An annual tour promoting connections among Colorado consumers with the farmers and ranchers who produce their food is scheduled to stop in Grand Junction on Aug. 10.

Representatives with the Colorado Proud program plan to staff a booth from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the downtown farmers’ market along Main Street.

Now in its fifth year, the tour is part of the Colorado Proud program promoting food and other agricultural products produced in Colorado in part by labeling those products with the Colorado Proud logo. Information about the Colorado agriculture industry and recipes using locally grown ingredients will be available.

This year, the tour also will offer opportunities to interact with producers through personal, video and online conversations. The effort, titled Faces and Stories of Colorado’s Agirculture, follows the results of a survey that found consumers want to feel more connected to their food sources.

Citing price and flavor as their top motivating factors, nearly 85 percent of consumers responding to the survey said its important to support local food systems. While 77 percent of consumers said agriculture supplies food at a reasonable price, 90 percent said agriculture is important to the quality of life in Colorado.

The agriculture industry contributes more than $41 billion to the Colorado economy each year — including more than $2 billion worth of exported products — and accounts for more than 173,000 jobs. More than 34,000 farms cover a total of nearly 32 million acres in the state.