February 2014 Green Fire Times

News & Views

from the

S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t

Being Human in Healthcare • Resilience in a Changing Climate Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks • Tribute to a Local Hero February 2014

North-central New Mexico’s Largest Circulation Newspaper

Vol. 6 No. 2

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Vol. 6, No. 2 • February 2014 Issue No. 58 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC

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Contributing Photographers

Esha Chiocchio, Anna C. Hansen, Japa K. Khalsa, Mike Lamb, Jack Loeffler, Alejandro López, Mariel Nanasi, Poki Piottin, Seth Roffman, Miguel Santistévan, Jamey Stillings, Joseph Yaroch

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News & Views

from the

Sustainable Southwest

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

Contents

Increasing Resilience in a Changing Climate. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7 ‘Thinking Like a Watershed’ Panels Come to the KiMo Theater . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .8 A Visit to the Proposed Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument . . .. . .. 9 Book Profile: Water Ethics – A Values Approach to Solving the Water Crisis . . .. . . 11 People and Planet: Partners in Wellness. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 12 Drought and Floods: Impacts of 2011-2012 Fires and 2013 Floods. . .. . .. . .. . . 13 Acequias Up-Close . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 14 New Mexico’s Soul Food . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 15 Local Hero: A Tribute to Dr. Tomás Atencio . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 17 Fresh AIRE: A Year of Growing in Taos . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20 Urban Farming: The School of the Future? . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 22 Everyday Green: The Santa Fe Community Food Co-op . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 24 Pay It Forward! Being Human in Healthcare. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27 Sustainable Healing . . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 29 Medicine of the People: Massage and Self-Acupressure. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 31 Health Benefits of Food as Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Animals . . . 33 OP-ED: New Mexico Has a Democracy Problem . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 35 Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 25, 32, 35, 37 What’s Going On. . .. . .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 38

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Green Fire Times

c/o The Sun Companies PO Box 5588 Santa Fe, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@sunbooks.com © 2014 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for anyone—community members, business people, students, visitors—interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources available in our region. Knowledgeable writers provide articles on subjects ranging from green businesses, products, services, entrepreneurship, jobs, design, building, energy and investing—to sustainable agriculture, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, regional food, water, the healing arts, local heroes, native perspectives and more. Sun Companies publications seek to provide our readers with informative articles that support a more sustainable planet. To our publisher this means maximizing personal as well as environmental health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol. GFT is widely distributed throughout north-central New Mexico. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article submissions to be considered for publication are welcome. .

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lamy, New Mexico, Site of planned crude oil transfer station (see newsbite, page 37) COVER: a ngel oak by elliott mcdowell • www.elliottmcdowell.com

Green Fire Times is not to be confused with the Green Fire Report, an in-house quarterly publication of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. The NMELC can be accessed online at: www.nmelc.org

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Increasing Resilience in a Changing Climate

Esha Chiocchio

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ong periods of drought, unprecedented storm events, warmer average temperatures, rising seas, unpredictable weather patterns—we are already seeing the impacts of a changing climate. Whether we like it or not, we are entering a period of warming on a global scale that is shifting weather patterns everywhere.

Three potential strategies: do nothing, migrate from the area, or proactively work to adapt

Over the course of several months, the planning team studied the predicted climate shifts as well as the forest, water and economic vulnerabilities of the area.

From this information, we used a prioritization system to analyze the climate risks and determine the areas of highest priority. Perhaps not surprisingly, the resulting priorities include reduced water supplies, increased risk of wildfire and forest degradation, flooding, and a dearth of job opportunities to retain and attract working families. Taking into consideration the pillars of sustainability (environmental stewardship, economic health and social justice), the planning team developed five goals that address these issues and have the greatest chance of long-term success.

GOAL 1: Increase the water security and ecological integrity of the Santa Fe watershed through conservation, infiltration, groundwater recharge and reuse.

GOAL 2: Improve forest health for resilience in the face of climate change.

This section of the upper Santa Fe watershed has been treated to reduce fuel loads and stabilize the soil.

Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for the Santa Fe Watershed, outlines specific strategies and action steps to safeguard water resources and reduce hazards from storms, fires and floods. These strategies include increasing rainwater infiltration, developing municipal water reuse systems, expanding forest-thinning treatments, improving the functionality of our rivers and arroyos, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, and developing long-term financing structures that enable all of this work to be implemented.

In order to ensure lasting change, everyone in the community will have to participate. To be a part of the solution, you can conserve water and energy, increase the permeability of your landscape, capture rainwater, reduce fuel loads on forested properties, support local farmers, and invest in renewable energy.

Our overarching goal is to ensure that Santa Fe thrives for centuries to come. What will be your role in shaping Santa Fe’s future? i To read Forest and Water Climate Adaptation: A Plan for the Santa Fe Watershed, visit www.santafewatershed.org.

© Jamey Stillings

Fortunately, there is something we can do about it. Seeing these patterns take hold, The Santa Fe Watershed Association (SFWA) contracted with the Model Forest Policy Program (MFPP) to develop a climate adaptation plan through its Climate Solutions University (CSU) planning process. Under the MFPP’s guidance, I led a team of experts from the greater Santa Fe community, including former city of Santa Fe Water Resources Coordinator Claudia Borchert, Jémez y Sangre Regional Water Planning Council Chair Charlie Nylander, Ecotone Executive Director Jan-Willem Jansens and La Ciénega Valley Association President Carl Dickens, to develop a holistic approach to address the most pressing vulnerabilities and create an action plan to add long-term resilience to the watershed and Santa Fe community.

© Esha Chiocchio

Here in the southwestern United States, these changes are being expressed through reduced snowpack, shifting precipitation patterns, decreased water supplies and increased temperatures. As a result, we have already experienced catastrophic wildfires, flooding and reduced agricultural yields—trends we expect to continue.

Esha Chiocchio is the Climate Solutions coordinator for the Santa Fe Watershed Association and chair of the Energy Committee of the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission.

GOAL 3: Develop the workforce training needs to implement this plan.

GOAL 4: Increase energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) to achieve a reduction in fossil fuel-derived and water-consumptive energy sources by 45 percent by 2030.

GOAL 5: Establish financing systems that facilitate (equity) investments, emergency funds and cash-flow availability to fund climate adaptation and innovation initiatives.

The implementation of these goals will take time and resources; however, it is imperative that we continue to address our vulnerabilities on multiple levels. History tells us that when communities are faced with changes such as these, there are three potential strategies and outcomes: 1) they do nothing and are subject to the environmental impacts that ultimately destroy their cities, 2) they migrate from the area, or 3) they proactively work to adapt to the changes and ultimately thrive. What do we want for Santa Fe? Through climate-adaptation planning we can increase the resilience of our landscapes while improving our economy and creating new job opportunities. The plan we developed,

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‘Thinking Like a Watershed’ Panels Come to the KiMo theater Attaining a Balanced Relationship Between People and Arid Lands Jack Loeffler

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e need to seriously whip into action instead of just inching our way toward a cultural perspective that’s appropriate for what’s happening around this world of ours. Thanks to the KiMo Theater and the New Mexico Humanities Council, we’re getting a major boost in the right direction. On February 13, the first of five monthly panel discussions will take place under the heading Thinking Like a Watershed. Each will feature three widely recognized humanities scholars who possess both general and specific knowledge and expertise in their fields. Their diverse perspectives will contribute to a new, broader sphere of reference vital to understanding and addressing the dilemmas that will direct human culture within a less friendly future environment. The intended outcome of these discussions is to inspire consciousness germane to attaining a balanced relationship between people and their arid homelands in the American Southwest.

As a preface, we have to honestly accept that we are all part of the overabundance of human beings living within our planetary habitat. This greater commons comprises diminishing common-pool resources upon which all earthly living creatures rely for sustenance within their respective watersheds, ecosystems and bioregions. That is the bottom line. We’re also faced with the reality that our presence has wrought enormous changes to the nature of our planet. We have invigorated a wave of climate change and instability that will grow in intensity and can be tempered only if we react immediately. We must curb emissions of CO2 to the planetary atmosphere. We must stop growing as a species and alter our economic course to fit within a steady-state economy. This requires a profound shift in individual and cultural attitudes worldwide.

Cultural diversity and biodiversity are deeply interlinked.

Humankind’s creation myths historically forward the notion that we are the reason to be for existence. This misconception has wended its way into the conglomerate of political persuasions, systems of cultural mores and the collective human mentality.

It would behoove us to comprehend that we haven’t been here forever, and at the rate we’re going, we may not be here much longer. We’ve thus far failed to collectively perceive that we are part of an integrated supra-organism and that our continued presence relies on how well this ecosphere remains in its current state of balance. Human consciousness has become a keystone in the planetary operating system. Science alone will not provide final answers, nor will answers come from an economically dominated paradigm. Cultural diversity and biodiversity are deeply interlinked. Before we can draw conclusions and proceed with some measure of possible success, we must comprehend the bigger picture. To that end we are presenting a series of panels to address issues that require our conscious attention.

Panel I (Feb. 13, 7 pm) will provide an historic overview of human habitation and water use in the Southwest. It will address issues including global warming and climate instability, and the effects of Manifest Destiny on indigenous cultures and southwestern habitat. It will also bring attention to the limitations of capitalism in a world of finite resources, and the relationship between water, coal, hydro-electricity and associated William deBuys factors. The three panelists: historian and author Dr. William deBuys, author and Director of the Center for the American West, Dr. Patty Limerick, and author, photographer and polemicist John Nichols.

John Nichols

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Panel II (March 27, 7 pm) will present multicultural land/water use perspectives, including sacred, secular, economically oriented and other attitudes that shape relationship of human culture to habitat. It will address the roles of indigenous peoples concerning both commonly held and differing perspectives within the realm of Indigenous Mind, which is that aspect of collective human consciousness that

Dr. Rina Swentzell

is shaped more by the flow of Nature through homeland than by a list of facts about the nature of homeland. The panel: Estévan Arellano Lyle Balenquah Dr. Rina Swentzell from Santa Clara Pueblo, archaeologist Lyle Balenquah from the Hopi Independent Nation, and Estévan Arellano, acequiero and writer from Embudo.

Panel III (April, TBA) will present perspectives of traditional ranchers and the role of Holistic Range Management in overcoming problems of overgrazing wrought by ranchers transplanted to the arid Southwest from the verdant East of earlier generations. It will introduce the fact of water scarcity in both surface and ground waters in New Mexico and the Southwest.

It will also address Julia Stafford restoration ecology as a culture of practice shared by Native American, Hispano and Anglo rural residents of New Mexico and beyond. The panelists: rancher Sid Goodloe from Carrizozo, rancher Julia Stafford from Cimarrón, and Steve Harris, director of Río Grande Restoration.

Sid Goodloe

Panel IV (May 29, 7 pm) will review the evolution of water law in the Colorado River and Río Grande greater watersheds. It will address the 1922 Colorado River Compact and the 1939 Río Grande Compact.

It will also delve into the growing disparity between “agricultural best use,” as defined in the early 20th century, and the emerging “urban/economically oriented best use” that pits agriculturalists against urban chambers of commerce and developers over water rights. The panel will also address instances of governmental legislation that violate laws of Nature in Jack Loeffler our anthropocentrically biased culture. The panelists: John Echohawk, director of the Native American Rights Fund, Bruce Frederick of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, and Em Hall, author and water rights attorney. continued on page 11

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A Visit to the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks

A Proposed National Monument Marian Naranjo • Photos by Mariel Nanasi.

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n October 2013 I was privileged to join a delegation of norteños to spend time in the Organ Mountains– Desert Peaks in the southern part of our state. I traveled from my home at Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico to visit the Organ, Sierra de las Uvas, Robledo and Potrillo mountains, a traditional ecological landscape in Doña Ana County. I had never been to that region before, but I knew from stories passed down that the Native people who used to make a home there in those wilderness areas carried a wealth of traditions and knowledge about how to live in balance with plant, animal, human and spirit relations.

Oral histories and firsthand observations verify the landscape’s cultural richness.

I was asked to join the group because I had been involved in the vibrant coalition that helped move the New Mexican congressional delegation and President Obama to establish the Río Grande del Norte, 242,000 acres of magnificent wilderness in the north, as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act. It took years and many, many people. It took diverse organizations, businesses, individuals and community leaders who came together to protect our land and water.

Before I went on this trip I had a conversation with a spiritual leader from Santa Clara Pueblo who is knowledgeable in the history and culture of the ancestors. One of the interesting topics that came up was about the trade routes, and I learned about our first trade foods: raw cocoa, chile and melons. They came from further south than the Organ Mountains. Those foods took two routes: one went north along the Río Grande and the other went west where many pueblos exist, including Acoma and Zuni, and ultimately towards what is now known as the Navajo Nation and even Hopi.

As I connected with the Native and Hispanic people who guided us around the designated National Monument area, I saw firsthand that the stories passed down were evident in the petroglyphs and the actual wild food that still grows there. The source and sustenance of all earthly life was all around us. That was an amazing moment! To marry the oral histories with the observations we were making in the landscape was proof of this cultural richness.

We discovered an ancestral “kitchen” near Providence Cone. In one spot there were hand-hewn grinding bowls

Norteños visit Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks

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Food in abundance

in the rocks for making pastes and meals. Women long ago ground locally harvested food that provided nutrients for their tribal community. We sat back-to-back, reenacting the process of

Wild onion

women in service from a time past. We imagined the women’s contributions and relished this memory. We put our

hands in the smooth surfaces of these beautifully carved bowls. We were astonished by how functional they were.

One could tell that these bowls had been used over and over as an everyday way of life. They were part of the “kitchen” area, and it was obvious that this was a communal kitchen for women.

We were enamored by the bounty and beauty. All around this kitchen were plants and herbs growing in abundance.

The lemoncillo we picked added to the aroma and flavor of our water. We found wild onion, which was pungent and spicy to the taste. We also gathered wild beans, which we learned were a protein staple that complemented the game that was hunted by the men. The petroglyphs we saw, which mirrored similar designs continued on page 10

The grinding kitchen

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Desert Peaks continued from page 9 It felt so good to call the ancestors in and thank them for sharing their life.

It was a stunning day!

of current day Zuni, Hopi and the northern Pueblos, were truly a remarkable sign of cultural linkage.

There was a spot I located near the kitchen that we believe was the toolmaking area. Flint pieces appear to have been created there, and we saw an example of the final product: an arrowhead. This was an exciting find. We were seeing traces of an established communal society. We were amazed by the sophistication and vitality of their place-based existence.

The rock carving that particularly caught my attention was that of the Avanyu, which my people know as the water serpent. This important symbol lives on today at Santa Clara Pueblo.

There was actually so much that I related to, such as the broken pottery shards. We saw pottery that dated from indigenous ancestry, as well as a later period of colonization by the Spanish. This area is our living history and must be preserved.

Being with the air, land and water in this area, it was easy to hear the calling of our ancestors and to remember that we are not separate from the sacredness of the natural world in which we live. I brought corn meal in a pouch because I knew I might come across a sacred place.

