Certified Local FAQs

Currently, we are accepting applications from all sit-down restaurants within Larimer County. We hope to open up the program to more restaurant types and other Northern Colorado counties soon!

In return for your commitment to growing our local food economy, becoming Certified Local will provide your restaurant with community and consumer recognition for your efforts. In addition, all Certified Local Restaurants receive:

• Inclusion on Certified Local restaurant list (and future guide) including a direct link to online booking
• Promotional materials and logo rights including window decal, digital badge, prewritten program copy for menu, website, and marketing materials
• Regular promotion in the Foodshed Project’s print and digital media
• Yearly annual report with data related to local food and industry impact
• Access to a database of local food production availability to facilitate purchasing (coming soon)

The cost for 2020 Certification is $75. All fees go towards administrative processing costs and the development of added benefits for restaurants, such as a local food map and guide, local food produce database, and more.

All you need in order to apply are your prior year food purchases and to review and accept the certification standards.

Once an application is received, our team completes a verification process including an audit spot check of the food purchases submitted and compliance with the Fair Marketing Standard. This may include contacting producers or requesting documents to verify purchases and review of website, menu, in-person signage, and marketing materials.

We reserve the right to perform quarterly spot checks to ensure compliance with all standards.

The definition of local food can be challenging, confusing, and even misleading. For this program, our overall goal is to support the purchasing of food as close to our community as possible.

For some items, like vegetables and meat, this means from within Northern Colorado. For others, like cheeses and wine, we define local to mean from within Colorado.

These are not hard and fast boundaries, and we are always open to conversation with restaurants. Working together with producers, restaurants, and consumers, we aim to educate about how we can all better understand and shrink our foodshed, so this means the definition of local is an ever-evolving conversation.

Those that are deemed out of compliance but want to remain certified will need to submit their plan for getting back in compliance within three months. After three months if the restaurant is still not in compliance, certification will be revoked and reapplication will be required.