Participating in a local food system offers numerous benefits, including economic support for local growers and producers, enhanced community cohesion around the local food system, a positive environmental impact through reduced food miles, and improved community health via access to fresh, locally and regionally sourced produce and meats. ​

The local food system and community share a symbiotic relationship, as illustrated in the accompanying image. This model highlights various ways community members can engage with the local food system. For instance, consumer spending supports local ranchers and farmers, enabling continued food production, while consuming local food benefits community health, diet, and potentially finances. Additional ways community members can contribute include preventing food waste, cultivating their own food, preserving foods for storage (e.g., freezing surplus kale), and preparing nutritious meals with locally sourced ingredients.

In 2025, Healthy Archuleta launched "The Nutrition & Food System Awareness Social Marketing Campaign" in Archuleta County. This campaign seeks to increase awareness among Archuleta County residents of the local food system and the benefits of consuming fresh and local foods and nutrition security. The campaign is structured around two objectives, each with specific key messages, related content, and defined target audiences.

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Campaign Objectives and Key Messages

The following 2 objectives guided the campaign planning. Key messages and tailored content were developed for each objective, designed to resonate with specific target audiences. Social media data was used to monitor and evaluate engagement levels. 

Objective 1: To educate Archuleta County residents about the local food system, detailing its function and emphasizing its positive impacts on individual nutrition, health, the local economy, environment, and social connections.

• Local Food is Delicious
• Local Food is Good for You
• Local Food is Good for the Community
• Local Food is Good for the Environment

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Content: Showcase the flavors and diversity of local products.​
Target Audience: Health Conscious Individuals

Content: Emphasize freshness, nutritional value, and health benefits.​
Target Audiences: Busy professionals, Health Conscious Individuals, Families with children living at home

Content: Highlight economic benefits, job creation, and support for local farmers.
Target Audience: Busy professionals, Families, and Health conscious individuals

Content: Promote sustainable farming practices and reduce carbon footprint.
Target Audience: Youth/young adults

Objective 2: To encourage Archuleta County residents to actively engage with the local food system by promoting education on food sources, home and community gardening, local purchasing, food waste prevention, composting, and support for initiatives that foster healthy eating and nutrition security.

• Know Your Food
• Eat for Health
• Choose Local
• Make a Difference
• Join the Healthy Team

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Content: Understanding where your food comes from empowers you to make informed choices.
Target Audiences: General Spanish Community, Health Conscious Individuals

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Content: Nutritious food is essential for physical and mental well-being.
Target Audience: General Spanish Community

​Content: Supporting local food strengthens our community and economy.
Target Audience: Health conscious individuals

Content: Small changes in your food choices can have a big impact on your health and the environment. Small actions like composting to get soil for gardening or volunteering your time and energy as part of the food system.
Target Audiences: Youth/young adults, Health conscious individuals, General Spanish Community

Content: Creating a movement to encourage change in our current food system and participation in the local food system to answer the questions of what happens when multiple people make these choices? What if? ​
Target Audiences: Busy professionals, Health conscious individuals, Families with children living at home

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Explore the campaign content and community interaction by clicking the tabs below!

• Social Media Posts & Posters
• Short Videos
• Polls
• Data

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Food Access

Gardening & Growing Food

Local Food Producers

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Community Survey

 

Community Food Hub

Supporting Food System

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Healthy Eating Messages

Recipes

Special Days

HA Food Efforts

Grow Tower Expansion

Pagosa Farmers Market

Grow Tower Production

June 2025 Polls

July 2025 Polls

Here are some definitions to help interpret the graphs below:

• Reach - The number of unique people who have seen your content. Reach is a good indicator of how many people your message has reached and can help you gauge your potential audience size.
• Views - The number of times your content was played or displayed.
• Interactions - How user interacts with content: likes, comments, shares, and link shares