November 2014 Green Fire Times

News & Views

from the

S u s t a i n a bl e S o u t h w e s t

G rowing L ocal F ood B usinesses FUZE.SW N ative A merican F ood and F olklore F estival T hanksgiving for the H arvest R enewable E nergy D evelopment November 2014

Northern New Mexico’s Largest Circulation Newspaper

Vol. 6 No. 11

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Green Fire Times • November 2014

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Coming up in the December issue: Green Gifting: T h i n k i n g O u t s i d e t h e B o x !

Suggestions for Green Holiday Gifts and Entertaining

• Gifts for the home, for work, for the outdoor enthusiast • Gifts for sustainable living and health improvement • Gifts that are meaningful, useful, durable and/or beautiful • Homemade food gifts from local produce • Eco-friendly gifts the recipient can actually use • Gift certificates, memberships • Support local businesses and eco-conscious companies.

• Give more “experiences” and less “stuff.”

• Give donations on behalf of family and friends.

If you have a green product, service or idea you’d like to showcase as a “green gift” in the December GFT, please send information and photos to: info@greenfiretimes.com or consider advertising in this special edition.

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Editorial and ad materials deadline: November 15, 2014.

Presented in association with the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce.

VOTE • Nov. 4

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Vol. 6, No. 11 • November 2014 Issue No. 67 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC

Skip Whitson

Associate Publisher

Barbara E. Brown

Editor-in-chief

Seth Roffman

Art Director

Anna C. Hansen, Dakini Design Copy Editors Stephen Klinger Susan Clair Webmaster: Karen Shepherd Contributing Writers

Malín Alegría, Juan Estévan Arellano, Alejandro López, Maceo Carrillo Martinet, Vicki Pozzebon, Seth Roffman, Kathy Sanchez, Ashley Zappe

Contributing Photographers

Robert Boherz, Anna C. Hansen, Alejandro López, Seth Roffman, Melanie West

PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANTs

Karen H. Strawn Cynthia Trujillo, Azlan White, Cisco Whitson-Brown

Office Assistants

Camille Franchette, Claire Ayraud

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Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 skip@greenfiretimes.com Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 dakinidesign@newmexico.com Robyn Montoya 505.692.4477 robyn.greenfiretimes@gmail.com

News & Views

from the

Sustainable Southwest

Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project

Contents

Del Are Llano: Local Food, Then and Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Views from the Field: Grown on This Ground . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7 2014 Local Food Festival and Field Day. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 10 Coalition Pokes Holes in New Mexico Chile Certification . . .. . .. . .. . 11 The Local Voice: Growing Local Food Businesses by Leaps and Pounds . . . 12 Taos County Economic Development Corporation Week. . .. . .. . .. . .. 15 Traditional Native American Farmers Association. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 18 Giving Love and Thanks in Times of Contradictions . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 19 FUZE.SW 2014 Food & Folklore Festival . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 20 A Small Sample of Who We Are.. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 23 On the Land: Together with the Earth - A New Film Documentary . . . . . . 24 Small Agricultural Lands Conservation Initiative . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 25 Book Profile: Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country . . .. 25 Renewable Energy Development on State Trust Land . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27 Planning Santa Fe’s Food Future . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 31 Sustainable Santa Fe Update: Santa Fe’s Community Scorecard. . . . . . . . . 33 Newsbites . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . ..10, 11, 12, 13, 25, 30, 37 What’s Going On. . . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 38

Distribution

Barbara Brown, Susan Clair, Co-op Dist. Services, Nick García, Andy Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), Tony Rapatz, Wuilmer Rivera, Andrew Tafoya, Cynthia Trujillo, Skip Whitson, John Woodie

Circulation: 27,000 copies Printed locally with 100% soy ink on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper

Green Fire Times

c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • info@greenfiretimes.com © 2014 Green Fire Publishing, LLC

Green Fire Times 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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© Anna C. Hansen

Green Fire Times provides useful information for community members, business people, students and visitors—anyone interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered range from green businesses, jobs, products, services, entrepreneurship, investing, design, building and energy—to native perspectives on history, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, sustainable agriculture, regional cuisine, water issues and the healing arts. To our publisher, a more sustainable planet also means maximizing environmental as well as personal health by minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol.

Fresh-cut alfalfa on a small farm in Abiquiú, New Mexico

COVER: Blue Corn and Cucumber with Marigolds • photo © Alejandro López

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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del are llano / From the Arid Land

Local Food, Then and Now

In the Hispano communities, local food has been a way of life.

Juan Estévan Arellano

T

oday, local food is a rave. Everywhere you go, everyone is promoting local food. There are local food festivals all over, from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Taos and even in small towns throughout the Río Arriba bioregion. Farmers who produce for local farmers’ markets are given awards for being a “Local Hero.”

