We founded Sand Dunes Mushroom Coop (SDMC) as a response to the recent shutdown of our old employer, Colorado Mushroom Farm, which displaced over 150 mushroom workers in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado. Our goal is to preserve jobs by creating a new worker cooperative for mushroom workers.

We began our coop in 2023 as a pilot project with eight members. Thanks to initial funding from local foundations, we received extensive training on all aspects of specialty mushroom production.

We’re just about ready to grow, but now we need urgent support from you. Just this month we were able to move into our production warehouse. We are in the midst of buying and setting up the equipment, but we need additional funding from the community. Any financial support is urgent as we strive to open the farm to earn income to support our families.

We believe that this cooperative will not only provide better wages to workers but also provide a good example to show how resilient farm workers can be in responding to an economic crisis like farm closure.

Your donation will help us build a company that gives us control over our working conditions, better wages, and better job security. We’re working hard to change not just our lives, but those of many families and the broader San Luis Valley community.

But, we can be only successful when the community is behind us. Please, help us raise $20,000.

Support Sand Dunes Mushroom Cooperative:

By Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center

Support Sand Dunes Mushroom Cooperative:

An Immigrant-owned business in Alamosa, Colorado