Why do Palisade peaches, Pueblo chiles matter so much to Colorado consumers?

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Stacy Nick
Stacy.Nick@colostate.edu

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Agriculture is big in Colorado, and a recent survey from the Colorado Department of Agriculture shows that Coloradans care a lot — not only about how their food is grown, but where it’s grown. 

More than 80% of respondents to the 2022 Public Perceptions and Attitudes about Colorado Agriculture survey said seeing that an item was grown or raised in Colorado was most likely to influence their decision as to whether or not to buy a product. That’s great news for marquee brands like Palisade peaches, Pueblo chiles and Rocky Ford melons, but it’s also a strong indicator for the industry as a whole.

“What we’ve really seen now is different populations of producers break off into new markets,” said Dawn Thilmany agricultural economist and professor with CSU’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. “And just as we saw in the craft beer industry, they’ve became our ‘craft food’ producers … We’re now seeing craft bakeries that feature grains from Colorado, and we’re seeing craft butcher shops which only carry Colorado meat. So, we’re seeing little tentacles where this interest in local foods is almost changing the structure of how some households buy and eat food.” 

Thilmany recently spoke on the CSU podcast The Audit about the survey results and what they tell us about the impact of agriculture in Colorado and the “buy local” movement.