Over the past year, the Archuleta Community Food Hub and Food Hall has moved steadily from an idea into a well-defined, community-informed plan. This progress reflects a deliberate choice to build the project openly and collaboratively, grounded in local knowledge and lived experience rather than assumptions or outside models.
Convened by Healthy Archuleta, the food hub is not a concept developed behind closed doors. Instead, it has been shaped through an inclusive, community-led planning process designed to ensure that local residents, food producers, businesses and institutions have a meaningful role in guiding the project. Central to this work has been the Food Hub Community Learning and Leadership Circle (CLLC).
A CLLC is a standing, community-based advisory group that brings residents, practitioners and institutional partners together to guide programs or initiatives. Rather than relying on onetime input, the CLLC meets regularly to share lived experience, provide feedback, and help shape strategy, implementation and evaluation. This model emphasizes mutual learning, builds local leadership capacity and keeps community voice at the center of decision-making.
For the food hub project, the CLLC was intentionally formed as a cross-sector group to guide the project’s vision, design and phased development.
Participants and supporters of the CLLC brought a wide range of perspectives, including local governance and land-use planning, community and economic development, food business ownership and entrepreneurship, farming and ranching, public health and prevention, youth leadership, bilingual community engagement, and food access and distribution. Together, these voices contributed lived experience, technical knowledge and practical insight that helped ensure the food hub plan reflects the realities of operating food systems, businesses and services in Archuleta County.
Through this collaborative forum, participants contributed practical insight, market knowledge and on-the-ground experience that directly informed the food hub’s priorities, infrastructure needs and implementation strategy. Their input helped clarify what types of shared kitchen space, storage, market access, education and operational support are most needed to strengthen Archuleta County’s local food system.
Beyond the CLLC, Healthy Archuleta engaged more than 300 community voices throughout 2025 through surveys, tabling at community events, interviews and informal conversations. Participants included full-time and part-time residents, visitors, growers, ranchers, food producers, cottage food entrepreneurs, restaurant owners, and families.
This broad engagement confirmed both strong demand for a food hub and shared priorities around local food access, entrepreneurship, workforce opportunity and community resilience.
As a result of this extensive community input, the project team has completed a needs assessment, market analysis and early financial modeling, and has worked with USDA design partners to develop a site concept grounded in real-world use.
The Archuleta Community Food Hub and Food Hall is envisioned as a shared-use space where food can be grown, stored, processed, prepared, shared and sold, supporting local businesses, improving access to healthy food and keeping more food dollars circulating locally.
Importantly, the food hub is being planned in phases so it can grow responsibly over time and remain responsive to demonstrated community and market demand. This approach has been reinforced through the ongoing work of the CLLC, whose members continue to provide thoughtful guidance and accountability.
Looking ahead to 2026, the project will continue refining its business plan, advancing site planning, and building the partnerships and funding strategies needed to move toward implementation. Community engagement will remain central as the project moves forward.
The Archuleta Community Food Hub and Food Hall is more than a building; it is the result of neighbors planning together and investing in a shared vision for the county’s food, health and economic future.
For more information, please contact Healthy Archuleta at fsfearchuleta@gmail.com. Be sure to check out our website at www.foodcoalition4archuleta.org/community-food-hub.html and follow us on social media for up-to-date information.
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