How times have changed. Not too long ago, everything consumed was local food.

To people in the Hispano communities, local food—mostly grown within the family or hamlet—has been a way of life.

Local food often was delivered to the doorsteps of the consumer. This started with the Chile Line railroad in the 1880s that used to take chile from Embudo Station to Antonito, Colo. and beyond.

Growing up in the Embudo Valley, first in Cañoncito and later in La Junta, all we ate was local because that’s all we could afford. Even into the 1960s and ’70s, pickup trucks loaded with chile, apples,

peaches and an assortment of vegetables made their way from the Española Valley to those places that didn’t grow the crops grown at lower altitudes. Those from the Embudo Valley and Velarde usually went to Taos and other towns along the Río

dried peas, beans—pinto and bolita— cabbage, potatoes, chicos and meat, from goats to sheep to venison.

Most everyone in northern New Mexico grew food and traded with neighbors for the products they lacked.

At that time, most of the goods were bartered or, as it was called in Spanish, cambalache. Relatively little was bought in the stores, which were usually small and family-owned. Even into the ’60s there were mercantile stores in Española and San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh). The mercantile stores in Ranchos de Taos, Pecos, Las Vegas and Peñasco (still in existence) belonged to immigrants from Lebanon.

Grande all the way to the San Luís Valley in southern Colorado. Sometimes, those from Española, Hernández and Chamita would travel to Gallina, Tierra Amarilla, Chama and surrounding communities.

Those from Chimayó would go to Truchas, Peñasco and the Mora Valley with their produce. On their way back, they would bring calabazas, maduras,

Then, after the inundation of industrially processed food, fast-food establishments and big-box supermarkets, the coin flipped. In the mid-90s, with the introduction of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), people started to become more conscious of what they ate. But the nomenclature changed completely. Whereas local food had continued on page 8

Views from the Field

Grown on This Ground

Alejandro López

s I write this, I am sipping a cup of warm atole, prepared as I was shown by my older brother, Joe, when I was but a child of 10 and needed to begin taking responsibility for my own hunger. The blue corn for this morning’s meal was lovingly grown and hand-processed by organic farmers, my friends Dora and Lorenzo, from the South Valley of Albuquerque. Preparing and consuming this hot cereal on a cool fall morning of contracting greenery and advancing parched ochre leaves and stalks satisfies not only my palette and my body’s need for energy, maintenance and repairs; it also thoroughly enlivens my senses, memory and consciousness with thoughts and sensations of the inevitable passage of time, the nature of relationships and, above all, of the unique texture and constitution of the living New Mexican earth, capable of feeding us still.

I say “still” because she once did and could do so again in the event, say, of California staggering in its recovery from drought or if we tire of the high prices and tasteless food brought in from elsewhere. The earth of New Mexico could actually feed us if we were to convert from the “religion” of petroleum, chemical fertilizers and GMOs to more homegrown and respectful ways of providing for our collective nutritional needs.

© Seth Roffman (4)

© Alejandro López

A

Prior to the 1950s, most everyone in northern New Mexico grew food from field or farm and traded with neighbors for the products they lacked. This time of year saw

continued on page 8

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Local Food

continued from page 7

meant cheap prices, today it often means food for people who can afford it.

A bushel of local chile—20 lbs. or even more—sold for $4 at most; today, it’s as high as $50. Most local people won’t pay that much for chile, especially if you put up four to eight bushels. The same for apples, which usually sold for $2.50 to $3 a bushel; today, they go for up to $40 or $50 for a 40-lb. box.

© Seth Roffman (2)

Even the way our food is prepared has changed. I was listening to the Today Show recently, and a famous chef was preparing red chile with turkey and tomatoes. It didn’t look at all like the chile I am used to eating. It looked more like a stew. Then, she also made what she called a “white chile” with what she called “Mexican tomatoes” or tomatillos and a lot of other vegetables. She also made

to eat chewing gum.The mistake I made was that I knew the seller, and, since she used the moniker “local heritage,” I belie ved it, although she was a relative newcomer to growing food.

I don’t understand why people who want to grow organic produce now have to fill out tons of paperwork and pay the government to get certified to prove that they are indeed organic; whereas, those who use poisons or pesticides don’t have to fill out any paperwork, and they can buy pesticides anywhere without any documentation.That’s why local food that is organic is so expensive, while pesticide-grown food is cheaper. It doesn’t make sense, and it seems that it is a ploy to charge more for good food, which in the past was cheaper and more accessible to the poor than today’s organic food, which caters to those with a thicker wallet.

