Dating in the North Fork Valley can be… complicated. Let’s just say the pond is shallow and well-fished. So sometimes romance requires a road trip.
A few years ago, I was dating a man who lived in Crested Butte and loved fresh, local food as much as I did. It was winter, which meant Kebler Pass was closed, so getting there required the long way around. If I was going to make the drive, I decided to make it count.
I spent the morning visiting the farm stands I knew at the time (I know many more now). I gathered winter greens, a locally raised chicken, and a sweet treat from our local bakery, Mountain Oven. I packed it all carefully into a cooler, loaded my two dogs into my little Tacoma, and pointed the truck toward the mountains.
I was between jobs then. In that strange, tender space of not knowing what comes next. As the miles rolled by, I started asking myself the big questions. What did I actually want to do with my life? What felt aligned with my purpose? I knew I wanted to give back to this valley. I knew I respected farmers deeply. I knew community mattered to me.
Somewhere along that winter highway, the idea arrived.
What if I delivered gourmet, locally grown food to the wealthier resort valleys that surround us — and brought that money back home to the farmers in Paonia? What if the long drives weren’t a burden, but the bridge? I didn’t mind driving. I loved hanging with my dogs. I had skills in community networking, graphic design, marketing, sales, and logistics. Every job I’d ever had had quietly handed me a tool. And suddenly, I could see the whole toolkit assembled.
By the time I reached Crested Butte, the vision had crystallized.
The relationship didn’t last.
But the idea did.
That winter drive — cooler full of local food, dogs in the backseat, mountains stretching ahead — was the beginning of the Paonia Food Movement.
Sometimes purpose doesn’t arrive in a boardroom.
Sometimes it shows up on a snowy highway, somewhere between love and logistics, and asks if you’re ready to build something bigger than yourself.