About Sierra Sourced

A regional mark for businesses rooted in the Sierra.

Sierra Sourced is an economic impact certification for the seven-county Sierra Nevada region: Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono and Tuolumne. It recognizes producers that grow, raise, harvest, quarry, make or prepare their products here, and makes them easy to find.

What it does

One mark that works three ways.

For buyers

Residents, visitors, retailers and institutional buyers get a simple, trustworthy way to find what is truly grown, made and run here.

For businesses

Certification and a directory listing are free. Certified producers get a page buyers can find, connections to retailers and distributors, and the option to license the mark for their products.

For the region

Application data, aggregated and anonymized, shows where shared processing, cold storage and distribution would let more value stay here.

Here is what makes it a certification, not a club ↓

A certification, not a club

Measured where value is captured, not just where a label says it's from.

Most place-based programs ask one question: where was this made? Sierra Sourced asks where the economic value lands. Every certified business makes or grows something here, plus meets at least two of four more tests: regional ownership, regional labor, regional inputs and regional revenue retention.

That is why a cattle ranch, a quarry, a coffee roaster and a neighborhood restaurant can all be certified, each under the pathway that tells the truth about how it is rooted here: Sierra Grown or Sierra Crafted.

It is

Verified by the program administrator
Backed by a published Program Standard
Renewed every year
Free to apply, free to list
Open to farms, ranches, quarries, food and drink makers, restaurants and artisans

It isn't

A membership or affinity program
Self-declared
A substitute for Organic, Fair Trade or animal welfare certifications
For service businesses. Retailers and lodging can carry certified products and become Partners

Sierra Grown

Raised, grown, harvested or quarried here.

Sierra Crafted

Made, processed or prepared here.

Food service

Meals and drinks made here, with at least 10% from the region.

What we stand on

Four commitments behind the mark.

Value that stays here

We count ownership, wages, suppliers, taxes and reinvestment, because that is what keeps a town’s main street and payroll working year round.

Honest about origins

Crafted makers disclose where their non-regional inputs come from, and restaurants name their regional suppliers. The mark only means something if it tells the truth.

Verified, not declared

Every certification is reviewed against documentation, renewed annually and subject to audit. Records stay confidential.

A long line of stewardship

This landscape has been tended by Me-Wuk, Paiute and Washoe people since time immemorial, and by generations of ranchers, foresters, miners, makers and shopkeepers since. Sierra Sourced is built to strengthen the businesses carrying that work forward.

How it started

From a local brand to a regional standard.

[Year]

A Tuolumne County Chamber initiative

Sierra Sourced began as a shared brand to help local makers and producers stand out. [One or two sentences on who started it and why.]

[Year]

The region signs on

Chambers, counties, tourism bureaus, arts councils and producers across all seven counties sent letters of support and joined the coalition.

2026

A federal label review changes the model

Putting the mark on a USDA-regulated product showed that regulators treat a regional mark much like an Organic-style claim. Rather than shrink the idea, the coalition rebuilt it as a true certification with a written standard.

May 2026