Our Standards
We abide by food and growing standards that produce high quality food, protect the environment, and uplift communities.
Our Food and Growing Standards
Colorado Local
Our main priority as a Colorado nonprofit is to support local farmers and see sustainable agriculture thrive! We only work with farms located within 400 miles of Golden, Colorado (which includes the entire state of Colorado, as well as some nearby parts of neighboring states). We believe that eating local is better for our health, our environment, and our local economy, and helps us connect with the place we call home. Most of our farmers work along the Front Range and within Jefferson, Denver, and Boulder counties. Read about our farmers are here.
Organic Practices and No GMOs
What we put into the soil is what comes out of it - which is why we practice organic, regenerative, and sustainable growing practices with no harmful toxins, chemicals or GMOs. This way, our soil stays strong, the food stays healthy, and farm workers stay safe! Not all of the farms we work with are certified organic, as this is not financially feasible for many small-scale farmers, though ALL of our farmers use sustainable practices and go above and beyond organic certification standards.
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Our farmers:
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Perform soil fertility management practices that promote healthy, nutrient rich soil
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Abide by an integrated pest management plan to control pests, weeds, and diseases using only physical, mechanical, and biological controls, instead of chemical or toxic inputs
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Only use biological, botanical, or synthetic substances that are approved for use on the USDA National Organic List
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Use absolutely no genetic engineering, gene editing, GMO seeds, ionizing radiation, or synthetic inputs that are not on the approved USDA organic list
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Use absolutely no glyphosate
Soil Health and Environmental Stewardship
Our farmers have the utmost care for the health of our soils and agricultural land. Having healthy, nutrient rich soils increases the nutrient value of our food, increases resilience to drought, flood, and other extreme weather, prevents erosion, contains less pollutants, and ensures the vitality of our land to grow food well into the future.
Our farmers:
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Conduct conservation tillage practices ranging from no-till to shallow tilling just 2 times per year
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Protect soil from erosion when it’s not in production through mulching, cover crops, laying tarps, etc.
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Promote soil biodiversity and sustain soil organic matter through cover crops, compost, crop rotation, crop diversity, etc.
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Compost farm waste
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Incorporate water conservation and efficient irrigation practices
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Conserve resources by amending soil based on soil testing
Equitable Work Environment
In addition to environmental, community, and health benefits that our farmers value, we also work to ensure all farm worker conditions are fair, equitable, and safe. We value the work that our farmers and farm workers do for us each day, and whatever we can to show this support and appreciation.
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Our Farmers:
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Ensure all farm employees are compensated in a fair manner and paid at or above minimum wage
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Uphold that all farm employees have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times.
Food Safety
Food grown and distributed all within our local environmental is already much safer than food grown and distributed on a global scale. This is because the food is grown in healthier soils, sees less handling and transportation mechanisms, and thus is at much lower risk of contamination. Even still, our farmers must attend a FSMA training class and have a documented food safety plan for their farm. GoFarm staff visit every farm we work with regularly, and ensure that farmers are keeping up with food safety protocols.