How times have Long-time farmer Romolo Griego chats with neighbor changed. “¡Ay que Loretta Sandoval near his chile field in Dixon, NM tiempos señor don Simón!” vegetarian chile. For me, real chile has to be made with pork, if it’s red chile or carne adovada, or beef, if it’s a green chile stew.

No hamburger meat, please, in my chile.

But the consumer has to be careful when buying local. Be sure the farmers you buy from know when to pick their produce at its prime. Last year at the Dixon Farmers’ Market, I bought some fresh corn because I fell for the hype that it was locally grown heritage corn. When we got home and cooked the corn to eat on the cob, we couldn’t eat it. It was way past its prime; trying to eat it was more like trying

EDITOR’S NOTE: It is with great sadness we learned,as this edition of Green FireTimes was about to go to press, that Juan Estévan Arellano had passed away.Arellano has been a semi-regular contributor to GFT. We will publish a tribute to him in February.

In 2013, the New Mexico Community Foundation named Arellano one of ten Luminarias, a distinction awarded to people around the state who make a profound difference in their communities.

Arellano is the author of Ancient Agriculture: Roots and Application of Sustainable Farming.

He lived in Embudo, NM with his wife,Elena.

In his new book Enduring Acequias: Wisdom of the Land, Knowledge of the Water, Juan Estévan Arellano explores the ways people use water in dry places around the world. Touching on the Middle East, Europe, México and South America before circling back to New Mexico, Arellano makes a case for preserving the acequia irrigation system and calls for a future that respects the ecological limitations of the land. www.unmpress.com

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Views from the Field

continued from page 7

a virtual tidal wave of individuals, families and communities harvesting and processing food. They gathered, schucked, butchered, pitted, dried, ground and canned huge amounts of food, oftentimes enough to feed families of 10 or 12 for months at a time. It was certainly a sight to behold and motivation for community engagement. It was the drama of human survival that has been playing itself out since the appearance of human beings.

In growing one’s own food on the scale of a small farm or garden, one is invariably forced to partner with nature—the elements, seasons, weather and other species of plants and animals—as well as with other people, because rarely can a single person sustain the load this labor-intensive way of life requires.

Farming, the growing of food, is worth practicing, if for no other reason than the numerous biology lessons it provides and the countless moments of pleasure and insight derived from wondrous natural phenomena—the germination of seeds, the stunning daily growth of plants and the budding, formation and maturation of fruit.

The living New Mexican earth is still capable of feeding us.

On any scale, farming makes sense when we consider that nature tends to be prolific in its outpouring, unlike our sometimes-limited budgets. Three plants can bring in a near-endless amount of tomatoes or cucumbers throughout the late growing season, with the surplus going to friends and family in a gesture mirroring the generosity of the land itself. When one is at a loss for finding fruit inside the house, and another trip to the store is not possible, a final visit to the grape vine or apple tree, together with a more careful search through the foliage, will usually net a few more bunches of grapes or apples—scrawny perhaps, but tasty nevertheless.

Fifty years ago, when most people in the area lived off the foodstuffs produced here, national agribusinesses and supermarket chains were undermining the market for locally produced food until, eventually, they got what they wanted—a population totally dependent on their denatured products and processes. Fortunately, more recently, a growing consciousness around healthy food has developed among many people, so there is an increased demand for locally raised organic foods, to such a degree that families wishing to make their livelihood in that way can do so. Technologies such as hoop houses and drip irrigation have aided this trend.

Perhaps the greatest advantage to growing our own produce may yet be realized in the way that healthy, wholesome food and the vigorous exercise required to produce it function as medicine for our entire being—mentally, physically, spiritually and even aesthetically. A plethora of stories circulates among northern New Mexicans about elders who spent their lives growing and eating the simple foods that they produced and of how they lived to a ripe old age without ever having set foot in a hospital. What so many of us would now give to live such lives! The fact is, each spring we are given the opportunity to hitch our being to the larger cosmic forces that drive our universe—the sun, the earth and the snowmelt—and plant a few seeds in the ground.

By tending to the living plants, we indirectly tend to ourselves. Our world and all of its life forms constitute a single, thoroughly interdependent organism. It stands to reason that the care and interest we give plants, we ultimately give to ourselves and to others. When all of the hoopla of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day have come and gone, may we remember the seeds we have stored in our cupboards, basements or clay pots, for they could be the key to our health, wealth and a long and interesting vida.

Writer and photographer, Alejandro López, was raised on a small farm in northern New Mexico where he still plants crops.

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2014 Local Food Festival and Field Day

This annual event was held on Oct. 12, 2014, at the historic Gutiérrez-Hubbell House in the South Valley of Albuquerque.