It turned out that the whole area was a sacred place, and we were all moved by the spiritual and intellectual strength of the land. I was compelled to honor the ancestors and made a spiritual offering.

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Protection of this ecosystem—for our own well-being and for the benefit and survival of all living creatures with whom we share this land—will sustain us physically and spiritually. This biologically rich habitat is quite vulnerable, however. These areas are threatened by unregulated large-scale housing developments, off-road vehicle abuse, degradation from rapacious mining for rare earth minerals and energy infrastructure. We created a major step when a long-term preservation plan designating a National Monument for the Río Grande was enacted. Together, again, we can protect the woodlands, mountains, arroyo riparian areas, stone outcroppings, and all the flora and fauna that inhabit the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks—if you will join me and our strong coalition.

In December 2013 Senators Udall and Heinrich introduced S.1805, a bill to designate the Organ Mountains and other adjacent public land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in the state of New Mexico, and to establish the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument. We must congratulate them for their recognition of the need to preserve these historic ancestral lands and cultural heritage sites and for their conservation leadership. I pray

Green Fire Times • February 2014

The Avanyu (water serpent) symbol

that Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and President Obama will honor our request to permanently protect the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks and create a National Monument for generations to inherit and enjoy. i

Marian Naranjo is director of Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE), based at Santa Clara Pueblo, NM. She is a grandmother and a traditional potter. She has been involved in environmental and health issues for 20 years.

HOPE also works on cultural preservation and reclamation projects. mariann2@ windstream.net

Organ Mountains­–Desert Peaks National Monument Legislation New digital photo book released

© Joseph Yaroch

Marian Naranjo

We spotted lizards, nearly stepped on a tarantula, and were visited by a flock of raptors overhead, Swainson’s hawks. At another point, we stood mouths agape as swallows darted in and out of holes in the cliff habitat overhead. One of the youngsters we were with picked up and then released fluorescent green bugs the size of a thumbnail. We didn’t see golden eagles, quail or owls, but had we stayed longer and hiked deeper into the mountains, maybe other wildlife would have graced us with their presence. We walked amongst the grasslands, desert shrubs, ocotillo, yucca and barrel cactus. The Organ Mountains may be one of the most botanically diverse mountain ranges in New Mexico.

Last month New Mexico Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall introduced legislation to designate the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks a national monument in response to longstanding and widespread local desire to see the area preserved for future generations. The area is well known for its steep mountain cliffs, thousands of archeological sites and diversity of wildlife, including peregrine falcons, pronghorn antelope and mountain lions. The bill would protect public lands near Las Cruces that many consider the crown jewel of the Southern Rockies. The new monument would be managed by the Bureau of Land Management and would include eight new wilderness areas. The legislation has provisions to help ensure border security, support flood prevention and continue to allow hunting and grazing in approved areas. A recent economic study found that national monument designation would give an annual $7.4 million boost to the economy and double the number of jobs supported by outdoor recreation and tourism on public lands.

Some cattle ranchers and a coalition of border sheriffs oppose the legislation. The ranchers have a deep-seated distrust of the federal government and think the national monument would lead to restrictions on how they run their ranches. The sheriffs think it would increase illegal immigration and drug trafficking from Mexico.

New Energy Economy has released a digital photo book featuring the landscape of the proposed monument and some of its diverse supporters. It may be viewed online at: http://youtu.be/qFF9oJAs1UU

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Water Ethics A Values Approach to Solving the Water Crisis by david groenfeldt routledge 2013 (paperback)

216 pages

This book introduces the idea that ethics are an intrinsic dimension of any water policy, program or practice, and that understanding what ethics are being acted out in water policies is fundamental to understanding waterresource management. Thus, in controversies or conflicts over water-resource allocation and use, an examination of ethics can help clarify the positions of conflicting parties as preparation for constructive negotiations.

The author, David Groenfeldt, adjunct associate professor, Department of Anthropology at UNM and founder of the Water-Culture Institute in Santa Fe, shows the benefits of exposing tacit values and motivations and subjecting these to explicit public scrutiny and debate. The aim of such a process is to create the proverbial “level playing field,” where values favoring environmental sustainability are considered in relation to values favoring short-term exploitation for quick economic stimulus (the current problem) or quick protection from water disasters (through infrastructure that science suggests is not sustainable).

The book also shows how new technologies, such as drip irrigation, or governance structures, such as river-basin organizations, are neither “good” nor “bad” in their own right but can serve a range of interests that are guided by ethics. A new ethic of coexistence and synergies with nature is possible but ultimately depends not on science, law or finances but on the values we choose to adopt. The book includes a wide range of case studies from countries including Australia, India, Philippines, South Africa and USA. These cover various contexts including water for agriculture, urban, domestic and industrial use, the rights of indigenous people and river, watershed and ecosystem management.

The book’s chapters include: Introduction to Water Ethics; Manipulating Rivers; Water for Agriculture: The Ethics of Irrigation; Ethics in Urban and Domestic Water Use; Water for Industry: What is Responsible Use?; The Ethics of Water Governance; Indigenous Water Ethics; Towards a New Water Ethic.

David Groenfeldt

Watershed Panels continued from page 8

Panel V ( June 26, 7 pm) will focus on Southwestern dams, hydroelectric power, inter-basin water transfers, and visibly diminishing waters in the American Southwest concomitant with rising human populations. The Central Arizona Project will be reviewed as an example of political, corporate and legalistic will to provide water to develop a desert ecosystem for human habitation and economic growth. This panel will identify certain “conflicting absolutes” that stand between human beings and other fellow species that comprise the life forms within the watersheds of the American Southwest. The panelists: author and editor Dr. Sonia Dickey, Albuquerque Journal science editor John Fleck, and Bureau of Reclamation Area Director Mike Hamman.

Funding is being sought to finance four subsequent panels to complete this proposed series. These four additional panels will further address necessary shifts in human cultural attitudes and cultures of practice that must occur if we are to survive in any state of balance within Thinking Like a Watershed is committed to the Southwestern ecosystem contributing to a new Land Ethic vital for the during the decades and preservation of our endangered ecosystems in centuries to come. i the North American Southwest. At 7 pm on Thursday, February 13, the firsts of a series of Author and bioregional aural five monthly panels will be presented at the historian Jack Loeffler, project director of Thinking Like a KiMo Theater, 423 Central Avenue NW in Watershed, will introduce and Albuquerque. 505.768.3522 moderate the five panels.

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People and Planet: Partners in Wellness

Susan Waterman

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ellness—it ’s precious—and don’t we all want it? We commit plenty of time and dollars to be well on multiple levels—physical, mental and emotional. These days, however, living in a technology-driven society, it’s easy to disconnect from nature and forget that our own health is a reflection of the health of our little piece of the planet. Nature doesn’t send texts saying “HELP ME” when it’s not looking so good out there.

In the big picture, personal wellness and the wellness of nature—the wellbeing of our shared Earth home—are inextricably connected. Ultimately, people and planet exist in a dynamic, reciprocal partnership of well-being.

It’s up to humankind to remember that people are part of nature, and to protect the life support system given to us by nature—soil, water and air.

Our physical bodies can’t survive without this trio humming in harmony.

Ecology is paramount to economy in the scheme of basic survival. Dollars won’t mean much when there’s no water to drink. Who else aside from us can protect that which protects us?

Relaxation in nature is becoming part of it. Whatever you’re doing in nature—working in a garden, hiking, fishing—you may notice your mind lapsing into pause mode, thoughts dissolving into a deep, silent space.

A moment of a still mind is worth every shovelful of compost you dig in, every row of tiny seeds that you plant, every mile you hike or ski. The closer the mind is synchronized with the vibration of the Earth, the more relaxed

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and quiet it becomes. Planet Earth vibrates at approximately eight cycles a second, 7.83 hertz, the Schumann Resonance. Spending time in nature, the cell phone left behind in the house, will offer relief from the billions of vibrations per second that have become the predominant electromagnetic bombardment in most environments.

True, in an urban environment with cell phone towers on many rooftops and wifi connections in nearly every building, it may be impossible to escape the pervasive wireless frequencies, but the effect can be somewhat neutralized in the presence of the energies of plants.

Pausing to sit or lie down for a few minutes on the earth will drain away tension and slow the noisy vibrations of the day. It helps the body to attune to a more natural environment and the mind to become clear and receptive.

reducing massive losses of the world’s topsoil. Soils made dead by chemical poisoning have little capacity to retain water, resulting in surface runoff.

Building living soils with compost helps conserve the global water supply.

Eliminating the use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers in food production prevents the accumulation of toxins in the food we eat and in tissues and organs in the body.

Healthy Soil Organic gardening is a satisfying way to connect with nature and the earth at home—with an attainable outcome of supporting both personal and planetary wellness.

The thoughtful care one organic gardener gives to the earth benefits the health of the entire planet. The gardening process can fire up a renewed and vital connection with nature and the invisible higher order that helps shape life. Connecting with the wisdom of nature—nurturing nature— is nurturing ourselves. When we forget that we are part of nature, we destroy that which supports us. Our existence depends on nature.

Healthy Water and Air Confronted by massive environmental upheavals and devastation, finding solutions to foster wellness for humankind and nature may seem overwhelming. But there’s truly no limit for collective imagination and willingness to create new solutions.

Nature’s wellness—and our own— faces serious threats nearly everywhere: take fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil) in New Mexico.

The routine expenditure of water for every “frack” runs into millions of gallons. Clean water is mixed with hundreds of chemicals and forced miles into the earth vertically and/or horizontally. The same spent gallons of poisoned water come back out of the ground as toxic waste—often left in open, unlined evaporation ponds to contaminate water, air, and soil. Seepage and spills of poison fracking fluids, fires and explosions, air pollution, and depletion of pure water compromise and destroy the health of nature and the communities exploited and overrun by the industry.

Natural and organic gardening techniques restore weak and dying soils,

What choice do we have? It’s time to assert our right to life and health

Green Fire Times • February 2014

and move forward as communities to embrace our collective future in creative partnership with nature. Together, we have an opportunity to create justice and local governance to wrest control of our lives from the corporations and politics that seem to be running the show and ruining our “place.” Mora County citizens, for example, have successfully adopted an ordinance for the right to self-government and a ban on oil and gas extraction in the county, protecting people and partnering with the planet.

Connecting with the wisdom of nature nurtures ourselves.

Partnering with nature isn’t an arbitrary choice when it comes to health and well-being—partnership is imperative.

People and planet become partners in wellness as we align with nature’s cycles and the rhythm of the cosmos. Planet Earth is resilient and will survive many extreme transformations as she has over billions of years. But, living life on the planet beyond renewable limits, destroying nature, not only impacts personal wellness but threatens existence of the human species as we know it. Owning wellness, claiming a partnership with nature is a visionary gesture of respect, care and gratitude to our beautiful—and tremulous— Mother Earth. i Susan Waterman has a PhD in botany. She has been an advocate of sustainable agriculture and local food systems for over 25 years. susan@ harvestbyhand.com, www.harvestbyhand.com

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Drought and Floods The Impacts of 2011-2012 Fires and 2013 Floods Serafina Lombardi

Many of us spent the summer praying for rain, watching crops and pasture suffer with little humidity in the air and acequias running low—if at all. At the zenith of high temperatures and no precipitation, on June 25, 2013, the USDA Drought Monitor reported 44.8 percent of New Mexico was in exceptional drought, with nearly all of the remainder of the state in extreme drought. (The numbers were similar throughout June and July.) Then, in mid-September all those prayers burst forth into record rains with the National Weather Service calling September a historic month. Nearly the entire state received above-normal to recordbreaking precipitation, with much of New Mexico receiving 150-600 percent of the normal amount. Before 2013 came to a close the Weather Channel named New Mexico the most extreme weather state of the year.

Livelihoods and local food security are threatened.

Some started asking, “Is the drought over?” Others were reminded that the work of acequieros and agriculturalists is not only adapting to drought, it is adapting to extreme weather patterns that defy the rhythms of Mother Nature with which we have learned to work.

For acequia farmers and ranchers across the state, for many of whom the acequias are their only non-rain form of irrigation, the effects of the drought were devastating, with some ranchers in Mora and San Miguel counties seeing established pasture grass wither and die. When the rains came, it was too late. Though they reported lush green fields, it was with annual weeds—not offering the same erosion protection, soil-building or animal-nourishing properties.

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Due to the drought, over the last year ranchers across the state sold off 20 percent of their cattle. Acequias on the Río Mimbres and the Upper Hondo Watershed Water Users Association reported that some ranchers made herd reductions of 70-80 percent.

Many acequias had reduced flows, leading to shortened irrigation seasons, with priority being given to gardens— meaning that pastures might not get irrigated. There were long gaps in the availability of water. This translated into many farmers reducing their plantings and not doing regular succession plantings, threatening both their livelihood and local food security. At the same time, many communities got creative about water-sharing and conservation techniques, drawing on traditional wisdom and some modern technology.

Then came the rains—pouring down on dry land unable to absorb the sky’s bounty. Again, across the state we saw severe flood and erosion, causing enough damage for Gov. Martínez to declare a state of disaster, making funding available for repairs.

One of the overburdened recipients of these rains of biblical proportions was the Acequia Portero of Chimayó in Santa Fe County. On the morning of September 15, Mayordomo Mike Lamb went to inspect the damage and submitted the photo above as a testament to the silting the ditch experienced. Mr. Lamb, without a backhoe, young people to assist, or funds on hand, and being a very proactive mayordomo, got in touch with Santa Fe County’s emergency manager, who advised him on the process of applying for the emergency funds.

Some acequias in Las Vegas were left underwater, so assessments couldn’t be made immediately. They had to wait days until they determined that there was significant damage to culverts, diversion dams and lots of silting. Additionally, a levee broke along the canal that delivers floodwater to Storrie Lake, which initially prevented a much-needed water-capture opportunity, and created flood damage. It was later repaired.

© Mike Lamb

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ast year our New Mexico landscape experienced record drought, our earliest wildfires ever, and then record rainfall. All of these weather patterns affected one another and multiplied impacts.

Acequia Potrero culvert full of silt after severe storm and flooding in September 2013

A key connection between drought and flood is erosion—the run-off of soil that creates water pollution and makes earth disappear from where it belongs. Flooding is exacerbated by dry unvegetated soils that can repel water rather than absorb it. An important action that can be taken to reduce flood impacts is to reinvest in our upper watersheds that have been depleted and diminished by fire, mismanagement and other factors.

Restoring and rebuilding our upper watersheds will help us retain lifegiving water and minimize future

impacts of drought and heavy rains.

As acequiero farmers and ranchers prepare for the 2014 season, we will need to be planning not only for drought but also for flooding in our communities and properties.

Seraf ina Lombardi is a farmer/rancher specialist f o r t h e Ne w M e x i c o Acequia Association, where she does community outreach to farmers and ranchers. Additionally, she serves on the board of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market.

