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Colorado Cottage Foods Act
Cottage Foods Act was signed in mid-March. Monica Wiitanen traveled to Denver to witness Gov. Hickenlooper sign the Cottage Foods Act. Monica (in blue skirt in photo) has been instrumental in working with State Sen. Gail Schwartz (on left in photo) to have a bill enacted that would provide additional income to small-scale farmers and home cooks. (Photo courtesy of Sen. Schwartz' staff.)
To read the bill click on this link.
The bill is not restricted to farmers, but to any resident of Colorado. Also, one must take a class in safe food handling. If one wants to put up jellies and preserves, one must have taken a class in canning (in addition to the safe food handling class).
A producer may sell only a limited range of foods that are not potentially hazardous and that do not require refrigeration. These foods are limited to spices, teas, dehydrated produce, nuts, seeds, honey, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butter, and baked goods, including candies. The bill contains labeling requirements.
For questions, click here to contact Monica.
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Heart and Soul Community Planning
The Orton Family Foundation selected the North Fork Valley (the towns of Paonia, Hotchkiss, and Crawford—combined pop. 7,000) as one of five communities for the second phase of its $10M five-year Heart & Soul Community Planning initiative to change the way small cities and towns engage their citizens and plan for the future.
The North Fork Valley has been awarded $100,000 over two years, along with Foundation staff support, tools, trainings and other resources to attain their goals.
Each town has begun to map their community networks, and volunteers are ready to create new opportunities and enhance the place they call home. Before work gets underway on the ground in the towns, community leaders and Foundation staff will craft and sign a Partnership Agreement to guide goals and expectations over the two years.
Click here for a pdf of the latest information from the Heart and Soul Project--February 22, 2012, including selection of the Project Coordinator.
The February 15, 2012 issue of the Delta County Independent has a comprehensive article by Kathy Browning about the Heart & Soul Project.
And the North Fork Merchant Herald has Heart and Soul updates online and in print.
For information: northforkvision2020@gmail.com
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Those of us fortunate enough to live in the North Fork Valley welcome you to take in the experience of this place we call home.
But what exactly is The North Fork Valley?
A very simple definition would reveal that the valley includes the towns of eastern Delta County:
Paonia, Hotchkiss and Crawford – and the surrounding mesas.
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The North Fork Valley is named in recognition of the importance of the North Fork of the Gunnison River, which runs northeast to west through this high valley –--
from the mountains northeast of Paonia, through Hotchkiss and the ‘dobie’ deserts until it meets the main body of the larger Gunnison River, between Hotchkiss and Delta.
The north fork of this mighty river is the quiet cousin of the main branch, which carved out over 2,000’ of solid rock to create the stunning Black Canyon southwest of Crawford.
Once the two branches of the Gunnison River merge, it winds through the canyon lands of west central Colorado, joining the Colorado River west of Grand Junction.
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But that’s only the geography lesson… one that tells you nothing more than could be learned from a map or on a flight far overhead.
The real story is to be experienced in person---- Click here to read more.
Click on this ‘road map’ for a PDF of the North Fork Valley. Please be patient while it loads---it is worth the wait.
Enjoy yourself in our website (a joint effort of the Paonia, Hotchkiss, and Crawford Chambers of Commerce), and, when you are here.
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Relocation 