It offered the public a chance to connect with local growers, producers and businesses. There were a variety of workshops and lectures on gardening/farming, seed saving, New Mexico’s farming history and culture, as well as lots of locally grown vegetables, small-batch jams, salsas, baked goods, soaps and other products, cooking and gardening workshops and kids’ activities. The Mid-Region Council of Governments, Bernalillo County, and a variety of local groups and organizations sponsored the festival. www.localfoodnm.org

© Seth Roffman (7)

NM Organic Farming Conference • Feb. 20-21, 2015

Local Food Takes Hold in New Mexico

Like many states, New Mexico imports most of its food. But the local food movement is thriving, with increased activity among consumers and entrepreneurs.

Proponents say, the closer the food operations, the lower the fuel costs and CO2 emissions and the greater the benefit to the local economy and to food security.

These days, it is not unusual for patrons to expect menus to feature at least some dishes made with locally sourced products. People increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it was grown. Many restaurants, particularly independents, now source locally, both as a marketing angle and as a way to support regional businesses. Some, like Farm & Table, located in Albuquerque’s North Valley, Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm, Nob Hill’s Yanni’s and the salad bistro Vinaigrette each operate their own urban farm. Even national grocers such as Whole Foods now offer local produce and products.

There are now 18 farmers’ markets operating in the Albuquerque area, including one of the newest, at the city’s historic Rail Yards. There are also more small-scale urban growers and larger-scale urban farmers. With a unique distribution system, New Mexico’s largest CSA (community-supported agriculture), Albuquerquebased Skarsgard Farms, services more than 1,600 members weekly, delivering as far north as Santa Fe and as far south as El Paso. The operation extends its growing season in greenhouses and is trying out hydroponic farming.

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Organic farmers, ranchers, market gardeners and researchers will gather at the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid Feb. 20–21, 2015 for the New Mexico Organic Farming Conference. Thirty-six breakout sessions will take up production issues ranging from soil building to pest management to water harvesting, pollinators, understanding the biology and ecology of common New Mexico weeds and farming for the wild. On the 21st, participants will feast on local, organic food at a luncheon recognizing the New Mexico Organic Farmer of the Year. Farm to Table, the N.M. Department of Agriculture and N.M. State University Cooperative Extension Service are organizing the conference. La Montañita Co-op, Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute, Skarsgard Farms, N.M. Farm and Livestock Bureau, Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union and the Silver City Food Co-op are the main sponsors.

The Rodale Institute was founded in 1947 by organic pioneer J.I. Rodale to study the link between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. “Coach” Mark Smallwood, executive director of the institute, will deliver the conference’s keynote address: “From America’s Oldest Organic Research Farm: Intriguing Questions & Lessons Learned.” Coach is a long-time organic farmer and biodynamic gardener who raises chickens, goats, sheep and pigs and drives his own team of oxen.

He began the Agriculture Supported Communities (ASC) program at Rodale Institute. The program brings fresh, high-quality organic food to underserved communities and provides an intensive training program for farmers. Coach hosts a one-year organic farming certification program designed for military veterans.

In addition, he has brought heritage livestock back to the institute’s 333-acre farm, created a Honeybee Conservancy to train and steward backyard beekeepers and launched “Your 2 Cents,” a national campaign to support and promote a new generation of organic farmers.

Conference registration, which includes Saturday’s luncheon, is $100 and will be available Dec. 1 online at www.farmtotablenm.org. For questions, call 505.473.1004 x10 (Santa Fe) or 505.841.9047 (Albuquerque). Special room rates are available if reserved by Jan. 1.

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Coalition Pokes Holes in Chile Certification “why do i have to register to be able to call my chile what it is?”

In August 2014, the New Mexico Chile Association (NMCA) launched a program, which the group had the New Mexico Legislature approve, to certify New Mexico’s chile. Some of the state’s growers aren’t happy about it. They say it’s not fair to generations of traditional chile growers.

© Seth Roffman

Isaura Andaluz, of the Save New Mexico Seeds Coalition, says that if you want real New Mexico chile, you need to go somewhere like a local farmers’ market or roadside stand. That’s where you’re likely to find chile grown from authentic seeds, from chile that has been grown in New Mexico for over 400 years.

Many of the growers here farm on a small scale and are not registered with the state’s Department of Agriculture (NMDA). Because they have not put up the $500 fee, they are not part of the new certified chile program, and, with the new regulation, they can’t technically call their peppers “New Mexico chile.” The legislative bill— approved through a questionable procedure—criminalizes any grower who uses the name of any place or geographic location in the state unless the grower is registered.