Farming in Drought to Be Discussed at Annual Organic Farming Conference

Drought is the big topic on the minds of agricultural producers. Without good snowpack this winter, farmers face exceptional irrigation shortages. Farming in drought will be a new category of topics among the 36 sessions at this year’s New Mexico Organic Farming Conference, February 14-15, at the Marriott Albuquerque Pyramid North.

“This is the largest and most diverse agriculture conference held in New Mexico,” said Joanie Quinn, NM Department of Agriculture’s organic commodity adviser and conference coordinator. The event is organized by NMDA, Farm to Table and NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service.

Keynote speaker Margaret Hiza Redsteer, a climate change research scientist with the US Geological Survey, will open the conference, explaining what farmers and ranchers in the Southwest can expect. Other drought topics will include: managing soil salinity, water harvesting for farmers, grazing management in times of drought, understanding your water rights, land restoration, and new alternative crops. Some of the presenters include organic soil guru Ron Godin of Colorado State University; Billy Kniffen, Texas AgriLife Extension’s retired water resource specialist; Frank Aragona, director of programs at Holistic Management International; Molly Walton of Quivira Coalition, a representative of the State Engineer, and authors Gary Nabhan and Helen Atthowe.

Registration for both days is $100 per person, and for single-day entrance, $65.

Early registration may be done online at www.farmtotablenm.org

Green Fire Times • February 2014

13

Acequias Up-Close

Story and photo by Alejandro López

Daily life at the López family farm in Santa Cruz, NM: Balam Lemus and Gerald Romero (top), Alana Moriarty and Joseph López, families from Santa Fe, Lorenzo Candelaria of Atrisco

T

he Acequia de Santa Cruz flows through the land where my family settled in 1943 after my father moved his family back to New Mexico from Redcliff, Colorado, where he had sustained a serious mining accident.

On this four-acre piece of property, most certainly his pride and joy, my father tried hard to reproduce, as best as he could, the agrarian lifestyle he had grown up with in Las Truchas, a full 1,000 feet higher in elevation. He and my brothers dug lateral acequicitas (secondary ditches) to water the orchard of one hundred trees that he had painstakingly put in, a chile patch and a corn and vegetable field.

On the dryland side of his property he channeled Noah’s ark, with every sort of animal short of elephants and giraffes. His seven sons provided all of the labor needed to produce all of the food that grew. In fact, so much food was harvested from the two acres under cultivation that in the summertime our farm supplied the nearby Tewa pueblos with truckloads of corn, melons, tomatoes and cucumbers, all at

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a premium, and the upland villages of Las Truchas, Ojo Sarco, Las Trampas and Peñasco with apples galore of every conceivable variety.

I wish that children today could have these kinds of innocent, private propertydefying experiences.

Each year on a particular morning toward the end of winter, a team of peones (paid or community workers) would suddenly show up on our property, making their way through the acequia, head and shoulders clearly visible, the rest submerged in its trench and obscured by its banks. In a kind of concerted rhythm, they scooped out with their shovels the dirt that had accumulated since the previous spring, chopped down encroaching bushes and burned away any brush in their path. It was as if the peones themselves were a force of nature equal to the lengthening

Green Fire Times • February 2014

of the days, the reappearance of the birds or the gentle jostling of the wind.

Their arrival and the readying of the acequia for the flow of water made patent the fact that winter by now had irrevocably retreated and a new season of growth and renewal had arrived.

After the annual cleaning of the acequia, my father arranged for a neighbor to come with his tractor or perhaps a horse to plow the land. The sight, smell and texture of the moist overturned earth was nothing short of intoxicating as it revealed the beauty of the normally unseen levels of soil and its potential to harbor and produce endless life. Next came the planting of our crops, using simple hand methods that involved two people working in tandem with only a hoe to make small holes on the edge of the rows and a tin can that held the corn or chile seed that was thrown into the holes by a sure swing of the hand. It was a scene straight out of biblical times and had been repeated for generations and generations of my ancestors, probably for thousands of

years. Uncomplainingly, we worked day in and day out doing this, all the while feeling the satisfaction that now the semilla (seed) was deep within the bosom of earth and beyond our control.

The day on which the water was released was magical because the flow of water across the landscape is itself magical. If one were lucky enough, one witnessed the advancing tongue of water gliding swiftly like a serpent down the bed of the acequia. As children, we sometimes jumped inside the acequia ahead of the water and ran hard to keep from being overtaken by the advancing current. No longer was the acequia a mere hollow trench.

Instead, it had become a swiftly moving body of water that brought with it all kinds of surprises. In the early spring, it ran full of tetones (bunches of pointy packets filled with cotton) that had hung f rom the cottonwood trees lining the ditch upstream and had fallen into the acequia. Later on in the summer, after violent thunderstorms, it delivered endless supplies of early continued on page 28

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New Mexico’s Soul Food

Quita Ortiz

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ur plants and trees have yielded to winter and are in deep hibernation. Food traditions are alive and well in acequia communities throughout New Mexico, and if we’re prepared, some of us had preserved much of our har vest for future consumption in the forms of drying, canning or freezing.

Our communities still rely on the traditional foods and dishes of northern New Mexico to fill their plates. From calabacitas to tamales, we covet them all. Elena Arellano is no exception, and when it comes to food, her skills are well known and highly regarded in and around her community of Embudo.

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Traditional foods of northern New Mexico Like many of us, one of Elena’s favorite traditional foods is tamales. In the past, she has worked at her local coop in Dixon to organize workshops to demonstrate the process of making tamales. Elena asserts that if you’re going to prepare tamales, you’d better do it right. “A lot of people take shortcuts in ingredients and you can’t do that,” she says. “You need to use

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Elena grew up nearby in Cañoncito, but her culinary skills didn’t really blossom until later in life. “Since I was little, I remember helping out on the farm. I always liked to help outside more than in the kitchen, but I was expected to help with dinner when I came home Elena Arellano prepares food for the annual from school. When I got married I Celebrando las Acequias in Dixon, NM started experimenting more. It was good meat, good chile and good masa interesting to me to try different foods with good manteca (lard). I won’t spread and recipes,” she said, “but we still eat a my tamales until I taste my masa and lot of traditional foods like quelites and know that it’s good and spreadable.” verdolagas (wild greens).

Elena realizes the importance of Elena’s culinary evolution stemmed knowing the source of what we eat, from her creative side. She said she’s especially for our young people. “A always been interested in art and lot of people have no idea where photography, and they fueled her food food comes from. For them, food and endeavors. “The color and texture of supermarket are one and the same,” food were very important to me,” she she said. She told me that she often said. “If it doesn’t look pretty, it’s not has atole (ground blue corn served as a going to taste as good.” She has taken hot cereal) for breakfast instead of the on catering opportunities throughout store-bought cereals. “It’s healthy,” she the years but nowadays only caters says. “It makes me feel good when I occasionally and prefers small events drink a cup of atole, compared to eating where she can be more creative. a bowl of corn flakes.”

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Despite the grave truth about the masses being unaware of the origins of what they consume, our food traditions in New Mexico are, after centuries, still thriving. We eat what we grow, and we love what we eat. Frijoles, posole, chicos, chile, followed by natillas, bizcochitos, pastelitos to satisfy the sweet tooth—they’re New Mexico’s soul foods. i Quita Ortiz is communic ations & project specialist with the New Mexico Acequia Association.

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LOCAL HEROES

A Tribute to Dr. Tomás Atencio and La Resolana

Alejandro López

Dr. Atencio’s insistence on engendering genuine communication and dialogue between groups and individuals in society is his most profound legacy.

In his writings, speeches and intense enthusiasm for every form of cultural expression, and especially for vibrant and highly interactive community, that legacy still inspires many to affirm, cultivate and document knowledge and wisdom borne out of grassroots community living, especially in the diverse Latino communities of the United States. He taught us that the process of spinning the stories and drawing out the lessons embedded in the daily lives of individuals and societies is an immensely important activity. This is so, not because such an activity might represent a vestige of the past, but because by taking the time to be reflective of our thoughts and actions, we can begin to conceive of a

world of greater possibilities, meaning, purpose and plentitude.

For the better part of the second half of the 20th century, Tomás, as most everyone lovingly knows him, was the foremost cultural philosopher, sociologist and even the unofficial historian of the lndo-Hispano people of northern New Mexico and beyond.

He was also an inspired musician, an ambitious builder in adobe, a sculptor and a compelling conversationalist, constantly switching between his two highly polished languages of Spanish and English. Not surprisingly, this published writer has also been a devoted family man.

The unofficial historian of the lndo-Hispano people of northern New Mexico and beyond Most importantly to his admirers, he was the founder of La Academia de la Nueva Raza (The Academy for a New Humanity), a grassroots popular-education movement deeply rooted in New Mexican soil since the 1970s. Its reverberations have been felt across the Southwest and throughout the nation, with members of each successive generation finding meaning and nurturance in his highly progressive, original thoughts and ideas, which always call for community revitalization and personal realization.

Brought up in the village of Dixon under the tutelage of his “old-school” Presbyterian minister father, but trained in academia and specifically in theology in southern California, Tomás gave voice to the concerns of the common man of the earth who sought participation and validation in an alien urban society but also dignity and justice. Tomás dedicated himself to the exploration of humanity’s most persistent questions: “Who are we?” and “Where do we come from and where are we going?”, together with the concerns specific to our time: “What is the nature of human consciousness?”; “What is the role of the dialectical

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process in society?”; and “What are the promises for widespread communications in the digital and global age?”

Certainly, Tomás will always be remembered for bringing to light the age-old practice of resolana or the informal gathering of lndoHispano villagers along the sunny side of adobe walls during the winter or cool early mornings of spring and fall to exchange news, dialogue or simply to reflect on life’s comings and goings. He used resolana as the central metaphor for the process of dialogue much like Socrates had done in the Athenian marketplace more than 2,000 years before. For Atencio, as well as for celebrated Brazilian writer and community educator Paolo Freire (his friend), dialogue was the essential element needed to conduct the critical processes required in a democracy (thought, reflection, analysis and consensus building), which enabled a citizenry to consciously shape the social forces and institutions that themselves shape human collective life and interaction.

Tomás began his career working for the Colorado Migrant Council in the 1960s, where he advocated on behalf of the rights of migrant workers and helped provide for their mental health needs. He later moved to Santa Fe where he worked with COPAS, a community mental-health organization. There, he grew more intimate with the social and mentalhealth problems that plagued many of the native Indo-Hispano people living in the city’s barrios, as well as with their vast treasure trove of life experiences and local knowledge, which he termed el oro del barrio, or the “gold of the neighborhood.”

Tomás came to believe in the need for the creation of a body of knowledge centered on the vital cultural, historical and even personal experiences of this long-lived and—out of necessity— highly adaptive community. He appreciated the values held by this community that arose f rom an intimate relationship with a rugged

© Chip Wyly

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pon visiting close f riend and colleague, Dr. Tomás Atencio, who currently is battling a neurological disease similar to Alzheimer’s, I am moved to pay tribute to one of New Mexico’s most outstanding Chicano cultural figures of this and the last century. Long the champion of resolana, or dialogue in the plazas, villages and other New Mexican spaces, Atencio has now transitioned into a state in which his abilities to speak and move are almost nonexistent.

Dr. Tomás Atencio

epic landscape composed of forested mountains, canyons, deserts, plains, farmlands, woods, rivers and even manmade acequias. Tomás affirmed the local ways of communicating through “cuentos (stories), mentiras (tall tales), chistes (jokes), images, symbols, ceremonies and rituals; integral parts of a community’s foundational knowledge.”

This body of knowledge, he argued, would serve to validate the experience of a struggling community in transition, engender a shared understanding of its unparalleled historical processes under various governments, as well as enable it to map out its own future.

To satisfy this need, in the mid1970s, with a grant from the national Presbyterian Church, he launched La Academia de la Nueva Raza, an association of community leaders and scholars who pooled their collective knowledge, wisdom, experience and sweat equity to give life to a vital, multifaceted process of concientización, or consciousness-raising in northern New Mexico. Working out of his home and later out of an old adobe in Dixon’s historic center, the academiados (La Academia’s members) organized art shows, community fiestas, gardens, service learning projects, forums, gatherings and publications for more than a decade.

One of La Academia’s most important initiatives was an oral history project through which many of the oldest re s i d e n t s f ro m n o r t h e r n Ne w Mexico’s Spanish-speaking villages were interviewed and their stories and insights carefully recorded and continued on page 18

Green Fire Times • February 2014

17

A Tribute

continued from page 17

preserved.Tomás believed that it was not enough to gather this information f rom the community but argued that it should be returned to the community and serve as a catalyst for further dialogue, discussion and purposeful action.

The dynamic cycle of “thought and action,” he believed, ought to be directed at nurturing and enhancing what he termed “una vida buena y sana y alegre” (a good, healthy and happy life for the people). Between 1975 and 1977 the asociados, among them, Juan Estévan Arellano, a w r iter, editor and photographer, produced se ver al issues of El Cuademo de Vez en Cuando (The Occasional Notebook), a scholarly publication exploring the politics of self-determination and consciousnessr a i s i n g a m on g t h e M e x i c a n o / Chicano people of New Mexico and the Southwest, and Entre Verde y Seco (Green with Life bordering on Tinder Dry), a compilation of community-derived stories and folk

For Atencio, dialogue was the essential element needed to conduct the critical processes required in a democracy. wisdom. Both publications, together with La Madrugada (The Dawn), a pithy community newsletter, were distributed in northern New Mexican communities, where they prompted both dialogue and action among local residents.

In his later years, Tomás taught in the Sociology department of the University of New Mexico, doggedly advocating on behalf of the selfdetermination of the Sawmill workingclass neighborhood of Albuquerque, stood up to the heroin trade in Dixon

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Green Fire Times • February 2014

and helped launch the Learning While Serving AmeriCorps program, which had 120 members in northern New Mexico’s Indo-Hispano and Pueblo Indian communities. That project, administered by Siete del Norte of Embudo, was designed to reaffirm traditional agriculture and inspire a new generation o f ac ad e m i c a l l y a n d agriculturally proficient young people.

Through the Río Grande Institute, a reincarnation of La Academia, Tomás and his intellectual equal and wife, Consuelo Pacheco, created a forum for dialogue between Native American and Indo-Hispano people that, among other things, resulted in the publication of a joint book of poetry, essays, photos and other artwork titled Ceremony of Brotherhood. Five years ago, just before the onset of his illness, Tomás coauthored with Miguel Montiel and E.A. (Tony) Mares, a long-awaited book titled Resolana, Emerging Chicano Dialogues and Globalization (University of Arizona Press). In it, as well as in the prestigious Ernesto Galarza Lecture that he delivered at Stanford University years before, Tomás developed the kernels of his ideas for individual and community engagement into wonderfully articulated fullfledged treatises that focused on the community that he knew best—the Chicano community. Lucky for us, he took the time to pen this legacy; more importantly, he showed us how to live what he thought and believed, which is yet an even bigger legacy. i Gracias, Tomás.

