Mission & Vision

Sprout City Farms collaborates with communities to pursue food justice by cultivating innovative, restorative, and educational farms.

Sprout City Farms envisions a thriving and equitable food system supported by a network of farms and partners that nourish, and are nourished by, our surrounding communities.

Guiding Principles

Sprout City Farms believes that a thriving local food system is the foundation for healthy, resilient communities. We strive to ensure food-secure communities by developing and strengthening the local food system.

We recognize that Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ peoples are the traditional stewards of the unceded lands we are farming.

We believe in…

• Equity and Food Justice: Food and farming are our platforms for furthering racial, economic, and social justice efforts from the ground-up. We work to create opportunities for residents of our farm communities to have equitable access to fresh produce by distributing over half of our harvest to neighbors who experience intersecting barriers to food security.

• Education: Knowledge is something to be shared; we provide opportunities for all ages to learn at the farms and value the teachings of community members. We also recognize the importance of lifelong learning among our staff.

• Community: We work to cultivate engaging community spaces where residents of all backgrounds come together to build relationships around food.

• Supporting Farmers: We create educational opportunities for beginning and experienced farmers and food system advocates to make a living growing food alongside their communities.

• Collaboration: We strive to partner with local communities and organizations to improve food access and exchange a diversity of knowledge related to growing food. We engage with coalitions of local food advocacy and farming organizations to grow the local food movement.

• Diversity:  From seeds to people and languages to abilities, we welcome all beings and see the beauty that diversity brings the world.

• Sustainable Stewardship: We transform underutilized land into spaces for community-rooted food production. We are dedicated to caring for the land in nourishing and socially responsible ways, focusing on small-scale organic farming methods that encourage biodiversity, soil building, pollinator protection, and respect cultural heritage.

Commitment to equity

Sprout City Farms acknowledges that structural racism has throughout history and continues to create inequities in the food system and in our society.  As a white-led organization, we know we have a long way to go. We are working together to figure out our next steps in breaking it down. Here’s to decolonizing our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Thought Leadership

The future of urban agriculture requires a shift in thinking, eating and acting. At Sprout City Farms we believe that our role is both as a voice for change, and as a resource for capacity building. Our diverse board and staff members provide thought leadership in the ever-shifting landscape of Denver’s urban agriculture movement, while empowering communities to make decisions that impact the way they eat.

• Sprout City Farms is using urban farming as a way to address hunger and health issues, build resiliency in our communities, and protect the environment.

• We are pioneering programs and protocols that are expanding the market for locally-grown food, including developing safe food handling practices for farm to cafeteria programs and leasing public land for food production. **Stay tuned for our toolkit, which will help other organizations replicate the models we’ve established!**

• Sprout City Farms is a trusted source of information, and we work to deepen our community impact by sharing knowledge and maintaining open dialogue with other organizations.

• We are working toward policy change and capacity building that will ensure communities can choose how they eat and that farmers can make a living.

• Sprout City Farms is an active participant in engaging the greater community through events, social media, conferences, college courses, and other gatherings that help broaden Denver’s urban agriculture and sustainability movement. Let us know if you would like us to come speak to your group!

• We are a founding member and have been on the leadership board of Mile High Farmers since 2013, only having recently stepped down to make space for new leadership in 2021. Mile High Farmers is the network of farmers across the Denver metro area, is a co-chapter of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and National Young Farmers Coalition, and organizes the annual Denver Metro Producers Summit: for more info, see the 2021 Producers Summit Report (stay tuned for the report from the 2023 Summit).

• We sit on the advisory board to CSU Extension’s Building Farmers Program; CO Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association’s annual conference; and are a member of the Denver Community Food Access Coalition, Jefferson County Food Policy Council, and Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council (mayoral appointee).