Spudlove for You & Your Spudbuds

When you reach for your usual bag of potato chips in the Co-op snack aisle, you may not think about much more than what flavor they are or if you’ll make it home without eating them all. Or maybe you consider whether they’re oven-baked or fried, but end up going with the current craving either way. Beyond that, you probably don’t spend time wondering about the potatoes in the bag or what their journey from soil to salty snack actually looked like—hunger is demanding like that.

But when it comes to Spudlove, the story is everything. As the name suggests, this chip company loves spuds. In Spudlove’s words, from seed to soil, field to fryer, cut to crunch—they make their chips with a little extra TLC, if you will. Farmerowned and farmer-grown, Spudlove isn’t just interested in the final crispy crunchy snackable snack. The way the humble potato is grown is always at the forefront of their minds. As fifth-generation potato farmers, the folks at Spudlove know what it takes to produce the perfect potato. And for them, the perfect potato is more than one that simply tastes good. It’s a potato that’s sustainably and organically grown, and non-GMO, to maintain the long-term health of their farmland.

Spudlove farmers are dedicated to closed-loop sustainability on their Oregon farm. By combining a dairy farm with an organic potato farm, they’re able to create a synergistic system in which the two farms benefit one another. Natural fertilizer from the dairy farm supports the organic spuds, while the potato plants act as a cover crop for the soil, aiding in the growth of feed for the cows. Spudlove’s dedication to the environment is also represented through their careful use of water and their wildlife protection initiatives: Spudlove recognizes that water is a precious resource.

When they established their farm in Oregon, they voluntarily relinquished their water rights in order to protect the Columbia River. Instead, to conserve water in the potato growing process, they built their own irrigation system specifically designed to utilize less water than more traditional systems. The farmers worked directly with The Nature Conservancy to thoughtfully set aside 25% of their land to protect four native species most at-risk of endangerment in the region. Now, thanks to Spudlove, the Washington Ground Squirrel, Ferruginous Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, and Sage Sparrow have a safe, protected habitat where they can flourish.

So, next time you’re wandering hungrily through the chip aisle, fall in Spudlove with the crunchy potato chips made from 100% organic ingredients and cooked in small batches by a farmer-owned company set on protecting the planet one perfect potato at a time.