Who we are

The Lab is a network for farmers and food businesses building the future of agriculture together.



Our Story

Born from Crisis.

Built by Community.

The Ag & Food Lab grew from lived experience — from years of working alongside farmers, food businesses, small retailers, and community organizations to understand where Colorado's local food system was failing the people it should serve most, and what it would take to change that.

The story begins with Dave and Roberto. As farmers on Colorado's eastern plains, they knew firsthand the barriers small and under-resourced producers face: limited access to land, infrastructure, markets, and consistent support. When COVID hit in 2020, those barriers deepened. Families already struggling to access healthy food faced even greater disruption. Small farmers couldn't reach markets, move product, or sustain their businesses.


Dave and Roberto responded. They launched a food hub from a barn on their farm — a practical, community-rooted answer to an urgent crisis. What started in a barn grew into a 15,000-square-foot warehouse shared by multiple farmers and food businesses, becoming a place for aggregation, storage, distribution, and small business growth. And through that work, something became undeniable: food access and farm viability are deeply connected. Communities need reliable access to fresh, affordable, culturally relevant food. The farmers and businesses serving those communities need land, infrastructure, technical assistance, and flexible support.


Three years in, Eileen joined the work. With experience alongside producers, food access partners, and local food system leaders — and a background in nonprofit management — she brought a clear vision: a food system where the people closest to the challenges help define the solutions, guide the work, and shape how resources are used.


Together, Dave, Roberto, and Eileen founded The Ag & Food Lab — a flexible testing ground where community-initiated solutions could be tried, strengthened, and scaled. The Lab was built in direct response to what farmers, retailers, residents, and food businesses were naming: limited land and infrastructure access for BIPOC, immigrant, and under-resourced farmers; limited access to affordable, fresh, and culturally relevant food in low-income communities; and limited decision-making power for the people most affected by food system inequities.


Today, those same people continue to shape The Lab. Farmer leadership informs what training, land access, and market support are needed. Retailers share what their customers need and what barriers stand in the way. Community partners and residents provide feedback on food preferences, accessibility, and trust. Advisory councils, program data, and partner experience all help The Lab understand what's working, what needs to change, and where resources should go next.


The Ag & Food Lab is community-initiated — born from real conditions and solutions identified during years of direct food systems work. It is community-guided — shaped continuously by the farmers, retailers, residents, and partners doing the work. And it is community-led — because the people most affected by food system inequities aren't just participants. They help define the problems, test the solutions, and determine how resources and infrastructure are used to create lasting change.


Our Vision

Colorado’s food systems nourish communities, economies, and the environment.

Our Mission

The Ag & Food Lab collaborates with farmers, supply chain workers, food businesses, and community partners to design and test responses to gaps and inequities across Colorado's local food systems.Through shared infrastructure, equitable land access, collective knowledge, and wrap-around support, we cultivate resilient food systems from soil and seed to plate and back to the soil.

Our Values

  • Stewardship of the Land

    We believe that the entire food system depends on taking care of the land, which serves as its foundation. We prioritize sharing land with farmers who are committed to making real changes in agriculture, particularly through regenerative practices that restore the health of our soils and ecosystems. By working together, we can create a more sustainable and resilient food system for everyone.

  • Community, Collaboration, and Shared Care

    We believe lasting change happens through collective action. By working together across communities, sectors, and lived experiences, we build stronger, more connected, and more reliant local food systems.

  • Access & Opportunity

    We believe sustainability includes caring for the land and the people who cultivate it. Farmers are the roots of a sustainable and just food system. True sustainability involves creating an evironmentally sound, balanced, regenerative approach where both farmers and their businesses can thrive, not just survive. By supporting the well-being of farmers and their communities, we can build a more resilient food system that benefits everyone.

  • Sustainability & Economic Resilience

    We believe sustainability means caring for both the land and the people who cultivate it. Farmers, supply chain workers, and food businesses can be economically viable while contributing to a regenerative and resilient food system.

  • Innovation & Learning

    We believe innovation grows through experimentation, collaboration, and collective knowledge. By designing, testing, and scaling practical solutions to gaps and challenges along the food supply chain, we help shape food systems that are adaptive, resilient, and community-centered.

Our team

The Lab’s team is driven by a shared passion for building stronger food systems and ensuring that everyone in the food chain has the support they need to succeed.

Woman with blonde hair wearing striped shirt, denim overalls, and neon green earrings, smiling.
Woman with red hair, wearing a black shirt and gray blazer, in front of a brick wall.

our board

Smiling man in plaid shirt, standing in front of a greenhouse with green plants.
Smiling man with light hair, brown plaid shirt, outdoors.
Man with a beard in a vineyard, looking off to the side under a cloudy sky.
Woman with brown hair smiling outdoors, downtown street in background.