Full Bellies. All of Them.
Meeting needs with real food, changing lives with a whole human approach.
Our Purpose
To reconcile commercial and consumer food waste into fresh nutrient dense produce for underserved communities; to provide nutrition education resources including food sensitivity and pharmacogenetic profiles
The Food Waste Problem, and a Solution
What is food waste?
Food waste is safe, high-quality food that is thrown away rather than eaten. Food waste occurs for a variety of reasons, including:
Uneaten food that is thrown out at homes, stores, and restaurants
Crops left in fields because of low crop prices or too many of the same crops being available
Problems during the manufacturing and transportation of food
Food not meeting retailers' standards for color and appearance
How much food waste is there in the United States?
Each year, 119 billion pounds of food is wasted in the United States. That equates to 130 billion meals and more than $408 billion in food thrown away each year. Shockingly, nearly 40% of all food in America is wasted.”
Our Story & Why We’re Different
Castle Rock Market aims to revolutionize the model of the non-profit and, indeed, the model of work in general in our country.
Our organization is founded on an assumption of abundance, as opposed to a deficit-mindset of of scarcity and lack. We will communicate health and well-being as an organization is through having an asset-based relationship with money, time, and people.
Many companies, and non-profits especially, operate with a deficit or scarcity mindset, leading them to underpay employees and sacrifice wellbeing in order to "get the job done." We believe in paying our staff and partners what they are worth in order to offer a lifestyle that is congruent with holistic health and wellbeing. All salaries are commensurate with - or higher than- the market rate. Our starting salary is $30/hr with health insurance for all. For our high-school employees, instead of insurance, we offer 529 College-Invest Program, affording the potential to accrue up to $24,000 in college funds in four years, prior to any community matching.
By founding our company on the principles of generosity and abundance, and demonstrating economic success, we will offer a new model of business that will inspire others to do the same.
Non-Profit: Castle Rock Market is a non-profit with a mission to bring health and well-being to the community.
Urban Farming: Our efficient container farming system yields up to 300 lbs of produce per week, per container. With this model, we will grow much of our own fresh produce, on site. This model circumnavigates supply-chain issues and maintains consistent high quality of our goods.
Reclaimed Waste: our efficient container farming system ensures that all food waste is reclaimed as substrate for our produce. We also offer a convenient location for other supermarkets and restaurants to donate food waste to be reclaimed as substrate.
PGX Services: We partner with nutrition labs to offer comprehensive food- sensitivity tests and consulting to target the nutritional needs of our customers and clients.
Michael Quirk
Founder, Director of Finance and Operations
Get Involved
When you donate to Colorado Food Connection you are supporting a center for health, well-being, and community in downtown Castle Rock.