“This is an attempt to take control of our local identity and our chile by blurring and commodifying a staple food crop,” said Paul Romero, a farmer from Velarde.

“This law threatens local autonomy of seed and food sovereignty.”

“Why do I have to register to be able to call my chile what it is?” Andaluz said. “It infringes on our basic freedom to farm.” The coalition sees other problems with the new certification program, too, such as a weakening of the brand. The law defines New Mexico chile as capsicum annuum. “Now, any pepper grown in the state is called New Mexico chile,” Andaluz said. “It applies to every single type of pepper, whether it’s a jalapeño, Italian sweet pepper, yellow hot, etc., and does not require a 100 percent guarantee on a product labeled ‘New Mexico chile.’ So, if you are making salsa and it says New Mexico chile on it, it just has to be 95 percent New Mexico-grown; the other 5 percent can be from China, India, Perú or who knows where? And also, they can add chile resin.”

The new certification also allows for registered chile growers in any part of the state to call the green chile they grow “Hatch” chile. “The NMCA, which largely comprises chile industry processors and businesses—some who also have operations in Texas, Arizona and México—would love for you to believe that there really is a Hatch chile, but a native Hatch chile does not exist,” Andaluz says. “New Mexico State University (NMSU) developed modern chile varieties for the industry, primarily bred to be grown and processed in the southern part of the state.Those seeds are not saved, unlike landrace chiles, sometimes called chile nativo.” Save NM Seeds says that the new certification program was established for the benefit of NMCA and NMSU and, also, that the NMDA should not be functioning as an enforcement arm of the NMCA.The coalition wants New Mexico lawmakers to address these problems.

The Agri-Cultura Network in Albuquerque’s South Valley

The American Friends Ser vice Committee (AFSC), established in 1976 in New Mexico, provides hands-on year-round farmer-tofarmer training to beginning organic farmers. In 2009, in Albuquerque’s South Valley, AFSC, community partners and three beginning farmers created the Agri-Cultura Network (ACN), a farmer-run association.

AFSC incubated the network and encouraged farmers the group trained Natalie Romero (r) and friend wash salad greens to collaborate, jointly market their food and sell to the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). By 2012, the farmers were able to run the program independently. ACN has grown to 12 farms and has sold to APS for the past four years. The network has created an innovative Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that works to ensure local organic food is accessible to low-income families. In its first year, 20 families were part of the CSA. It has now grown to 250 families, half of whom are low-income and receive a bag of produce every week for only $5.

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The Local Voice

Growing Local Food Businesses

by Leaps and Pounds Vicki Pozzebon

An entrepreneurial network for food-based businesses Since then, various nonprofits have carved out their niche in this work and identified what they do best to move the needle on the local food system in New

Mexico: farm to school and restaurant, active and lively farmers’ markets, successful food co-ops, community gardens, just to name a few. Without a doubt, the local food movement in New Mexico is alive and well. What was missing, we discovered, was a focus on the value-added sector, that is, the great artisan products often found only at farmers’ markets or at specialty food shops and quaint cafés, or in limited supply in a few grocery stores.

Making Food Creates Jobs

According to a Bioneers’ Dreaming New Mexico study on local food, New Mexico households spend about $4.2 billion on food every year: $2.6 billion in stores, and $1.6 billion eating out. In addition, New Mexico exports about 97 percent of the food that is grown in this state.

This presents an enormous opportunity to help create wealth locally, through numerous jobs in various food-industry sectors. Dreaming New Mexico further reported that: Sixteen percent of all jobs are farmrelated, which translates into over 147,000 jobs. (About 32,000 are farm operators and 84,000 work in agricultural processing. The remainder are in food services industries and

USDA Grants Awarded to Support New Mexico Farmers and Ranchers

Seven New Mexico organizations will share $538,000 in USDA Farmers Marketing and Local Food Promotion Program funding to help family farmers and ranchers develop new markets for their products, support rural communities and increase access to fresh, healthy food.

• D elicious New Mexico will receive $100,000 to provide outreach, marketing, training and technical assistance to improve and expand the Española Food Hub into an incubation hub for northern New Mexico food businesses.

• Santa Fe Community Foundation will receive $100,000 to expand a local, healthy food-procurement program to low-income and low-access communities that will improve the capacity of Pueblo agricultural producers through farm-tomarket training.

• The Pueblo of Pojoaque will receive $44, 616 for promotional activities, expanded services and vendor recruitment to grow the Pojoaque Farmers’ Market.

• The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute will receive $91,604 to establish an advertising campaign to promote the market, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) redemption at the Southside Market, and to provide technical assistance and professional training to vendors.

• The Piñón Foundation will receive $100,000 to produce and implement Spanish language multimedia campaigns promoting farmers’ markets nationwide.