Alejandro López is a photographer and writer in English and Spanish. He was one of the original asociados of La Academia de La Nueva Raza and specialized in the gathering of oral history among the elderly of northern New Mexico. He also served as the director of the Learning While Serving AmeriCorps program.

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19

AIRE: Agriculture Implementation, Research and Education

Fresh AIRE 2013: A Year of Growing in Taos

Story and photos by Miguel Santistévan

AIRE

has a mission “to gather the people and plant the fields.” We have been an official nonprofit educational organization since December, 2010.

AIRE was formalized with multiyear funding from the Kindle Project, now part of the Common Counsel Foundation. Our work strives to accomplish multiple goals that relate to youth involvement in agriculture, crop adaptation and propagation, food security awareness and actualization, and research and development in sustainable agriculture methods.

Our base of operations is Sol Feliz Farm, irrigated f rom the Acequia Madre del Sur del Río de Don Fernando de Taos, an age-old communally managed, gravity-fed irrigation ditch.

Here we implement research plots in crop adaptation around drought tolerance over generations, as well as soil-management techniques using chickens, compost, compost tea, and biochar. We host groups of all ages to learn, hands-on, from our Permaculture- and traditional agriculture-inspired techniques within the context of an acequia landscape and culture. Our location allows for experiences such as the cleaning out of acequia ditches, irrigation and an understanding of the acequia’s ecology in the landscape.

Adapting crops for a high-elevation, shortseason, water-stressed environment In the fall of 2011, AIRE was recruited

by Rocky Mountain Youth Corp to identify a “Master Gardener” who would be willing to steward a GrowDome in the Taos area for education and production of local food. A partnership was established between Carlos García of Chrysalis Alternative School, an arts-based high school of the Taos Municipal Schools, and myself, as director of AIRE, to care for the dome.

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I was teaching a course through UNMTaos called “Sustainable Food and Farming,” which provided concurrent enrollment with students at Chrysalis from Carlos García’s science class. The dome was planted with greens such as chard, spinach, kale and lettuce, in addition to legumes like peas and habas (fava beans) and became part of the curriculum. The dome has a 700-gallon water tank to stabilize internal temperatures and now hosts bluegill fish for our beginning studies of aquaculture.

Early in 2012, AIRE looked into putting a milpa (cornfield) and garden on the Enos García Elementary School grounds at Parr Field, a large patch of grass in the middle of the town of Taos, used mostly for Field Day activities of the elementary students at the end of the school year. A relationship forged between AIRE and the Taos Municipal Schools resulted in the Parr Field Garden Project. By early May, with the involvement of student interns from Chrysalis Alternative School, we had prepared a 100x60-ft. section of the field for a milpa, two raised beds and a greenhouse.

The planting of the project happened concurrently with the school’s Field Day and competition as part of the students’ physical education program.

The students received three seeds each of corn, beans or squash. The garden was planted by almost 500 kindergarten-through-fifth-grade students over three days in May. Over the summer we constructed a mud-oven horno at Chrysalis in anticipation of making chicos (hornoroasted sweet corn) from our Parr Field Garden Project milpa. Students learned how to make the adobe bricks and construct the horno in a series of workshops. The horno was constructed with funds f rom the McCune Foundation and has become an important part of our overall programming around traditional agriculture and food traditions.

Green Fire Times • February 2014

Top (l-r): Students Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco, Jesyka Ortega, Chris Durán and Augustine Gonzales coordinator Micah Roseberry, William Roth (UNM-Taos), Chris Durán, Greg Romero (UNM-Ta his team; Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Grow-Dome; Apple pie-making at an AIRE culina harvest; Parr Field Garden Project, where hundreds of students plant, harvest and are involved Chris Durán plant a field of white corn; Jesus Gonzales and Chris Durán open the horno for th

I n Au g u s t o f 2 0 1 2 , I s e c u re d employment within the Taos Schools as a math and science teacher at Chrysalis Alternative School. AIRE was able to strengthen its support of activities and curriculum in the maintenance and use of the Grow-Dome and the horno from within the school, in addition to facilitating research projects, food science and culinary arts activities. Our efforts culminated in a Thanksgiving

feast in November. AIRE facilitated the preparation of pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes, red chile and a green bean casserole that came from our harvest. We also cooked several turkeys and a leg of locally harvested deer in our horno as part of a workshop the evening before the feast.

In 2013 we continued the tradition of putting the “field”in Field Day at Parr Field

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AIRE has been developing methods within the GrowDome with the participation of the students at Chrysalis. We acquired almost 40 bluegill fish from the NM Department of Game and Fish and are beginning our aquaculture program. We grew many greens and tomatoes this year, in addition to some melons and jalapeños, but we had a lot of lessons to learn about indoor growing and pest management, overheating mitigation, and other aspects of soil management, crop types and irrigation frequency.

given to the students for their Field Day in 2014. We provided 20 pounds of chicos to the food service director of the Enos García Elementary School for use in the school’s holiday meal that includes red chile and a choice of posole, beans or chicos. Approximately 250 students were fed from our harvest.

While they were eating, we gave a presentation to the students about the progress and significance of the Parr Field Garden Project. As part of our mentorship program, the presentation included contributions f rom our student interns who had helped with the land preparation, garden care and harvest activities.

We cared for the Parr Field Garden and the GrowDome over the summer, hosting workshops and visiting groups.

We h a r v e s t e d many pounds of green beans for blanching and left the rest to mature into seed to give out to the students for Field Day 2014. When the corn was ready to make chicos, we had over 300 elementary students help us har vest. We harvested so much corn, we quickly s pose with the horno they built at Chrysalis Alternative School; Sembradores youth-in-agriculture team (l-r): greenhouse realized we were aos), Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco. Miguel Santistévan (front), executive director of AIRE, broke his leg and had to rely on going to have to ary workshop; The Grow-Dome, an “outdoor” classroom; Classroom at Chrysalis became temporary storage for the make two batches d in the care and upkeep as interns over the summer; Jesyka Ortega, Francisco (Kiko) Pacheco, Desirae Gonzales and of chicos. In he turkeys cooked overnight for the annual Thanksgiving feast. Miranda Romero and Dion Martínez look on. addition, we harvested 418 pounds of squash, several by getting the Garden Project going again from the Taos School District, a youth ristras of red chile, five bottle gourds, and and having almost 600 students of Enos program we are calling “Sembradores” or other crops such as cucumbers, eggplant García and Ranchos Elementary plant master planter/gardeners. Stipends for and even a rare black variety of barley. the field in a series of workshops. This our interns and funding for our summer time we were able to provide homemade programming were provided by the Healy After we made chicos in the horno and seed packets of locally grown corn, beans Foundation. Additionally, a partnership had our fill of fresh tasty chicos, we and squash to each of the students. We between AIRE and the UNM-Taos strung them up and hung them to dry hosted a photo contest in hopes of giving CAMP program provides internship under the porch at the school. We had the students an incentive to plant a garden opportunities for college students to assist over 25 pounds of chicos and a similar themselves.These activities were facilitated in AIRE’s activities while gaining college quantity of sweet corn seed harvested by the participation of student interns credit. from the field. The corn seed will be

All in all, it was a successful year with much product and learning to show for it. As we enter the third year of the project, we are looking forward to expanding our milpa and chile plots in hopes of providing more traditional food to the schools and refining our “school-to-farm-toschool” model. We are hopeful that we will secure another three-year Memo of Understanding with the schools for the Parr Field Garden Project in 2015. We are also looking forward to strengthening our programs at Chrysalis and in our Grow-Dome with the construction of more raised beds and the refinement of our aquaculture/ aquaponics program. We are honored to be able to facilitate these activities and know that this investment in our youth and seed now will have incredible returns for the conservation of our local food traditions, the inspiration of young people into agriculture and the adaptation of crops for our highelevation, short-season, water-stressed environment. Please check our website to learn about developments in our future programs. i

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Inspiring youth to take up agriculture

Miguel Santistévan was recently elected president of Acequia Madre del Sur del Río de Don Fernando de Taos. He runs a demonstration/ seed conservation farm with his wife and daughter. He has an MS in Agriculture Ecology from the University of California, Davis and is working on a Ph.D. in Biology at the UNM. solfelizfarm@gmail. com, www.GrowFarmers.org

Green Fire Times • February 2014

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Urban Farming The School of the Future?

Poki Piottin

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endell Berry, the legendary farmer and poet, states: “Our children no longer learn how to read the great book of Nature from their own direct experience, or how to interact creatively with the seasonal transformations of the planet. They seldom learn where their water comes from or where it goes. We no longer coordinate our human celebration with the great liturgy of the heavens.”

When my mother took me to my first kindergarten class, I screamed and kicked; I had no desire to go to school. Already I sensed I would be confined and indoctrinated for many years, molded into a good tax-paying citizen. I survived my so-called “education” and became a creative entrepreneur for 25 years until the 1999 World Trade Organization events in Seattle. Profoundly affected by our government’s violent response to civil disobedience, I vowed to become an activist and steward of the Earth. For the past 10 years I have been involved in a variety of projects related to sustainability and, at 52 years of age, became a farmer.

with the neighboring residential community.

In addition to growing food, Gaia Gardens’ activities have included educ ating schoolchildren, hosting f ree workshops and setting up a produce stand. Although these activities fully align with the 2008 Sustainable Santa Fe Plan passed by the city council, activities such as these have conflicted with city ordinances regulating a business in a residential neighborhood. These current ordinances do not accommodate the reality of urban farming.

When I look at Gaia Gardens, I see not only a modern version of a Victory Garden but a perfect school, all in harmony with a regenerative Santa Fe. Math, physics, ecology, science, construction, economics, art and more are all present in a palpable and real-time form. And best of all, the classroom is outdoors, so a child can be with nature, have fun, learn the skills of the future and build a strong and healthy body at the same time.

The mission of Gaia Gardens is to inspire a citywide movement of urban farming and permaculture education, while demonstrating the viability of urban farming in Santa Fe. Our project explores numerous revenue-generating elements that can be incorporated in such an operation. We sell produce at the farmers’ market

Caring about Compost I chose to farm within the city to interact with and inspire as many people as possible, believing that lasting ecological health and social well-being are fostered by rekindling our connection to the Earth and reclaiming our food sovereignty.

For the past two years, with the help of countless volunteers and schoolchildren, we have built Gaia Gardens, a one-acre working farm, using imagination, elbow grease and a wealth of community resources.

A farm is much more than a place that grows vegetables. It is a living organism, a sanctuary for wildlife, a business operation and a micro-community. In order to keep it alive, the people involved must understand not only the world of plants and soil health but also plumbing, carpentry, electricity, animal husbandry, accounting, public relations, sales, marketing, grassroots community organizing, conflict resolution, and, as we painfully discovered last year, politics.

Unlike the sustainable Santa Fe of 1919, when a survey found 1,200 acres of farmland irrigated by 38 acequias, modern urban farms must negotiate a maze of city ordinances, building codes, land-use and water issues— all in an effort to demonstrate compatibility

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Compost is a great way to reduce the volume of your weekly trash and improve your garden. By collecting non-repurposable food scraps from its 30 commercial clients, Reunite Resources’ pilot program will divert up to 2 million pounds from the landfill in its first year of operation. That is enough organic material to create a pile as high as Mount Everest.

In landfills, food scraps are buried and the opportunity is lost to make compost, which replaces the need for chemical fertilizers, retains moisture and provides nutrients for healthy plant growth. Furthermore, when left in landfills, this organic matter creates methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 21 times more heat than CO2.

Less than 30 percent of what ends up in landfills actually belongs there. Of the 70 percent that does not, at least a quarter is compostable.

Reunity Resources is taking the steps toward a zero-waste reality. The systems it is creating and data it will collect through its pilot program could be the basis for citywide composting in Santa Fe. Reunity is raising seed funds, spreading the word, designing educational materials, creating logistical systems and contracting with clients. Contact the organization if you’d like to support this initiative or be a part of this ground-saving program: 505.629.0836, tejinder@reunityresources.com or juliana@reunityresources.com

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© Seth Roffman (3)

and through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), along with plant starts, worms, compost tea, seeds and healing salves. Education and community building are probably the greatest benefits of an urban farm and are certainly compatible with residential zoning. Many cities have already passed comprehensive urban farming ordinances because they understand that urban farms help build selfreliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and interrelated social, economic and racial justice issues.

Education and community building are benefits of an urban farm compatible with residential zoning.

How do we prepare our children (and ourselves) to live in a world desperate for restoration and care? Can we afford to wait for our school system and government to evolve and provide kids with the necessary tools to cope with the monumental

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task that they will inherit? One practical way to prepare our children is to consider urban farms as partners-in-education with our local school system. This may require new city ordinances that allow urban farms to become sustainable education centers while also paving the way for them to attract capital, land and infrastructure so they can fulfill their purpose.

Children who learn to care for the Earth belong to community, grow food, build and repair things and heal themselves naturally. These children are much more apt to become adults who will create rather than destroy the future. These adults will contribute to the regeneration of our ecosystem, fostering a healthy and resilient culture. i Poki Piottin and his partner Dominique Pozo operate Gaia Gardens, a nonprofit urban farm in Santa Fe. They are currently exploring ways to purchase the 3.5-acre property. Donations to the farm are tax-deductible. 505.796.6006, poki@nodilus.org, www.thegaiagardens.org

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EVERYDA Y GREEN

The Santa Fe Community Food Co-op More Options for More People Susan Guyette

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ith the cost of food rising 4-to-7 percent a year, affordable food is rapidly disappearing from the commercial marketplace. A new food co-op under development aims to fill this gap. A group of dedicated people has been meeting for many months. Their guiding principle is that the availability of high-quality, nutritious, reasonably priced food will only come from the cumulative actions of individuals who expand the market for local food production. The Santa Fe Community Co-op intends to grow its own organic food using energy and waterefficient technologies and to buy from local farmers.

Small-scale, local ownership encourages self-help and reciprocal relationships, promoting local economies and social development. Due to their size and commitment to mutual support, both internally and across cooperatives, more stable economies are created. Cooperatives hold the potential for transforming local economies.

Park Slope co-op saves shoppers 20-to-40 percent per year. At the outset, the SF Community Co-op’s markup will be 29 percent. The co-op’s intention is to reduce this over time.

In some regards, food co-ops and employment-creating co-ops are examples of returning to the old ways. Recognition of the early roots of cooperative concepts is appropriate when looking at northern New Mexico. Native Americans have practiced the pooling of labor and redistribution of resources as an economic form for thousands of years. In some local tribes, extended families still work this way.

Hispanic communities have also traditionally practiced many forms of collaborative work, such as the acequia system and the sharing of seeds.

Low-cost, high-quality food with a small amount of labor provided by each member

Although food cooperatives do exist in New Mexico, they don’t all have the same form. For example, La Montañita Co-op has membership, yet members do not work in the store. As more co-ops form with diverse structures, there will be more options for more people. The Santa Fe Community Co-op intends to provide low-cost food with a small amount of labor provided by each member.

