April Charity of the Month: Poudre Valley Community Farms

Poudre Valley Community Farms

Please join us at the tap room this month to help us support our community partner, Poudre Valley Community Farms. Poudre Valley Communuty Farms is, at its core, a land cooperative.  By harnessing the power of member-owner investment and combining it with creative financing techniques such as conservation easements and community partnerships the cooperative buys and owns farmland.  The cooperative leases long-term to local farmers and ranchers at competitive market rates.

The vehicle for achieving PVCF’s mission is a multi-stakeholder cooperative.  First, let’s consider the more familiar but less important parts of PVCF.  Think of a traditional consumer cooperative, like a food co-op, where consumers pool their buying power to purchase products at better prices.  Now think of a traditional producer cooperative, like most farmers’ cooperatives, that pool buying power and access to distributors and consumers to benefit the producer.  Now put the two together and you have an understanding of the LESS important parts of PVCF.

Now consider the third, and MOST important, part of the PVCF cooperative model.  The consumers and the producers contribute capital through their membership dues which is used to purchase farmland.  The long-term access to farmland to produce food is the key to this land cooperative model.

TIP JAR: Loveland Youth Gardeners

Our committee has chosen Loveland Youth Gardeners as the April Tip Jar Partner. Through the month of April, 100% of of our taproom gratuity is donated to this organization.

Loveland Youth Gardeners is a non-profit dedicated to cultivating job & life skills, environmental stewardship and service in youth facing barriers by building healthy relationships with people, agriculture, and community.  Loveland Youth Gardeners has been serving our community since 1996 and offers Youth Education Programs for ages 5-21.  Most of the programs focus on at-risk and special needs students in the Loveland community. They also sponsor Loveland Plant a Row for the Hungry, which provides fresh produce for low-income residents.