• The New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association will receive $77,059 to promote SNAP redemption at farmers’ markets in four counties and train vendors to use Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT).

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government-related jobs.) If 25 percent of the food produced in New Mexico was consumed in New Mexico, then 10,000 new jobs would be created—about 15 percent more in the agrifood sector; 17 percent in forage and crop farms; 18 percent from livestock, game and fish; and 65 percent from food manufacturing, distribution, retail and restaurants.

I n A l b u q u e rq u e ’s agriculturally and traditionally rich South Valley, a local-food movement started in earnest in 2006 at the South Valley Economic Development Center’s (SVEDC) Mixing Bowl commercial kitchen. Top: Santa Fe-based Kinna’s Laos chile paste is a The kitchen has been home traditional example of a go-to condiment and dining to over 100 small food staple found in Southeast Asia. Middle: Authentic producers who have tested biscochitos from Celina’s Biscochitos are a comforting their products and received sign of the changing seasons. Below: Gene Tauer of Intergalactic Bread Company with his Intergalactic help to establish themselves in Space Sauce local markets. With over 60 of those businesses “graduating” out of the kitchen incubator, the Río Grande Community D e v e l o p m e n t Corporation (SVEDC’s parent organization) identified the need to support these businesses’ continued growth.

Locally owned businesses generally contribute Delicious New Mexico: more to the “economic multiplier” than Growing Local Businesses nonlocal businesses—more income, As an entrepreneurial network for foodwealth, jobs and tax payments—because based businesses, DNM provides access they spend more money locally. When to specific resources. One of the most just one dollar is spent with a locally valuable ways to support local businesses owned food business, 42 cents of it is to give them the opportunity to share stays in our communities, multiplying and learn from each other. Providing repeatedly into our local economy. networking opportunities in workshops With an eye on the dramatic numbers and at events, DNM gets its members to be reached in keeping locally together to talk about marketing, label grown and processed food local and design, merchandising, co-packing and creating more food jobs, Delicious New other industry-specific topics. Case Mexico (DNM) was born in 2012. The studies on challenges and successes organization has grown to be one of the in the industry have helped many largest and fastest growing models for businesses identify their own needs for supporting local food businesses. growth and success.

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© Melanie West (2)

any years ago, over a locally sourced meal, a group of food activists and nonprofit leaders came together in my kitchen to discuss how we might further move our food system in New Mexico to self-sustainability. At the time, in 2008, less than 3 percent of the food New Mexico produced stayed in the state. We wondered how we might increase that number to keep more money in our own backyards. We laughed at our own struggles and our many stops and starts to make things happen. We also saluted the successes of our local farmers’ markets. But we were looking for solutions on how to make it easier to localize our food system to help more farmers grow more food for our schools, institutions, restaurants and retail outlets. It was a lofty goal, to be sure, and one that would require more talks, more food to nourish our ideas and more partners to collaborate.

© Seth Roffman

M

© Melanie West

© Seth Roffman

New Mexico food products for sale at the Santa Fe School of Cooking

Frank Najar and son look on as Emma Dean, matriarch of Albuquerque based Tío Frank’s, prepares chile samples for eager customers

DNM seeks to raise the bar for all food businesses across the state, which in turn helps provide the state with a sustainable and meaningful form of economic development that stays true to our state’s agricultural roots. Members

that will help small businesses in rural communities by activating underutilized kitchens, often in county-owned facilities or community centers. Using the Mixing Bowl’s successful model to support start-up food businesses, the kitchens will become hubs of activity.

DNM will serve as the marketing arm for these products and provide technical assistance for growing into grocery stores and wholesale distribution throughout the state. The kitchens will have three types of users:

in the organization pledge to source as locally as possible for their ingredients and, if they can’t, then DNM finds out what the barriers are—seasonality, lack of available products, prices or other— and works with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA),

the USDA, and other partners to identify areas for opportunities. In addition, members receive support through statewide marketing efforts, branding and technical ser vices.

Offering workshops, connections to capital, access to distributors and buyers, DNM is quickly becoming the state brand for local food.

The largest need for DNM’s members is in the second stage of their development.

Barriers to growth include lack of suitable facilities to grow their business once they graduate from commercial kitchens. In partnership with the Río Grande Development Corporation, the Mixing Bowl and many community partners, DNM is now working on growing a statewide kitchen network

Flagship Food Group in Albuquerque

The California-based Flagship Food Group is an international firm that makes processed foods such as salsa, burritos and tamales, which it sells to national retailers under several names. The company’s new U.S. manufacturing and distribution headquarters is in a former Albuquerque Tortilla Company site, a 78,400-sq.- ft., industrial food-processing facility in Albuquerque’s Renaissance corridor. On Oct. 7, CEO Rob Holland announced that Flagship would hire 125 people immediately and 300 in the next five years. The company expects annual sales to go from about $40 million to $100 million.

