Support Your Local Co-op JR Riegel, La Montanita Co-op

from April 2021 Gallup Journey Magazine

UVD Robots Deploys Nation’s Largest Fleet of Autonomous Disinfection Robots To A School District.

Support Your Local Co-op

By JR Riegel, La Montañita Co-op

CCooperatives of all kinds are united in their commitment to the same set of seven cooperative principles, but most co-ops go a step further and make their own unique commitments based on their community’s needs and wishes. At La Montañita Co-op, our mission goes beyond just cooperative economics, extending to positive impacts on food access, local agriculture, the New Mexico economy, and our cooperative community. This commitment is made official through something called our “Ends,” maintained by our member-elected Board of Directors. Through these Ends, La Montañita Co-op is committed to increasing access to healthy food, promoting regenerative agriculture and sound environmental practices, having a positive impact on our local economy, and strengthening our cooperative community.

When it comes to personal environmental impacts, food is a major part of the picture. Factory-farmed beef has an enormous carbon footprint relative to other foods, but beef from cows farmed with regenerative agriculture practices like rotational grazing can actually be carbon neutral. Some advocates even think the beef industry could actually reduce global carbon emissions if all cattle were farmed with regenerative practices. Changing an entire industry overnight isn’t realistic of course, but each one of us still has the power to make more positive personal food choices for the environment, and every lit-

tle bit adds up. That power is what food co-ops are about — by sharing information, making conscious food choices, and working with each other, we can band together to amplify our power to improve our food system and make it more environmentally responsible.

It’s not just beef, either. For just about every food out there, you can find an alternative that’s not as harmful to our shared environment, and places like food co-ops make better alternatives that much easier to find. Choosing certified organic food is one option, because organic food is free of the environmentally damaging pesticides you’ll find on conventional farms. If you’re really looking to make the best decisions for the health of the planet and your own local community though, it’s not always that simple, and that’s why working together can be so helpful. For example, is an organic onion shipped up from Mexico better than a non-organic onion grown an hour out of town? Transportation and refrigeration have significant carbon footprints, so personally I prioritize locally grown food even more. We’re fortunate to have some great certified organic farms in New Mexico, but many non-certified farms follow just as good practices as organic farms without getting the organic seal because it costs money and takes time to maintain that certification. The NM Department of Agriculture just got out of the organic certification game this year, making it even more costly and difficult for our local farmers to be certified. We also have our fair share of local farms that don’t prioritize environmental impact though, so how the heck do we tell the difference?

Since co-ops are all about supporting local growers & brands, we build relationships with our vendors beyond just buying their foods, so we know the local farms whose produce we sell. We have a Distribution Center that picks up, transports, and delivers fresh, quality food throughout the state, connecting New Mexican farmers to markets for their food in grocery stores, restaurants, public schools, commercial kitchens, and a range of other destinations. We spend time and money helping farmers get training they might need, and occasionally if the need arises, we’ll stop working with a farmer if we find that they’re no longer meeting our expectations for stewardship of the land. There’s always the possibility of working with them again if things change though, and more farmers are catching on to the value of sound environmental practices every day. In addition to reducing their carbon footprint, farms following regenerative agriculture principles have found benefits in healthier plants, better-tasting produce, less need for water thanks to better water retention in the soil, and even long-term increases in production compared to conventional farming.

Good farming practices are better for the local soils, better for the planet, and better for our bodies through more nutritionally rich foods, so they are worth supporting. Ask questions, learn about the farms your food comes from, and be mindful when choosing what food to eat. If we all did this together, our food system could change for the better in no time, so each individual decision really can make a difference. There’s a lot of work to be done to protect the planet for our children, but we each have the power to make a positive impact one bite at a time.

To learn more, check out the educational articles and local producer spotlights from previous issues of La Montañita Co-op’s magazine at www.lamontanita.coop/the-bean. The Winter 2020 issue has a great intro to how regenerative agriculture works. For info on how regenerative farming can be more productive than conventional, explore www.rodaleinstitute.org. To get a perspective tailored to our dry southwestern climate, visit www.quiviracoalition.org. And if you have questions, we’re always here to talk! You can reach me at j.riegel@lamontanita.coop.