Natural-food grocery stores, both corporate and local, typically mark up food from 45 to 100 percent. The model being used by the Santa Fe Community Co-op is the Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn, New York. That co-op lowers the markup to 21 percent. One of the top five independent grocery stores in the country, the

Today’s co-ops are owned by their members and managed by democratic voting— balancing financial viability with the needs of members and their communities. The full participation of members in the cooperative’s operations promotes the co-op’s economic and social development through elimination of profits for those who are not members, collective involvement in determining working conditions and pay, environmental stewardship and social networking. In other words, cooperatives embody and foster a true sense of community.

The Santa Fe Community Co-op’s 5-Year Goals

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Establish a sustainable, community food cooperative in Santa Fe Establish a small farm with a solar-powered greenhouse Create a community composting facility for farms and gardens Establish satellite outlets in outlying communities Provide outreach and subsidies to support food equity

You can help make possible the co-op’s planned fall 2014 launch: Pay an annual $25 membership fee, make a one-time $100 pledge and fulfill the co-op’s work requirement: currently two 3/4 shifts every four weeks. All adults over 21 in each household must join. You can pay the full amount or sign up for monthly or quarterly installments. The first year’s $25 membership fee is being waived for the first 400 founding members. You can join at one of the co-op’s regular community meetings or through its website. For more information, email info@sfcommunitycoop.com or visit www.sfcommunitycoop. wordpress.com i Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is of Métis heritage (Micmac Indian/Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural tourism, cultural centers, museums and native foods. She is the author of Sustainable Cultural Tourism: Small-Scale Solutions; Planning for Balanced Development, and the co-author of Zen Birding: Connect in Nature.

susanguyette@nets.com

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Locally Sourced Food Top Restaurant Menu Trend of 2014

Food Industry Seeks Federal Legislation to Keep GMO Labeling Voluntary

Each year the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the leading business association for the industry, surveys 1,300 professional chefs who are members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF) to come up with its What’s Hot culinary forecast of menu trends.

The political battle over genetically modified foods has been heating up. The industrial food industry has long successfully opposed efforts in Congress to require labeling. In response to the growing consumer movement, the industry spent almost $70 million to defeat ballot initiatives in California and Washington State.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association is currently pushing industry-authored legislation that would preempt any state labeling laws. Connecticut and Maine passed such laws last year. Labeling is now being considered in 26 states.

Top 10 food trends for 2014: • • • • • • • • • •

Locally sourced meats and seafood Locally grown produce Environmental sustainability Healthful kids’ meals Gluten-free cuisine Hyper-local sourcing (e.g., restaurant gardens) Children’s nutrition Non-wheat noodles/pasta (e.g., quinoa, rice, buckwheat) Sustainable seafood Farm/estate branded items

“Today’s consumers are more interested than ever in what they eat and where their food comes from, and that is reflected in our menu trends research,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the NRA’s research and knowledge group, in a press release. “True trends – as opposed to temporary fads – show the evolution of the wider shifts of our modern society over time.”

“The chefs who took part in the survey understand that sourcing locally and environmental sustainability tie in with ongoing efforts to provide more-healthful foods for everyone, especially children,” said Thomas Macrina, ACF national president.

When asked which current food trend will be the hottest menu trends 10 years from now, environmental sustainability topped the list, followed by local sourcing, health-nutrition, children’s nutrition and gluten-free cuisine.

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USDA Likely to Approve Herbicide in Food Supply Last month the Obama administration said that it expects to approve corn and soybeans that are genetically engineered by Monsanto and Dow Chemical Company to tolerate the toxic herbicide 2,4-D. They are planning this approval despite the fact the herbicide is associated with increased rates of immune-system cancers, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption, birth defects and other serious health problems. The approval of these crops will lead to vast increases in the use of this chemical, which researchers at Penn State University say will actually worsen an epidemic of superweeds that become resistant to herbicides. Scientists have definitively linked a catastrophic decline in monarch butterflies to herbicide use on GMO crops.

2,4-D was introduced in the 1940s and became notorious during the Vietnam War as part of “Agent Orange,” a chemical weapon. Citing studies that predict dire consequences to both human and environmental health, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and part of Canada have banned 2,4-D. In the US, a coalition of 144 farming, fishery, environmental and public health groups have asked the USDA to not approve the 2,4-D-resistant crops, which are primarily used as livestock feed in factory farms. Through the February 19, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is inviting public comments (Go to: www.regulations.gov/#!s ubmitComment;D=APHIS-2013-0042-0050). The USDA must then respond to the comments in a final environmental impact statement.

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Pay it Forward! Being Human in Healthcare A Systemic Approach to Positive Change through Emotional Intelligence

Camille Adair

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he generation of super-elders who experienced World War II saw physicians as demigods and almost never questioned the medical establishment.

Boundaries of role and power were clear. Their stoicism, independence and deference to authority are rapidly being replaced by the aging baby boomers who transform all systems and constructs in their path. And, for many people, the silent prayer is, “Please let this include healthcare, aging and the way we die.”

Healthcare is increasingly a business that answers to high-cost treatments, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, not the care of people. Healthcare professionals and organizations are faced with daily dilemmas that arise from the intensifying focus on compliance, productivity and pressure to meet the demands of a changing healthcare system. If we look at healthcare as a system in need of systemic attention, we can perhaps link the source of the issues to three primary dysfunctions rather than pointing the finger at a particular organization, policy or individual.

Emotional intelligence shares many of the universal principles found in ancient wisdom and spiritual traditions.

The first dysfunction is that healthcare is a business construct based on and oriented to disease and illness, not on health and wellness.

The second dysfunction is the victim/ perpetrator exchange among healthcare professionals and between healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations.

This manifests as bullying, burnout and compromised patient care and delivers a high price tag to the bottom line.

The third dysfunction is that “modern” medicine is founded on outdated Newtonian science, which is mechanistic, reductionistic and separates people by their parts. Current science reinforces our connectedness and shows us what makes us well and how we participate in our own outcomes.

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The roots of the problems plaguing healthcare are relational. By taking a foundational approach to complex issues, we can address the culture, which is ripe for systemic transformation through a paradigm shift in how we think and feel about how we take care of ourselves, each other, and how we approach the business of healthcare. Building relational systems and behaviors calls for social and emotional skills, which, in the end, could be the answer to our health, happiness and transformation of healthcare and society.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a field that embodies new science and shares many of the universal principles found in ancient wisdom and spiritual traditions. EI is the ability to effectively combine thoughts and feelings in order to make better decisions and develop and sustain more mutually respectful relationships with others and ourselves. EI is a set of skills that can be learned, taught and become more permanent with practice. Skills that are foundational to EI include selfawareness, empathy, optimism, intrinsic motivation and self-management.

Research indicates that people with developed EI skills make healthier lifestyle choices and have improved relationship skills, a life purpose that is aligned with their values, and a greater ability to connect cause and effect.

The impact of social and emotional well-being on businesses is nothing less than improved return on investment (ROI) through increases in retention rates, employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, ethical decision-making and productivity, along with a positive impact on organizational climate. A recent Gallup poll study revealed that the number one indicator for employee retention lies in having at least one positive interaction with a supervisor at least every seven days. It’s relational.

Paul Zak, professor at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California and a pioneer in the field of neuroeconomics, has demonstrated that the neuropeptide oxytocin is responsible for empathy, generosity and trust, which are the key components in building relational models. He has also discovered that societies with higher levels of trust are more prosperous and have lower

levels of poverty. Oxytocin has been called the shy molecule. It is produced in human beings through the stimulus of connection, relationship-building and networking. It is not produced in high-stress, competitive environments where behaviors of separation and isolation are seen through siloing and self-preservation.

We can easily see the paradox and dilemma that exists within modern healthcare, where the very systems created to provide care to people at their most vulnerable moments can increase suffering and cause harm when consideration of personhood is ignored. Here, the challenge and the opportunity are the same: learning how to appropriately connect emotionally and socially. Healthcare needs human-tohuman healing, inviting the shy oxytocin molecules to make an appearance so that we may problem-solve with empathy, trust and generosity rather than with blame, ignorance and self-centered agendas.

The good news is that change is possible.

Unlike personality tests, EI assessments measure a baseline by which individuals are able to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in order to develop personal and professional goals for positive growth and wellness. Developing EI skills requires practice and offers measurable results.

Science has demonstrated that we are all connected through time and space, whether we are aware of it or not. Perhaps the invitation to connect is also a call to awareness in being more of who we already are—human.

Pay it Forward!

Living Bridges, a New Mexico-based 501(c)(3), whose mission is to support sustainability in hospice and healthcare through education and the arts, provides EI training to individuals and businesses.

The program is designed to demonstrate community leadership and good will through empathy, trust and generosity.

If you would like to “pay it forward,” you can sponsor a training for an individual or organization. i

References:

Paul Zak: Trust, Morality and Oxytocin?

TED Talk, Filmed July 2011. Posted November 2011.

TEDGlobal 2011 http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_ and_oxytocin.html

Camille Adair, RN, a certif ied Social Emotional Intelligence Assessor, is executive director of Living Bridges, principal of Sacredigm Alliances and an awardwinning filmmaker.

She pro vides EI trainings for healthcare organizations, healthcare professionals and through cross-sector leadership.

505.470.3838, Camille@CamilleAdair.com

The Effects of Economic Status on Health in New Mexico

A New Mexico Department of Health report released last year on the state of health in New Mexico looked at the effects of economic status. Not surprisingly, the report suggests that less affluent populations often experience more barriers in receiving preventative healthcare.

Twenty percent of the population is considered to be living in poverty in New Mexico, the second-highest percentage rate in the country. The national poverty level is 15.9 percent, according to the US Census.

Proper nutrition is also a problem. New Mexico leads the nation in child hunger with 30 percent of children experiencing “food insecurity.” The USDA defines food insecurity as reduced quality, variety or desirability of diet. New Mexico is also ranked No. 2 in the nation for adult hunger, with 20 percent of adults experiencing food insecurity.

One in four adults in New Mexico ages 45 and older has been diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases such as arthritis or cardiovascular disease. Most inpatient hospitalization among people 65 and older is due to heart disease, influenza and pneumonia. The Department’s report shows that teen smoking dropped from 30 percent in 2003 to 19.9 percent in 2011.

Suicide attempts have decreased since 2003, although the rate of suicide among Native American youth in New Mexico is nearly four times the national rate. Funds are being sought from the state Legislature and the governor for programs to address this.

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ripening manzanitas de agosto (little August apples) from someone else’s trees up the way, much to our hearts’ delight.

When it came time to irrigate, my father delighted in slowly opening the compuerta (headgate) to initially let in a trickle of water so that it would not cause erosion or drag the seed away when it had finally reached the rows. Only when he was fully convinced that the amount of water that he had released was benevolent, would he open the compuerta just a little more in order to obtain a flow capable of watering the land just enough without causing any damage. Having watered a few rows in this gentle manner in which, perhaps after an hour, the earth showed clear signs of having drunk in as much water as it needed, he would block the rows already irrigated with an earthen tapanco (small dike) and open up other rows downstream. By doing this repeatedly he managed to irrigate an entire field in just a few hours.

As the water made its way down each of the furrows to moisten the seed and prompt the process of germination, it reflected the sky and sometimes

the rising or setting sun in a kind of living three-dimensional impressionist painting. The gurgling of the water punctuated by bird song or children playing infused one’s being with a kind of deep peace and a yearning for time to forever stand still. In those moments, one was filled with the certainty that what one was doing was in and of itself a sacred and timeless act in which one viscerally communicated with the earth, water and plant spirits.

the long, hot summer, we irrigated once between each hoeing. Every time, soon after the water had successfully reached the plants, they responded by standing up straight, growing taller and taller, and most importantly, by defying the scorching heat of the merciless midsummer sun.

One could not long afford to remain in paradise because the selfsame water that caused the plants to sprout also engendered millions of weeds, originating primarily, of all places, in Russia! There was Russian thistle, the prickly rosetas, the broadleafed añiles, the deeply rooted patitos, together with a host of other annoying weeds that always came back soon after they were cut. Our summers were spent hoeing endless rows of chile, corn and other vegetables, in part because we had been socialized to do this kind of work, but also because we both respected and feared our elders who had commanded us to do this work. During the course of

To offset the same intense heat, the neighborhood children gathered almost on a daily basis at our bridge to swim in the acequia, which was an impossibility because it was much too shallow and because no one knew how to swim anyway.

Wade, soak, splash and dive are a more honest reflection of what took place during those cacophonous summer afternoons between stretches of hard work. So brilliant, refreshing and invigorating was the water of the acequia that, in our minds, the recreation that it provided was ample reward for the work that we did.

Other times, we launched homemade boats and ships and watched them sail by. A few times we launched canoes, rafts and even tubs to harness the transportation possibilities of the acequia and ended up in other people’s properties further downstream. They knew exactly what we were up to, looking for adventure, of course, and they laughed at us with fondness in their eyes, for as children, they had done the same thing.

How I wish that children growing up today could have these kinds of innocent, private property-defying experiences.

In late July, just as the water supply in the Santa Cruz dam was dropping considerably, the annual rains came p o u r i n g d ow n a n d f re q u e n t l y circumvented the need to irrigate our fields for the week. At times, the downpours were so enormous that the melons and watermelons became waterlogged and we had to carefully turn each one over to avoid rotting. Typically, however, we irrigated until mid- or late September, when the harvest peaked and the water was turned off.

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© Alejandro López

Acequias Up-Close continued from page 14

An acequia in northern New Mexico

When the water stopped running, it was as if an old friend had suddenly left our midst, and the ground had returned to just being the ground and not the waterlaced earth that poured forth its greenery and abundance of fruit and food. From this time forward the magic of the water flowing through the acequia instead turned into the magic of the snowfall.

There to the west, on Chicoma Peak (Obsidian Mountain), which lay directly in our line of vision, the snowpacks kept growing all winter long, if it proved to be a wet one. The same thing occurred along the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the opposite side of the Española Valley, the fountainhead of our own acequia water supply.

During the long winter months, when one grew weary of the cold, one could gaze out the window and appreciate the source of our summer acequia waterflows, which together with a plot of overturned earth, a hoe, a tin can, some seed, the sure swing of an arm and a few tapancos (dikes), we were able to transport ourselves into a literal paradise for as long as summer lasted. i Alejandro López, a photographer and writer in English and Spanish, grew up farming on an acequia in rural northern New Mexico.

Several of his recent photographs will be used as part of a Spring 2014 exhibition on acequias at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

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Sustainable Healing

Amanda Hessel

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ver feel like you have been trying to heal the same symptom or condition in your body for years?

Perhaps it comes and goes, but you know you aren’t 100 percent healed.

Maybe you have even seen all types of practitioners and healers but feel like you haven’t reached the state of health you want in your body. These feelings are more common than you may think.