¡Sostenga! Commercial Kitchen to Reopen through Partnership

The ¡Sostenga! Commercial Kitchen on Northern New Mexico College’s Española campus, closed in 2012 due to limited financial resources, will once again serve the community, thanks to a partnership between the college, Río Arriba County and the Río Grande Development Corporation’s Siete del Norte.

The goal of the commercial kitchen is to act as a business incubator, supporting the creation of new food businesses across northern New Mexico. It is designed to support regional farmers and ranchers interested in creating their own businesses by providing a facility to get them started. The kitchen will be FDA-licensed and outfitted with commercial-grade cooking and filling equipment. Clients will also have access to training and mentorship through the project and its partners.

“We are excited to be working with Northern as a trusted community leader and advocate that embraces cultural sustainability and quality student learning,” Siete del Norte President Todd López said. “We are hopeful that our partnership will create

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tart-up businesses: those that are • S testing recipes and looking to get started.

• E stablished businesses looking for a commercial kitchen: In many cases,

these businesses are working from restaurant kitchens after hours or in shared spaces that are less than ideal.

A sustainable and meaningful form of economic development that stays true to our state’s agricultural roots • C o-packing: These are businesses that are looking to grow a product but aren’t interested in being in the kitchen themselves. DNM will help by providing a staff that will test, process and package products for wide distribution. continued on page 28

opportunities for Northern students and emerging entrepreneurs in the community.”

“The support of this partnership gives new life to the possibility of sustaining the commercial kitchen in a way the college was unable to do on its own,” Northern President Nancy Barceló said. Other partners include Delicious New Mexico and Los de Mora Local Growers’ Cooperative.

Food Manufacturing Entrepreneurship Project in southwest New Mexico

In July, USDA Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner presented Río Grande Community Development Corporation a certificate of obligation to begin the funding for the establishment of a food-manufacturing entrepreneurship project in southwest New Mexico. Brunner said, “This project offers an exciting opportunity to build a food network of locally grown products, which will provide our families and children with a healthier food supply. In the long run, this project will also create new income opportunities and help stimulate the economy in our rural communities.”

The $152,492 grant provided by the Rural Community Development Initiative program will be used to develop incubator kitchens, food-processing training, the development of distribution networks and regional marketing planning for small food-manufacturing businesses in Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties.

The presentation was made in conjunction with the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service summer food-demonstration project in Anthony, New Mexico. The demonstration was held to show the public the various programs offered by the agencies within the USDA and how they are being utilized in high poverty areas targeted by USDA’s StrikeForce Initiative.

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Feathered Friends of Santa Fe Wild & Exotic Bird Seed & Supplies

1089 St. Francis Dr.

Santa Fe, N.M. 87505

505-988-5154

featheredfriends@cnsp.com www.featheredfriendsofsantafe.com

Advertise in GFT Support a more sustainable world.

Call Skip Whitson at 505.471.5177 or Anna Hansen at 505.982.0155

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Green Fire Times • November 2014

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Taos County Economic Development Corporation Week:

Thanksgiving for the Harvest • November 10–16 Taos Food Center Expansion Supports Entrepreneurship

© Anna C. Hansen

Seth Roffman

aos County Economic Development Corporation’s mission is to support the unique agricultural lifestyle of northern New Mexico. The Taos Food Center, a 5,000-sq.-ft., USDA-certified, commercial-grade food kitchen is at the heart of the TCEDC’s programs.

Sixteen restaurants and about 100 foodbased businesses have been launched from the center. Over 600 people have trained there in product development, FDA regulations and food safety, along

with the history and food culture of the region. “The free training we provide with our food-production classes fully prepares people to start food businesses and streamlines their ability to hit the ground running with little capital but with lots of support,” said Pati Martinson, who, with Terrie Bad Hand, founded and has directed and developed the TECDC Business Park campus for the past 28 years. The campus is also home to the Taos School for Integrated Arts.

A “national model for community food service regeneration” Many local businesses currently operate from the food center, making everything from fresh traditional salsas to organic scones. The center recently received $100,000 in Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) funds from the New Mexico Economic Development Department for needed repairs and upgrades.

A n o t h e r o f T C E D C ’s initiatives, created in response to the closure of local facilities, is the Mobile Matanza, a semi truck fully equipped as a humane, USDA-certified livestock-slaughter unit, the second one in the nation.

The initiative has helped feed families and helped outlying ranchers hold onto their land and traditional lifeways.