GMCS Response The Gallup-McKinley County Schools have been and will continue to provide safe, high-quality, in-person instruction for students. The recent change from the New Mexico Public Education Department means we will be able to offer more of these opportunities as students choose to return to the classroom. Due to collaborations with Indian Health Services (IHS) and Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital Care Services (RMCHCS), a majority of our staff members have already received their COVID-19 vaccines. Please contact your child’s school if you have any questions about in-person learning opportunities.

Time to ring the bell! Welcome back, students! Gallup-McKinley County Schools students will be able to head back to school April 5 and GMCS is ready for all students to return to school. New Mexico State Education Secretary Ryan Stewart made the long-awaited announcement in March. “This is the moment that our students, our educators and our families have been anxiously waiting for,” Stewart said. He added, “I’m excited to announce today that we are now able as a state to shift to full re-entry for all students across the state. Full re-entry means that all students who want access to full-person learning will start the process to being eligible to have access every day.” GMCS teachers have been preparing for the safe return of students to their classrooms and the time is finally here. It has been a little over a year since Gallup-McKinley County Schools, and all schools in New Mexico, were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the state plans for all public schools to be open for full in-person learning by April 5. Safety GMCS has been working hard to educate students while in hybrid learning and has also performed well in keeping students and staff safe with COVID-safe practices at all schools. GMCS recently received a positive report from the New Mexico Environment Department, which confirm GMCS is in compliance with the Public Health Order. GMCS custodians have undergone numerous trainings to keep schools clean and sanitized. GMCS has recently obtained UVD robots for each school in the district that provide a 99 percent disinfection of viruses in classrooms, cafeterias and all areas of the school building. “This (the reopening of schools) is only possible because of the extraordinary amount of hard work that has gone into developing and implementing COVID-safe practices across the state,” Stewart said. “And in order to make sure this works, ongoing diligence is going to be required. Now is the time to ring the bell and welcome our students back safely.” Stewart added, “Our COVID safe practices have worked. “They have kept the coronavirus from spreading in our schools and allowed us to maintain safe, indoor learning environments.” Teacher vaccinations New Mexico educators are also on the priority list to get vaccinated. More GMCS teachers will be able to sign up for a vaccine. For more information or to sign up for vaccines, educators can go to cvvaccine.nmhealth.org. “For the last several weeks, we have been prioritizing teachers to receive the vaccines,” Stewart said, “and because we have been doing that, we’ve made significant progress in vaccinating our elderly teachers and our high-risk teachers. “I’m excited today to announce that we will be partnering with the Department of Health to make sure that all educators in the state are vaccinated within the next three weeks,” Stewart said. “This is possible because of the increased vaccine supply that we have, it’s possible because of the progress that we’ve made to date in vaccinating the elderly and the high-risk, and it’s possible because of the shift in government priorities that have allowed for more vaccines to go to educators. I’m asking, right now, for every educator to please register on the New Mexico vaccine website if you have not already.” COVID-safe practices will continue “Our COVID-safe practices will remain in place, our air-quality standards and our other safety measures will still need to be met and we’ll stay carefully aligned with the CDC guidelines for a safe, in-person learning environment,” Stewart added. “The Public Education Department will work with all districts and schools to make sure that we are able to safely and expeditiously move into full re-entry with the expectation that by no later than April 5, all students who choose to have access to full-person learning will be able to come to their school every day.” He added, “On our tribal lands, we will continue to respect tribal health orders, and schools and districts there will continue to engage in tribal consultation as they make the shift to this process.” Full participation in activities “I’m also excited to announce today that effective immediately, all schools throughout the state are eligible for full participation in NMAA-sanctioned activities,” Stewart said. “There will no longer be the required twoweek long observation period. “I’m also very excited to announce today that band and choir will be able to reconvene and they will be able to be conducted outside according to strict COVID-safe practices to ensure these activities are safe,” Stewart said.