Chronic disease is on the rise and is affecting us earlier in life. Despite advancing medical technologies and our efforts to change and be healthier, we often do not experience the amount of physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being we desire.

In an energy-rich state the body has more resilience.

A primary reason our bodies break down and express symptoms and conditions is because we lose our ability to adapt to life’s circumstances. We all have a range of what we can handle.

When we stretch beyond that range we start to feel stressed. Stress is defined as pressure or tension on a system (such as our body) that results from demanding or adverse circumstances.

Over time, this pressure can create a situation in the body called chronic stress. With chronic stress we begin to lose our ability to recover from sickness or injury, we feel tired, our muscles feel tense, we might have stomach upset, and we can feel irritable and not fully present in our life. We lose our innate ability to heal and our connection to ourselves and those things that are important to us because we don’t have the energy for them. Chronic stress puts our bodies into an energy-poor state. This is a survival condition in the body and it is incompatible with healing, growth, sustainability and greater well-being.

For full, sustainable healing to occur, the energy state of the body must change. We cannot expect greater health through simply alleviating symptoms with methods that remove or numb the pain or condition. Most people think that when they have a symptom, the symptom is the problem and they must get rid of it. Most also

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think that when they get rid of the symptom it means the body is all better and that they are healthier. This, however, is not necessarily the case.

Symptoms and pains are often the expression of a situation in the body where there is not enough energy to maintain optimal function of all the organs, glands, muscles and cells. The body may malfunction, break down, and disease processes begin to show up.

If you don’t change the energy-state of the body, it will continue to function poorly because the underlying state that set up the problem in the first place has not been addressed. In time, old symptoms will show up again or new ones will develop in their place.

Removal or alleviation of pains and symptoms merely buys a person time.

People choose one of two paths to follow with that time. The first path is to go about life as they did before the symptom occurred, without making any changes. This allows a person to continue the same life and function in the world as he or she did before the symptom. However, this approach does not provide a higher energy state in the body. Typically what happens in this situation is that the body will continue to break down (even with the symptom removed) until a crisis point is reached where a person has to make a life-and-death health decision, which often involves taking drugs or having a lifesaving surgery. The other path is to undergo a healing process. In a healing process, people use symptoms and pains as energy to make changes in their life. Change gives us a new energy source and brings the body into an energy-rich state. In an energy-rich state the body can function better; it has more adaptability, flexibility and resilience, and it can heal sustainably.

in our bodies, we look for certainty at all costs; we want to return to the life we had before the condition occurred, instead of moving into and creating something new. Moving into greater health and sustainable healing requires a radical shift in our perception of what symptoms and pains mean along with the tools to gain the messages our bodies are giving us through their expression. i Dr. Amanda Hessel, D.C., M.S., B.S., is a chiropractor and body-awareness facilitator.

She is dedicated to shifting consciousness around health and helping people create energ yrich states in their body-mind,so that greater levels of health are achieved. She utilizes a gentle system called Network Care to assist people in healing.

For more information, contact the Scher Center for Well Being. 505.989.9373, www.

HealingWithoutLimits.com

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Largely what we have done in our current healthcare system is to take away symptoms and conditions that contain the energy we need for change.

With that we have taken away our opportunity to be even healthier and experience greater possibilities for our lives. We have valued comfort and sameness over change and growth.

Stability and security have become the hallmarks to a good life, and when that becomes threatened, especially

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Ask us about Zirconium Implants for people with metal allergies!

Beehive Extract Arrests Prostate Cancer Cell Growth

According to a paper from researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center, an over-the-counter natural remedy derived from honeybee hives arrests the growth of prostate cancer cells and tumors in mice. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester, or CAPE, is a compound isolated from propolis, the resin used by bees to patch holes in their hives. Propolis has been used for centuries in natural remedies for conditions such as sore throats, allergies and burns.

The researchers found that CAPE arrests early-stage prostate cancer by shutting down the tumor cells’ ability to detect sources of nutrition.

Fed to mice daily, tumors stopped growing. When that treatment was stopped, the tumors began to grow again at their original pace, according to Richard B. Jones, Ph.D., senior author of the study. “It doesn’t kill the cancer, but it basically will indefinitely stop prostate cancer proliferation,” said Jones.

To assess the impact of CAPE treatment on the proteins of cellular pathways involved in cell growth, Jones and his colleagues used an innovative technique called “microwestern array” to monitor hundreds of proteins at once. The CAPE experiments offer a precedent to unlock the biological mechanisms of other natural remedies as well.

“Now we’ ll actually be able to systematically demonstrate the parts of cell physiology that are affected by these compounds,” Jones said.

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Health

Medicine of the People: Massage and Self-Acupressure

Story and photos by Dr. Japa K. Khalsa

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he healing arts encompass many traditions including massage, acupuncture, chiropractic and shamanic healing. In New Mexico, there is the shamanic healing tradition of curanderismo, indigenous folk medicine that encompasses healing of the body, mind and spirit. New Mexico law provides a safe harbor that legally protects the curandero/a’s right to practice. In some states, traditional healers can be shut down for practicing medicine without a license. New Mexico’s support of traditional and alternative medicine is a step towards multicultural sustainability. At the core of all of these healing traditions is a reliance on the body’s innate ability to heal itself. It is important to consider when and how we can make a change in our own consciousness. A tired and overburdened healthcare system cannot heal until we find a way to change the system from within and develop our own healing power.

The body’s innate ability to heal itself is at the core of these traditions.

In Eastern medicine, the speed of energy movement picks up and moves quickly around the fingertips and toes and slows down as it moves into the center of the body. This speed could be due to the larger quantity of sensory nerves in toes and fingers, or that there are beginning and end points to the 12 major organ meridians on the ends of fingers and toes. We can use direct pressure on the limbs to influence change in the internal organs.

Working with the body in this way can be as effective as direct pressure or stimulation into the internal organs.

So let ’s look at several common ailments and simple ways to self-heal by combining a local, gentle trigger point or acupressure release at the site of the problem and a simultaneous release at a distal point on the arms and legs.

Squeeze Away a Headache

Special digestive points on the forearms and hands can be massaged quite easily for relief of headache. Grasp the forearm

step as many times as necessary until the headache subsides.

It also helps to massage the sides of the temples gently and starting at the inner eyebrow, grasp and gently massage the eyebrows towards the outer part of the eye. Gently massage along the jaw line, moving up the side of the face to gently massage any tense areas in the cheekbones and especially near the tense parts of the jaw muscle along the sides of the face near the ear.

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If you have an acute episode of sluggish digestion or bloating, try pressing the outside upper part of your leg below your knee. This point is known as “walk three miles” in Chinese medicine, and pressing hard on this point will help to stimulate digestion. It is known for giving strength and relieving fatigue, so couple this with daily belly rubs and see what digestion improvements unfold.

Nobody Likes Nausea

A simple way to relieve nausea and a churning stomach is to press the point called Pericardium 6 near the wrist.

Say you’ve been reading too long while riding in a car or you’ve eaten the wrong food combination. Try pressing and massaging this point on the underside of the forearm near the wrist. It is

Medicine of the People

Massage and self-acupressure bring us in touch with the true medicine of the people, a way that common ailments can be healed by touch. The art of laying on hands is a time-honored and authentic way to bring support to a part of the body that is under stress or pain. Getting a massage is wonderful, and it is important to remember that self-massage, as part of the routine of life, is valuable to overall health on many levels. Massaging and pressing on parts of the body directly can help to bring blood-flow to an organ or release pain from a muscle region.

Stomachaches, headaches and stress can all be alleviated with simple hand pressure. One secret is to massage both the actual area where the pain is located and also a distal point on the hands or feet to free up the blockage that may be causing the symptom.

brain, sensing and delivering those gut feelings of butterflies or protective warnings. The belly has a powerful inner wisdom of guidance and healing for the entire mind, body and spirit connection.

with the opposite hand and massage down the forearm, looking for tender spots while squeezing. Find a tender spot, stop there, hover at this spot and massage vigorously, using the thumb to press into the spot repeatedly until some of the tension in the spot is dispersed.

In the hand, pay special attention to the webbing between the index finger and the thumb.The acupuncture point in this webbing is known to relieve migraines and headaches. Find the tender spot in the middle of the webbing and press hard for several seconds, breathe deeply and then relax (see photo). Repeat this

Belly Rubs for Better Digestion

Because digestion is such an ongoing and never-ending process in the body, it’s great to give it some daily support with simple techniques. Try simply rubbing the belly in a circular fashion about 20 to 25 times, once or twice a day. Move in a soothing way and clockwise direction (imagine the belly as a clock, facing outwards). This will help to get in touch with the treasure trove of nerve endings in the abdomen.

There are so many nerve endings in the digestive tract that it acts as a second

about two fingerbreadths up from the wrist crease in between the two major tendons in the center of the underarm (see photo). Press firmly here, just to the sensation of discomfort and hold for about five seconds while taking a deep breath. Repeat until the nausea sensation begins to disperse. continued on page 33

Green Fire Times • February 2014

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Health Benefits of Food as Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Animals

Audrey Shannon

One of the most important considerations in food therapy is that food be from clean sources. The food could be organic or natural and can include many foods that are grown locally. Fresh food by definition is not processed and hasn’t been frozen or stored for a long period of time. Additionally, there is always the controversy of cooked versus raw food.

The foundation for any health regimen

The choice of which is more appropriate can depend on several things including the time of year, the health, constitution and age of the animal. Serving cooked food is most important in the colder months. A younger or very healthy animal can more easily digest raw foods. An older, senior or ill animal may need cooked food because its digestive system may not be able to process or utilize raw food.

In the winter months, cooked foods may include root vegetables, warmer meats, darker greens and, depending on the animal, warmer grains. A bone broth is helpful to senior animals and those with arthritis. In the spring, darker greens, warm meats and lighter and fewer grains are good. In the summertime, lighter

greens, fruits, fewer grains and cooler meats such as fish or turkey are helpful to dispel excess heat. In the late summer and fall, fruits, root vegetables and alliums in small amounts are generally fine for dogs. Cats are sensitive to alliums such as garlic and green onions. Any individual animal can have its own sensitivities and allergies, so it is best to try new foods in small amounts.

Added hydration in our dry New Mexico climate can be key to health and is important in many inflammation-related problems. Meat or veggie broth is a good constant for conditions such as arthritis, kidney disease, aging issues and skin disorders. Soups and stews are a good way to add all the relative ingredients and provide hydration at the same time. Baking of meats is fine but can cause excessive nutritional loss with vegetables. Steaming retains the most nutritional value over baking or boiling and is great for meats, vegetables and fruit.

The benefits of making the meals yourself include the value of the intention and care put into the food you make for your pets. This can’t be duplicated by large manufacturers or even large-scale kitchens. For those with less time, you can keep the meal simple, adding just a couple of ingredients. Simple recipes include a bone broth, sweet potatoes or another root vegetable and one green vegetable. It can be served by itself or added to high-grade canned food or kibble to increase palatability and nutritional value. A high-grade animal nutritional supplement can also be added to ensure that all nutritional needs are being met.

The rewards of adding whole fresh foods to your pets diet are numerous. Most pets appreciate and thrive on a traditional Chinese medicine food-therapy-based diet. i

© Anna C. Hansen

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he health benefits of Chinese medicine food therapy for animals are longlasting and vitally important to recovering from illness. Many senior and ill animals noticeably respond to an addition of a whole food diet. Such a diet, based on Chinese medicine therapy, can be the foundation for any health regimen. Just as acupuncture and herbal therapy are used in diagnosis and treatment to correct particular organ system and chi (energy) imbalances, food therapy can be used as well. Food is the cornerstone of an animal’s health in any medical system. Similar to other Eastern systems of health and healing, Chinese food therapy is prescribed based on what an animal’s constitution might benefit from in conjunction with what is appropriate for the season or time of year.

Audrey Shannon, DVM, offers animal acupuncture as well as food and herbal therapy for pets. 505.820.2617

Medicine of the People continued from page 31 Stress Relief in a Surprising Place

macro-universe of the body. There are points distributed all through the ear that help the skeleton, the glandular system, the heart and inner organs and all other parts of the body. Try it out and experiment to create an immediate state of less stress.

less stress and greater quality of life.

Sustainable self-care and wellness, relating to ourselves with reverence, respect and nurturing energy can, over time, create a change in our world and better health for everyone. i

The Sweet Spot: the Neck

What is an easy, free way to relax the body in a few seconds? It sounds funny, but squeezing the ears and massaging all around the earlobe releases multiple acupressure points that are found there. It is actually relaxing for the entire body in a very short amount of time. The ear is considered a microuniverse of healing for the entire

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The part of our ner vous system (parasympathetic) that controls our rest-and-relax response has many outlets and nerves in the neck area.

It’s a sweet spot for natural healers to ply their trade because working on and relaxing a person’s neck is a surefire way to create deeper relaxation. This part of the body holds so much chronic tension from staring at a computer screen and keeping the 30 pounds of the head elevated. The more relaxation flows into the neck, the easier it is for nerves to stay healthy, for lymphatic fluid to flow and for muscles to be pain-free.

Take hold of the nape of the neck, and squeeze and release the entire area. Be creative; rub and massage, then squeeze, compress and release.

Hold yourself with reverence and see how much natural healing you can create. Within our own bodies lie the tools for the answer to our health and happiness. Gift yourself with a regular massage from a professional and add acupressure into your daily routine for

Dr. Japa K. Khalsa received a Bachelor or Science from Northwestern University and completed her Master of Oriental Medicine at Midwest College of Medicine. She is a board-certified and licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and practices in Española, NM. 505.747.3368, drjapa@gmail.com, http:// www.drjapa.com

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* Foreclosure defense

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Green Fire Times • February 2014

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op-ed: New Mexico Has a Democracy Problem

s one of the Santa Fe County Commissioners who voted in 2008 to adopt an ordinance regulating oil and gas extraction within the county, I’ve followed similar efforts of other communities across the country.

Last year, following in the footsteps of about two dozen towns and cities (including Pittsburgh, Pa.), the Mora County Commissioners proceeded to adopt a local law banning oil and gas drilling as a violation of the civil rights of Mora residents, which included their right to water. Understanding that our current system of law views the “rights” of extraction corporations as more important than those of our communities and elected officials, the Mora Commissioners then used their local law to raise Mora’s right to local self-government above those “rights” claimed by extraction corporations.

Mora’s actions were a response to a shocking reality—that New Mexico isn’t really governed by us anymore but by a relatively small handful of individuals who run some of the largest corporations. Those corporations, over the last century or so, have not only successfully created a system of law that allows them to use government to preempt us, but one that also recognizes “corporate rights” that can be used to legally override our local lawmaking.

Thus, when our communities decide that they must stop projects that endanger our health and safety, we find that we have been rendered powerless to do so.

