ecoyear

The following are some of the most notable sources of staple foods grown near Colorado. It may be that I can find sources closer to Boulder, but I just don't know of them yet.

Wheat is broken down by the US Department of Agriculture into three types: durum wheat, spring wheat, and winter wheat, and I am ignorant enough that I don't know which one I need for bread baking and pasta making.

Durum wheat is grown in Arizona and North Dakota.
Spring wheat is grown in Utah (and Montana and North Dakota)
Winter wheat is grown in Kansas.

Barley is grown in Colorado (NW, and South)
Oats are grown in Utah.
Soybeans in Kansas.
Sunflowers in Colorado (local oil, anyone?)
Peanuts in Texas.
Rice in California and Texas.

Cotton in Texas - not a food, but must I get the cotton in my house from Egypt??

MILK in this area is mystifying me at this point. You can get fresh milk delivered at home, from Longmont Dairy or Royal Crest Dairy. There is also Morning Fresh Dairy, which is used by some of the coffee shops for their lattes.

I have not called them yet, but on neither of their websites does it mention how their cows are raised. Horizon Organic, which makes a variety of products, has been accused, along with Aurora Organic Dairy, of watering down organic standards, by raising cows in crowded conditions.

That leaves Organic Valley's Rocky Mountain Pastures milk, some of which comes from Windsor Dairy. That would be great news, as I am not ready to buy a share of my own cow and drink unpasteurized milk (which is what Windsor Dairy offers, at the price of $7/gallon). But Windsor Dairy cows sure look like they are being raised by committed knowledgeable people. Of course, I keep an open mind. I'm looking forward to reading anything recent about unpasteurized milk. After all, it took a while to show that organic veggies had more antioxidants (up to 40% more!!).