DENVER — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, residents of Casa De Rosal — a senior apartment building in Denver’s Villa Park neighborhood — found themselves isolated and struggling to access fresh food. That’s when Andrea Loudd stepped in.
“I became like a necessity in bringing in food to Casa De Rosal, where I live,” Loudd said. “It was a tough time for my neighbors.”
What started as a Saturday grocery program inside her building has since grown into Andrea’s No Cost Farmer’s Market, a community-driven project now in its fourth season. The market operates every other Tuesday and serves between 75 and 100 families, offering fresh produce purchased through grants, partnerships and donations.
Loudd said the idea was born after noticing that the commodity food boxes delivered during the pandemic contained mostly processed items.
“There was very little fresh produce coming in,” she recalled. “I know my community faces a lot of health challenges, so I saw the need to say, I want to bring fresh produce.”
Today, most of the food at her markets is locally grown in Colorado. Partnerships with groups like Common Harvest of Colorado, the Southwest Food Coalition and Lifespan Local provide everything from leafy greens to cucumbers, onions and tomatoes.
Denver Food Rescue helped Loudd get started and continues to deliver food to her programs.
“As a resident of the building, she knew firsthand that people needed better access to grocery items,” Max Julien, the group’s volunteer coordinator, said. “Andrea is just like a really impressive organizer.”
For Loudd, the markets are about more than nutrition. They’ve become a place of dignity, liberty and connection.
“We’re not just a no cost market,” Loudd said. “We’ve become family here.”
Volunteer Jessica Brenin agreed.
“I think it’s incredible what Andrea is able to do in terms of not asking questions, not having eligibility,” Brenin said. “Everyone is welcome. She has a spark, some kind of magic about her that gets people out here and makes the food system work.”
Despite funding challenges, Loudd remains committed to keeping the markets going.
“I’m going to continue to do this work until I can’t, and I hope that by that time, someone else would jump right in and keep it going,” Loudd said.
For those who want to help sustain her work, Loudd has launched a fundraising page to keep the markets running.
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