In Santa Fe County in 2006, when we began to explore options for controlling

oil and gas extraction, our lawyers informed us that we couldn’t ban drilling—even though that’s what I believe a majority of people in the county actually wanted. The lawyers told us that if we did try to ban drilling outright, we could be sued by oil and gas corporations for violating their constitutional “rights” and for “interfering” with state authority over oil and gas operations. Like most elected officials who run into that system of law, we decided to try to live within that law. Thus, we adopted an ordinance that regulates how drilling for oil and gas can be done within the county. As a regulatory ordinance, it automatically allows the drilling to occur— it just makes it more expensive to do so. When natural gas or oil prices rise to the point where it’s cost-effective to comply with the requirements of our ordinance (or to bear the cost of suing to overturn parts of it), Santa Fe County will be drilled.

If I had the choice again, as a county commissioner, I would choose to go in a different direction—the one that Mora County has gone. Unlike us, they recognized that we have to make a choice—that we can either accept the system of law as it has been given to us, or we can begin to build a new system of law that forces those corporations to respect local laws that protect the health, safety and welfare of our communities.

Mora County was recently sued by corporate interests seeking to overturn their Community Bill of Rights’ ban on oil and gas extraction. In that lawsuit,

Panel discussing the community rights movement (l-r): Thomas Linzey, executive director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, Mora County Commissioner John Olivas, writer Lee Einer and Kathleen Dudley, chair of the New Mexico Coalition for Community Rights (www.nmccr.org)

a corporate few seek to vindicate their “rights” over the rights of the Mora community. It is my hope—given how clear the Mora County situation has become—that people across New Mexico will begin to realize that we don’t have a fracking problem—we have a democracy problem.

The situation in Mora County (and endless ones prior to it, dealing with a variety of issues important to New Mexicans) points out the necessity of constitutional change in New Mexico—changes that recognize a right to local self-government that cannot be overturned by corporations using preemptive state government or their own corporate “rights.” Win or lose, the Mora County Commissioners deserve our thanks for beginning that long-overdue conversation about whose rights must, in the end, prevail— community majorities or corporate minorities.

Ar tic le 2 of the Ne w Mexico Constitution already recognizes that “all political power is vested in and derived from the people.” Led by Mora

County (and the city of Las Vegas, NM, which adopted a similar law), it’s time to make that declaration real. It’s time for a democratic, grassroots revolt in which our communities openly— and unapologetically—reject these corporate legal doctrines, which have been manufactured to keep us under their thumb. It’s time to disobey that system of law and use that disobedience to drive a new system of state and federal law that actually protects our communities.

Gracias/kudos to Mora County for leading the way. i Ha r r y M o n toy a served two terms as Santa Fe County Commissioner (2002-2010), ser ved on the Pojoa que School Board and has been a candidate for NM Public Lands Commissioner and US Congress. He represented New Mexico on the National Association of Counties Board of Directors, and the National School Boards Association.

© Anna C. Hansen

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© Seth Roffman

Harry Montoya

La Bajada Mesa is part of a historic landmark that has been culturally and environmentally significant for (at least) hundreds of years. This gateway to the city of Santa Fe from the south has been painted, drawn, photographed and filmed for generations.

An application to mine basalt and crush it for gravel on a 50-acre section of La Bajada Mesa for a 25-year period has been submitted to Santa Fe County by Buena Vista Estates/Rockology, an Albuquerque-based company. A letter from Santa Fe County Water Utilities expressing a willingness and ability “to provide bulk [hauled] water services for the project” was submitted with the application.

A Rockology application for the proposed mine site was withdrawn in 2008 because a permit was denied based on a “cadre” of issues including impacts on historical and archeological resources. Development of such an industry on an otherwise open landscape could result in increased pollution from carbon emissions, dust from crushers and conveyors and heavy industrial traffic, along with blasting and night lighting.

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The proposal will be heard before the Santa Fe County Development Review Committee on Feb. 20 at 4 pm (102 Grant Ave.), and then before the Board of County Commissioners in March.

The applicant is seeking to rezone the 5,217-acre property (which is also for sale) from agriculture/residential to mining. If approved, the mining zone could be expanded.

The Rural Conservation Alliance, community organizations and individuals dedicated to preserving and protecting the Galisteo Basin, is encouraging citizen input at the hearing. The Alliance (savelabajada.org) has also requested that letters be sent to the case manager, José Larrañaga: joselarra@co.santa-fe.nm.us

Green Fire Times • February 2014

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La Bajada Mesa by David Outhwaite © 1983

Santa Fe County Hearing on Mining La Bajada Mesa – February 20

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Water Quality Control Commission Votes Against Water Quality Protection

Renewable Energy Day at the Roundhouse sunday, february 16, 10 am-2 pm; press conference at noon

Last month the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) unanimously voted down a motion that would have prevented the Copper Rule, adopted by the commission in September 2013, from being used in mine permitting decisions while the rule is under appeal.

Renewable Energy Day at the New Mexico State Capitol, rescheduled f r o m J a n u a r y, w i l l showcase the economic, environmental and community benefits of renewable energ y and energy efficiency.

A diverse g roup of advocates, including business associations, workforce development associations, public institutions, Renewable Energy Day is organized by Got Sol, a group c o m m u n i t y g r o u p s dedicated to increasing energy efficiency and renewable and homeowners, will energy in New Mexico. have information tables set up. There will be hands-on electricity-generation demonstrations, electric cars, solar ovens and ecological art.

The Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP), Turner Ranch Properties, L.P. and Amigos Bravos filed the motion. They argued that the case raises important legal questions that must be resolved by the Court of Appeals, and that irreparable harm to public water resources is likely if the Copper Rule is implemented. The rule marks the first time since the state Water Quality Act was adopted that the WQCC has adopted regulations that would allow contamination of groundwater by an industry.

The motion was supported by the NM Office of the Attorney General. It was opposed by the NM Environment Department (NMED) and multinational copper mining corporation Freeport-McMoRan. NMED and Freeport-McMoRan, which operates three large open-pit copper mines in Grant County, worked together to draft and advocate for the rule.

Bruce Frederick, NM Environmental Law Center staff attorney, said, “the law requires us to go to the WQCC before we can ask the Court of Appeals to stay the Copper Rule pending appeal.”

New Coalition Opposes Goldmine A coalition of conservation groups and jewelers say that Santa Fe Gold Corporation’s proposed, deep open-pit mine in the Ortiz Mountains would turn the area into a polluted industrial zone visible for miles, increase truck traffic along the Turquoise Trail, consume enough water to sustain thousands of households, and potentially endanger area water supplies by draining acidic runoff into groundwater.

The coalition, comprised of the Turquoise Trail Preservation Trust, Earthworks and Fair Jewelry Action, has released an analysis of Santa Fe Gold’s proposal. The report has been endorsed by one of the country’s leading scientists on the environmental impacts of gold mining, Dr. Glenn Miller of the University of Nevada, Reno. The report says that the mine may annually consume the equivalent of water needs of between 4,600 and 7,800 New Mexicans; it would be similar to the nearby Cunningham Hill Mine, which is draining acid into groundwater; because the ore is low grade, mining each ounce will generate 169 metric tons of waste, creating a massive tailings heap; and that the mine would release hundreds of millions of pounds of greenhouse gases.

Santa Fe Gold recently merged with a Canadian mining company. The coalition’s report is available online at http://ortizreport.earthworkssaction.org

Lamy Says No to Crude Oil-Loading Facility Pacer Energy and Santa Fe Southern have reportedly struck a deal to convert the rail facility in the unincorporated quiet village of Lamy, southeast of Santa Fe, into a transfer station for crude oil. Fifty to 100 tanker trucks weekly may be barreling down the 285 corridor and in and out of Lamy on the recently paved 2-lane road, their engines idling as they wait to offload oil to railroad cars, possibly 24 hours a day. The cargo is to be transported to refineries near Albuquerque.

Crude oil shipments by rail have increased more than 400 percent since 2005.

In light of recent freight train accidents across the US, last month the National Transportation Safety Board recommended strict new measures for transporting crude oil. A Santa Fe County woman is currently suing Western Refining because last February during a blizzard one of its trucks on US 84/285 lost control, jackknifed, struck and totaled her vehicle, spilling hundreds of gallons of fuel.

At a meeting of 275 people on Jan. 18, a couple of Pacer’s reps were unable to answer the many questions asked by outraged people from Lamy, Galisteo and Eldorado, who were there en force, united by a deep and urgent desire to protect their watershed and prevent air and noise pollution. Other issues of concern: safety risks, liability, possible storage facilities development, property values, road degradation, hazmat incidents, permeable soil, etc. The consensus: spills, accidents and wrecks are inevitable. Lamy’s community water well head is only 109 feet from the proposed transfer site. “No Crude Oil in Lamy,” a regional alliance, may pursue a legal injunction.

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A press conference at noon will feature gubernatorial candidates Lawrence Rael and Alan Webber; Santa Fe mayoral candidates Patti Bushee and Javier Gonzales; Steve Cummins of the Los Alamos Smart Grid; David Melton of Sacred Power, and others who will share their policies and plans to help grow the renewable-energy industry in New Mexico.

Free parking is available in the parking garage at 420 Galisteo St. More information: 505.310.4425, esha@gotsol.org

New Mexico’s Solar Industry Growing According to a new report, more than 1,000 New Mexicans are employed by the soar energy industry. The Solar Foundation (thesolarfoundation.org), a nonprofit solar advocacy foundation released the National Solar Jobs Census 2013, based on information culled by labor market analysts. As a result of the steady growth in megawatts of solar energy across the US, cheaper photovoltaic prices, new technology and tax incentives, the solar industry added over 18,000 jobs nationally from Sept.

2012 to Nov. 2013, according to the foundation. More than half of those jobs were as solar installers, averaging $20 an hour.

The cost of installing PV in New Mexico declined 15 percent last year. Seventy percent of people who have bought solar systems told surveyors that they did so to save money and because the price was competitive with power provided by utility companies per kilowatt-hour.

2014 Sustainable Santa Fe Award Nominations Sought The city of Santa Fe is seeking nominations to recognize model sustainability projects that are helping Santa Fe reduce it’s ecological footprint, mitigate carbon emissions and build resilience in the face of climate change, in accordance with the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan. These annual awards, given since 2009, are limited to projects or programs with significant events that occurred during the 2013 calendar year or ongoing programs that haven’t yet been recognized. Award recipients will be recognized during a reception in association with Earth Day, which will be promoted on the Sustainable Santa Fe Facebook page and in local media outlets.

Award categories include: Community Outreach, Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Justice, Food System, Climate Adaptation—Water, Climate Adaptation—Ecosystem, Renewable Energy / Energy Efficiency, Affordable Green Building / Building Systems, Green Economic Development, Low Carbon Transportation, Waste Reduction, Green Journalism, Youth-Led, and Other Nominations will be accepted until March 15 and can be made online. A link to the nomination form can be found at: www.santafenm.gov/sustainable_santa_fe or at the website of any of the co-sponsors of the event, including Earth Care, the Santa Fe Green Chamber, and Green Fire Times. Separate nominations must be made for each project, but you may nominate as many different projects as you wish. Contact Katherine Mortimer, Sustainable Santa Fe Programs manager: 505.955.2262, kemortimer@santafenm.gov

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© Katie Macaulay

NEWSBITEs

What's Going On! Events / Announcements

ALBUQUERQUE Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 9 am-5 pm Clean Economy Conference ABQ Embassy Suites 1000 Woodward Place

Eight experts will discuss Building Resiliency through Sustainable Practices.

Keynote speaker: Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. Plenary sessions on wise water use, regenerative agriculture, zero-waste, organic food production, compost tea, strategies to shrink our carbon footprint, seed saving, creating an agricultural production center, community gardens, urban farming, sustainability tradeshow and more. $125/day.

505.819.3828, iginia@carboneconomyseries. com, www.carboneconomyseries.com

Feb. 1 Off-Grid Solar Electricity Design and Installation CNM Workforce Training Center 5600 Eagle Rock Avenue NE

8-hour class (ID: 25589) for PV professionals. Learn core principles of off-grid living, differences between grid-tied and off-grid PV systems, principal components used, resources available, etc. Info: 505.224.5200, workforce@cnm.edu, www.cnm.edu/depts/ wtc/index.html/index.html

Feb. 5, 5:30-7:30 pm Green Drinks Hotel Andaluz, 125 2nd Street NW Network and mingle with people interested in local business, clean energy and other green issues.

505.244.3700, Lindsay@ nmgreenchamber

Feb. 5-6, 2 pm and 7 pm Fossil-Free Film Festival The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave. NE

The best new films about climate change and what you can do about it. Sponsored by the ABQ Climate Coalition, 12 NM nonprofit groups including 350.org/NM. 505.350.3839, tstark1960@gmail.com, http://abqclimateaction.us/f4

Feb. 6, 5-7 pm Contemporary Indigenous Discourse Series Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW

Repatriation and cultural patrimony on local, national and international levels. A forum for Indigenous peoples to share knowledge and strategies for advancing tribal self-determination. Moderated by Americans for Indian Opportunity executive director Laura Harris. Panelists: LaDonna Harris, Jacquette Swift, Terry Snowball and John Beaver. 505.843.7270

Feb. 8, 8 am-5 pm Advanced Photovoltaic System Design CNM Workforce Training Center, 5600 Eagle Rock Ave. NE

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Learn to apply National Electrical Code standards and industry best practices from one of ABQ’s most successful PV system design engineers. The course qualifies as advanced training for those preparing to take the NABCEP PV Installer exam. $169.

Class ID: 25590. RSVP: 505.224.5200, work force@cnm.edu, www.cnm.edu/depts/wtc/ index.html/index.html

Feb. 8, 10:30 am-12:30 pm Eating for Your Health Highland Senior Activity Center 131 Monroe

Community-based workshop by Susan Clair, MCRP/MPA, on elements of a healthy lifestyle, plant-based and animal proteins, organic vs. conventional, antioxidants and systemic alkalinity, health benefits of herbs & spices, fats and sweeteners. $5 suggested donation. Registration required. 505.321.8649, clair@nmia.com

Feb. 8, 1:30-3:30 pm Home Composting Basics Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors Blvd. NW

Learn the science, materials and methods of drought-proofing your garden soil in order to grow vegetables, fruit and berries. Free.

505.897.8831, register@nmcomposters.org

Feb. 13, 7 pm Thinking Like a Watershed KiMo Theater, 423 Central NW

The first of five monthly panel discussions featuring 3 different humanities scholars, who will be introduced by Jack Loeffler. The intent is to contribute to a new Land Ethic for the preservation of our endangered ecosystems in the Southwest. Panelists William deBuys, Patty Limerick and John Nichols will provide an historic overview of human habitation and water use. Funded by the NM Humanities Council.

Free admission. 505.768.3522

Feb. 14-15 New Mexico Organic Farming Conference Marriott Albuquerque Pyramid North, 5151 San Francisco Road NE

The Southwest’s premier conference for organic agriculture. Producers and researchers share their experience and expertise to help agri-producers make decisions in running their farm and ranch operations or in starting a new one. Workshops and exhibitors.

