22nd from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM MST in Arvada, Colorado. This signature event brings together emerging purpose-driven brands to pitch their innovations to a panel of expert judges and compete for a generous prize package and opportunities for growth.
Register here: https://www.naturallycolorado.org/event/naturally-rising-the-conscious-business-pitch-competition-2/
Date: April 22, 2026
Time: 4:30 PM MST
Location: Social Capitol: 6543 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, Colorado 80003
Farm-to-flour: Colorado Grain Chain connects local producers and buyers
via www.newhope.com
Posted March 23, 2026 6:59 am
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.
Read full article by Douglas Brown here.
Read full article by Douglas Brown here.
Connections
Colorado farmers concerned drought could impact crops, prices
via YouTube
Posted March 18, 2026 7:21 am
This winter will go down as the warmest in Colorado's history and one of the driest. Farmers in Boulder County say they're worried for their harvests. Watch full CBS Colorado feature here.
Intro to Our Local Food Systems with Slow Food Boulder County | March 12
via museumofboulder.org
Posted March 5, 2026 1:19 pm
Join the Museum of Boulder for a conversation that will change the way you shop, eat, and think about food.
Jodie Popma, Slow Food Boulder County, and Kim Lord Stewart, author of Eating Between the Lines, will unpack food labels, decode terms like organic and regenerative agriculture, and share how Boulder’s local food systems support farmers and the community.
The event will also explore tools like the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen and talk honestly about how personal food choices really are. Whether you’re stretching your budget, prioritizing health, supporting local farms, or all of the above, you’ll leave with practical shopping tips and a clearer sense of how to align your purchases with what matters most to you.
The conversation will include an open Q&A, so bring any food-related questions you’ve been wondering about.
Jodie Popma, Slow Food Boulder County, and Kim Lord Stewart, author of Eating Between the Lines, will unpack food labels, decode terms like organic and regenerative agriculture, and share how Boulder’s local food systems support farmers and the community.
The event will also explore tools like the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen and talk honestly about how personal food choices really are. Whether you’re stretching your budget, prioritizing health, supporting local farms, or all of the above, you’ll leave with practical shopping tips and a clearer sense of how to align your purchases with what matters most to you.
The conversation will include an open Q&A, so bring any food-related questions you’ve been wondering about.
A delicious seasonal stew prepared by beloved local chef Daniel Asher of River and Woods and bread from Moxie Bread Co., will be on the menu!
Discover Your Local Food System with Slow Food Boulder County
via travelboulder.com
Posted March 5, 2026 1:25 pm
Travel Boulder's profile about Slow Food Boulder County features The Colorado Grain Chain and the Rye Resurgence Project.
"In Boulder County and across the globe, Slow Food empowers farmers and consumers to reclaim this simpler, more conscientious way of life. It also aims to preserve local food traditions.
"In Boulder County and across the globe, Slow Food empowers farmers and consumers to reclaim this simpler, more conscientious way of life. It also aims to preserve local food traditions.
'We like to call ourselves the on-ramp to learning about your food system, says Jodie Popma, board chair of Slow Food Boulder County, one of three chapters in Colorado."
Read the full article here.
Read the full article here.
Connections
Award-Winning Bakery Reopens the Cafe at Cheese Importers
via Westword
Posted March 5, 2026 1:33 pm
Moxie Bread Co. recently opened a new location at Longmont's Cheese Importers.
"Cheese Importers is more than a cheese shop; it’s a community hub filled with treasures of all kinds for those who love food — along with a massive cheese cave packed with hundreds of options. Even if you’ve never visited, you’ve likely eaten cheese from this shop, as it’s also a wholesaler to many of the region’s top restaurants. But its former bistro shut down when the pandemic hit in 2020 and the space has been used for storage ever since.
"Cheese Importers is more than a cheese shop; it’s a community hub filled with treasures of all kinds for those who love food — along with a massive cheese cave packed with hundreds of options. Even if you’ve never visited, you’ve likely eaten cheese from this shop, as it’s also a wholesaler to many of the region’s top restaurants. But its former bistro shut down when the pandemic hit in 2020 and the space has been used for storage ever since.
Moxie Bread Co. is more than a bakery. Founded by Andy Clark and his wife, Phillippa, in Louisville in 2015, it’s a beloved business that has continued to grow and evolve over the years. In 2020, it expanded to north Boulder with a second shop and a mill. 'The underlying mission of Moxie is really to educate people about heirloom grain and organic and get more of it out to the world, so that people know and understand what it is and value it — then there are more farmers able to grow it because there’s a market for it as more home bakers use it,' explains Phillippa."