Our Story
The Challenge: Colorado’s food system—how we produce, price, package, transport, purchase, and eat food—has become disconnected from the people within it. This disconnect has exacerbated issues of affordability and availability of fresh, culturally responsive food that people across our state deserve.
In 2016, a group of food justice advocates collaborated to develop a centralized action plan to alleviate hunger in Colorado. This plan, published in 2018, was called the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger and outlined several recommendations on streamlining hunger relief efforts to amplify impact. What started as a document crafted by a concerned collective of advocates transformed into a multigenerational, multicultural movement only a few short years later.
Today, Provecho Collective, formerly known as Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, is a collective action organization that convenes partners, supports local solutions, strengthens resources, and champions policy change to transform Colorado’s food system. Guided by the principle of food justice, our movement strives to achieve food sovereignty by shifting the power of the food system back into the hands of our friends, farmers, and neighbors.
Our Identity
The name, Provecho Collective, embodies our organization’s commitment to bringing everyone to the table.
In Spanish, the phrase buen provecho (pronounced as proH-BEH-choh in English) is said before eating to wish that the meal is enjoyable and fulfills one’s needs. Buen provecho celebrates more than just the act of eating — it signifies the culmination of hard work, a moment for gratitude, and a collective toast to nourishment, health, and upliftment through food and community. We chose this name with intention as a bilingual and multicultural organization.
Corn, beans, and squash represent the “Three Sisters” in many Indigenous agricultural traditions of this land, which we celebrate in our imagery. When planted together, they support each other’s growth while, providing complete nutrition. This demonstrates the sophisticated Traditional Ecological Knowledge that Indigenous peoples have cultivated for thousands of years and offers important lessons about interdependence for building resilient food systems.
When we work as a collective, we have the power to create a food system where everyone can eat and enjoy the food they choose, where they want it, and when they need it. Lasting change doesn’t come from any one person or organization — it’s grown together, with intention and care.