Presented by Farm to Table, NM Department of Agriculture, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service. Registration: $100/$60.

Discounts for student groups if approved ahead of time. Info: 505.473.1004, ext. 10 (Santa Fe) or 505.889.9921 (ABQ).

Feb. 18, 7:15-8:30 pm Improving Desert Garden Soil Meadowlark Senior Center, 4330 Meadowlark Lane, SE, Rio Rancho, NM

Gardening with the Masters lecture series presented by Sandoval County Master Gardeners. Free. 505.929.0414, zarjoe@ymail. com

Feb. 25 Crawford Symposium: Green Trails for the Next Generation Conference Bosque School Info: 505.898.6388, bosqueschool.org

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March 5-7, 8 am-5 pm 3rd International Meeting on Indigenous Women’s Health Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town

Healthy Generations: Integrating Traditions and Science to promote well-being. An opportunity for physicians, midwives, nurses, community providers and others who work with indigenous women to share, support, network, learn and build partnerships to improve the health of indigenous women and their families. 505.272.3942, kbreckenridge@ salud.unm.edu, http://som.unm.edu/cme

April 7-9 10th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaic Systems Hyatt Regency Albuquerque

An opportunity for suppliers of components and services to the PV and CPV industry to connect with experts and potential customers from all over the world. 400 people from more than 25 countries, including many corporate executives from global companies are expected to participate. Host committee: CFV Solar Test Laboratory, Fraunhofer USA, Sandia National Laboratories. www.cpv-10.org

May 3 Opening Acequia Research Project Exhibit Maxwell Museum of Anthropology,UNM

Based on NSF-funded research by scientists and scholars across several disciplines and institutions, including UNM, NMSU, NM Tech and the NM Acequia Association, this exhibit will tell the story of how acequias operate as part of whole watershed systems, how and why they persist, as well as the challenges they face today. 505.995.9644, quita@ lasacequias.org

SANTA FE

Through March 16, 2014 Cowboys Real and Imagined NM History Museum

This exhibit explores NM’s contribution to the cowboys of both myth and reality from the 1600s to the present day.

Through April 1, 10 am-5 pm Heartbeat – Music of the Southwest Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

A celebration of sight, sound and activity for visitors of all ages. Over 100 objects relating to Southwestern Native music and dance are featured.

505.476.1250, http://indianartsandculture.org/

Feb. 2, 2 pm The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers Center for Contemporary Arts CCA Living Room

Author Christopher White (The Melting World) will tell tales of his journey documenting the loss of Montana’s alpine glaciers. Naomi@ccasantafe.org

Feb. 3, 6-8 pm Art and Activism Earth Care/Zona del Sol, corner of Jaguar and Country Club Rd.

Interactive giant mural presentation/workshop related to climate change, globalization and resource extraction. Presented by the Beehive Collective. 505.983.6896, info@ earthcare.org

Feb. 4 Registration Deadline City of Santa Fe March 4th Election Santa Fe County Clerk, 103 Grant Ave., 505.986.6280, co.santa-fe.nm.us Feb. 5-26, Weds., 11 am- 1 pm Winter Hikes Around Santa Fe

The city of Santa Fe is offering hiking opportunities ranging from easy to moderate on local trails and the Galisteo Basin Preserve. $20. Register in person at least 24 hours prior to the first hike. 505.955.4047, www.chavezcenter.com

Feb. 5, 5:30-7 pm Green Drinks Mayoral Candidates Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort, 1297 Bishop’s Lodge Road

Patti Bushee and Javier Gonzales discuss their “Green Vision for Santa Fe.”

Feb. 5, 7 pm Telluride Mountinfilm on Tour The Lensic, 211 W. San Francisco

WildEarth Guardians hosts this mix of films, from mountain sports to amazing wild places. Thrilling imagery and thoughtful storytelling. $15. 505.988.9126, ext. 0.

Feb. 6, 1-3 pm Tree Pruning Workshop Railyard Park and Plaza

Arborist Tracy Neal will prune trees and answer questions at this hands-on workshop.

Meet at the Railyard Community Room behind Site SF. marc@railyardpark.org

Feb. 8, 12 pm Southside Quality of Life Listening Session Southside Public Library Community Room Feb. 9, 2-4 pm BFA Creative Writing Event: Hearts Afire Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place

Institute of American Indian Arts faculty and students read their work. Free.

888.922.4242

Feb. 9 6:30-8:30 pm Reading of Cascarones Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie

A new play by Irma Mayorga developed at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center Playwrights’ Conference. Dreamlike encounters with John Wesley Powell, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado and others whose actions influence the present. Reservations: 505.424.1601

Feb. 10, 6 pm Mayoral Forum CCA, 1050 Old Pecos Trail

Discussion focused on issues of arts, culture and creativity. Free.

Feb. 10, 6 pm Land Grants, Trails, and People in Southeast Santa Fe Hotel Santa Fe

SW Seminars lecture by author Steve Post, author of Ten Thousand Years of Living in Santa Fe, former deputy director, Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of NM. $12.

505.466.2775, southwestseminars@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

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Feb. 10-14 Sculpting Workshop with Roxanne Swentzell Tower Gallery Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque

Beginners welcome. $950 includes supplies and firing. To register: 505.455.3037 (ask for Cindy) or swentzellinc@roxanneswentzell.net

Feb. 11, 4-6 pm Eldorado/285 Recycles ECIA Conference Room

Eldorado area recycling advocacy group monthly meeting. All welcome.505.466.9797, eldorado285recycles@mail.com, www.eldorado285recycles.org

Feb. 11, 6:30-8:30 pm Lifesongs Community Conversations Academy for the Love of Learning Seton Village

An evening with Molly Sturges, Acushla Bastible, Denys Cope and Christine Sandoval. Lifesongs is an intergenerational arts program that promotes social inclusion and dignity for elders and people in hospice care. Free. Registration: 505.995.1860, www. aloveoflearning.org/programs/lifesongs

Feb. 13-28 Floyd Red Crow Westerman Sculpture Exhibition Galeria El Farol, 808 Canyon Road

Rarely seen bronze sculptures by the late great singer/songwriter actor of prominent Native American leaders. Info: 415.328 4321

Feb. 14, 6-9 pm At the Artist’s Table SF School of Cooking 125 N. Guadalupe

An intimate evening of fine art, cuisine and conversation featuring artist Susan Contreras and chef Michelle Roetzer. A fundraiser for Partners in Education Foundation. Tickets: $300/couple or $175/person. Reservations: 505.474.0240, www.attheartiststable.org/

Feb. 15, 9:30 am-12 pm Love Your River Day Frenchy’s Park, Osage at Agua Fria

Help keep the SF Riverbed free of trash.

Free training provided. Cocoa, baked goods and good friends. 505.820.1696, stewards@ santafewatershed.org

Feb. 16, 10 am-2 pm Renewable Energy Day at the Roundhouse NM State Capitol Building

Celebrate the economic, environmental and community benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Learn about the latest developments and network with others working to improve NM’s energy future. A diverse array of community groups, business associations and public institutions will have displays and demonstrations. Press conference at 12 pm. 505.310.4425, esha@gotsol.org

Feb. 18, 5:30 pm Water Matters Lecture Series SF Community Foundation 501 Halona St.

Presentation by Laura McCarthy, director of conservation programs, The Nature Conservancy. Presented by Amigos Bravos.

575.758.3874, bravos@amigosbravos.org

Feb. 19, 6-7:30 pm NM Women’s Justice Project Natural Grocers Community Room, 3328 Cerrillos Road

Public meeting to stop expansion of the

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women’s prison. Speaker: Bette Fleishman.

505.466.1048

Feb. 20, 4 pm Hearing on La Bajada Mesa Mining Santa Fe County Courthouse 102 Grant Avenue

See newsbite, pg. 35, www.raintreecounty. com/SaveLaBajadaMesa.html

Feb. 21, 5-8 pm Edible Art Tour (EAT)

Members of the SF Gallery Association team with local restaurants; stroll from doorway to doorway or take shuttle buses between downtown and Canyon Road; EAT: $35; EAT and Fashion Feast dance party $70.

505.603.4643, artfeast.com

Feb. 27-March 2 Real Food Challenge SF University of Art & Design 1600 St. Michael’s Drive

This retreat is an opportunity for student leaders from around the region to build community, participate in workshops about the food system, and develop leadership and organizing skills for projects and campaigns to further local, sustainable, fair food efforts on campuses. $35. Info: 505.501.5826 or ethan@realfoodchallenge.org. To register: http://realfoodchallenge.org/programs/ trainings or https://www.facebook.com/ events/557966964285034

March 1-2: Workshop; March 3-4: Tour Finding Our Creative Spirit: Dreaming Awake SF Community Convention Center

“Contemporary expression of practical wisdom of the seer of ancient Mexico.”

Workshop on Carlos Castaneda’s Tensegrity taught by his direct students. Followed by a tour of Chaco Canyon for workshop participants. Sponsored by Cleargreen, the organization Castaneda founded. Info: 505.820.1528, sftg@nmi.net

March 10, 6 pm Living Life to the Fullest with Native Humor Hotel Santa Fe

SW Seminars lecture by artist, humorist, filmmaker Ricardo Cate (Pueblo of Kewa). $12. 505.466.2775, southwestseminars@aol. com, SouthwestSeminars.org

March 27-28, 8 am-5 pm SW Jémez Mountain Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project Santa Fe Community College Jémez Rooms

3/27: All-Hands Monitoring Presentations will showcase results from 2013 activities.

3/28: Implementation Workshop will use information from monitoring to develop implementation strategies in the project area for 2015. Info: 505.438.5431, pashmead@ fs.fed.us

April 26, 12-4 pm Earth Day at the Railyard Railyard Park

Large-scale collaboration of local groups involved in education, conservation, multiarts, environmental and social justice, and creative community engagement. Procession, music, poetry, visual arts, storytelling, performances, community participation. earthdaysantafe.info

First Saturday of Each Month, 10 am-12 pm

SF Citizens’ Climate Lobby Natural Grocers, Community Room, 3328 Cerrillos Road

“Creating political will for a livable world.” maria@myearthprints.com

Santa Fe Recycling

Make 2014 the year to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as you can. City residential curbside customers can recycle at no additional cost and drop by 1142 Siler Road, Building A to pick up free recycling bins. At least 50 percent of curbside residential customers recycle now. Let’s take that number to 100 percent. For more information, visit http:// www.santafenm.gov/trash_and_recycling or call 505.955.2200 (city); 505.992.3010 (county); 505.424.1850 (SF Solid Waste Management Agency).

HERE & THERE

Through March 28, M-F, 9 am-5 pm Contemporary Handwoven Art Exhibition Taos Town Hall 400 Camino de las Placita, Taos, NM

Taos Arts Council and Weaving Southwest present a weaving and tapestry exhibition featuring more than 18 northern NM fiber artists. The show is funded in part by NM Arts, a division of the Dept. of Cultural Affairs and the NEA. 575.779.8579, pcf1947@ yahoo.com, http://taosartscouncil.org/ weaving-southwest-at-taos-town-hall/, www.weavingsouthwest.com

Feb. 2, 11 am-2 pm 6th Annual Soup-R-Bowl Party Thome Domínguez Community Center, Los Lunas, NM

Fundraiser for UNM-Virginia Casados Scholarship Fund. Handmade bowls for $10. Includes homemade soups, breads and desserts. Event directly across from and hosted by Tomé Art Gallery, 2930 Hwy. 47.

505.565.0556

Feb. 10-11 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference Washington, D.C.

“Where Jobs and the Environment Meet” Informative workshops led by issue experts, state and local government officials, agency officials, business and industry representatives. Workshops include: Climate Resiliency and Adaptation; Creating Good, Green Jobs: Repairing Our Economy; Repairing and Transforming Our Energy Systems; Repairing Our Workplaces, Communities and the Environment; Repairing and Transforming Our Manufacturing Base; Repairing Our Democracy; Repairing Our Schools and Communities to Be Healthy and Safe; Water and Pipes: Repairing the Infrastructure Under Us. $225/$125. www. greenjobsconference.org/

Feb. 14 Application Deadline Northern New Mexico Conservation Opportunity

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps is hiring young women and men 18-25 for seasonal, full-time conservation programs. Applications and program descriptions: 575.751.1420, www.youthcorps.org

Feb. 18 Public Comment Deadline Río Grande del Norte National Monument Management Plan

The BLM is accepting suggestions on what issues and concerns it should consider as it develops the plan for the 380-square-mile area to ensure protection of cultural, ecological and geologic assets. Input may be submitted by mail to BLM Taos Field Office, 226 Cruz Alta Rd, Taos, NM 87571; or email: blm_nm_tafo_comments@blm.gov

Feb. 18-20 GreenBiz Forum Montelucia Resort, Phoenix, AZ

This forum brings together GreenBiz Group, the Sustainability Consortium, and ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. Noted thinkers and influential leaders will provide an in-depth look at the key challenges and opportunities facing sustainable business today. Workshops and networking opportunities. www.greenbiz.com/events/greenbiz forum/2014/02/arizona

Feb. 26 Composting Made Easy Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos, NM

With certified arborist Laural Hardin. $8/$6.

Programs@PajaritoEEC.org, 505.662.0460

March 3, 6:30-8 pm Local Food Summit Denver, Colorado

Mile High Business Alliance presents this 2nd annual summit focused on connecting Colorado’s food system to create a healthy, resilient food economy. This conferencestyle event will provide industry-specific opportunities for engagement, community building, education and problem solving. https://milehighbiz.org/civicrm/event/ info?reset=1&id=174

March 5, 7 pm Celebration of Albuquerque’s Wildlife Federation’s Centennial Pajarito Environmental Education Center, Los Alamos, NM

Kristina Fisher and Phil Carter of AWF will talk about the group’s history, show photos and documents, and information about current ecological restoration across NM. 505.662.0460, Programs@PajaritoEEC.org, www.PajaritoEEE.org

March 26-27 Sustainability Summit and Expo Wisconsin Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Implementing sustainable business models, supply chain innovation, freshwater challenges – global and local, sustainability opportunities in global markets, sustainable food supply, the efficiency and nutrition revolution, sustainable energy, climate: the global challenge. www.sustainabilitysummit.us

March 26-28 GLOBE 2014 Vancouver, BC, Canada

13th biennial conference and trade fair on business and sustainability. Speakers include Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of the board, Nestle; Hans Engel, CFO, BASF. 400 exhibitors from North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

604.637.6649, www.GLOBESeries.com

March 26-28 2014 National Food Hub Conference Raleigh, North Carolina

“Building capacity for healthy regional food systems” www.ngfn.org/

March 29, 10:30 am Earthquakes in Our Backyard Pajarito Environmental Education Center, 3540 Orange St. Los Alamos, NM

Class for kids and adults to learn how, where and when earthquakes occur around Los Alamos. Advance registration required. $10/$8.

505.662.0460, Programs@PajaritoEEC.org, www.PajaritoEEE.org

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