Calling TCEDC a “national model for community food service regeneration,” on Sept. 9, 2014, town of Taos Mayor Dan Barrone signed a proclamation designating the second week of November, in perpetuity, as TCEDC Week. The first annual

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TCEDC Week Celebration and Thanksgiving for the Harvest, celebrating the food, land, water and cultures of northern New Mexico, will take place from Nov. 10-16 at the TCEDC campus at Bertha and Salazar streets. Friends of TCEDC are sponsoring free tours, films, talks and classes.

Some of the highlights: Saturday, Nov. 15, a free, Gala Expo and Food Fest will be held at Bataan Hall on Civic Center Drive in downtown Taos from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. TCEDC’s value-added food producers, along with Taos Farmers’ Market vendors, will provide tastes, samples and products for sale. Local food advocates will demonstrate foodpreservation and seed-saving techniques.

Many locally produced items will be raffled off. Saturday’s keynote speaker is author and Native rights/environmental activist Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe), founder and director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project in Minnesota. Other featured speakers include permaculturist/ heritage seed advocate Louis Hena, from Tesuque Pueblo; Marko Schmitt, 2014 Taos Farmers’ Market manager; and Embudo historian/mayordomo/author Juan Estévan Arellano.

© Seth Roffman

T

L-R: Pati Martinson and Terrie Bad Hand

On Sunday,Nov.16 at 6 p.m.,a fundraising dinner prepared by Native celebrity chef Loretta Barret Oden (Potawatomi) will take place at the TCEDC campus. Oden ran the Corn Dance Café in Santa Fe in the 1990s and starred in the PBS series Seasoned with Spirit, five shows that combined Native American history and culture with healthy recipes inspired by indigenous foods. i Reservations for the dinner and a more detailed schedule can be obtained by visiting the website: friendsoftcedc.com or by email: friendsoftcedc@gmail.com

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Contemporary Vigas, Lumber, and Timbers. Custom Milling Furniture Grade Lumber: 5/4, 8/4,12/4, 16/4 Shop Air Dried — Wide Panels Call Dennis Durán at 505-690-3135

Gray Weathered Lumber, Vigas and Timbers

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Green Fire Times • November 2014

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Santa Fe Motor Sports 2594 Camino Entrada

505-438-1888

www.SantaFeMotorSports.com Financing available

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Green Fire Times • November 2014

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Traditional Native American Farmers Association Healing Mother Earth through Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom Malín Alegría

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ormed in 1991, the Traditional N a t i v e A m e r i c a n Fa r m e r s Association’s mission is to “revitalize traditional agriculture for spiritual and human need.” The idea is that if we revitalize traditional Native agriculture we will contribute to stabilizing Native communities in three ways: offering economic opportunities for selfsufficiency through sustainable, natural and cultural resource development; rebuilding a means for cultural transmission while reclaiming damaged eco- and social systems; and creating a healthy organic food supply while restoring plant and animal biodiversity to Native lands.

relationships also exist in nature and can be found in the Iroquois agricultural method of ‘intercropping’ known as the ‘Three Sisters Garden.’”

“Farming seemed to be the foundation of those social frameworks,” Clayton recalled. “When I was young, the community was experiencing a loss of a lot of land. A hydroelectric project was taking the best farmland. There are pictures of ladies in the early 1950s lying down in front of bulldozers, trying to prevent homes and farms from being flattened. The loss of lands was but another blow in the disintegration of our community’s social fabric. That vision always stayed with me and interested me. How do we reclaim and rebuild a sustainable community utilizing traditional knowledge and culture?

Whenever the older people talked, they described this picture about how people supported and cared and needed each other. Everyone in the community— young, old, men, women—shared responsibilities. And though I could see it crumbling around me, it was my idea that I wanted this for myself and for my children and grandchildren.”

“Revitalizing traditional agriculture for spiritual and human need.”

“At the beginning, we were trying to rebuild as cultural survivors,” says Clayton Brascoupe, TNAFA’s director, from his cool adobe home/office on the plaza of Tesuque Pueblo, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. “I teach by telling stories because that’s how I learned. I’m Mohawk, but I wasn’t raised in the Mohawk community. I was raised in my grandmother’s home in upstate New York. She was born on an Iroquois Reserve in Ontario but moved to her husband’s reservation.

Iroquois communities have been divided by an international border since the Revolutionary War.

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other parts of Central America to collect stories and traditional agricultural and living practices. These stories opened their eyes, and they integrated them into their own family.

Now, 20 years later, the annual 13-day training Clayton and Margaret offer in Indigenous Sustainable Communities Design is a continuation of their journey.

The course is a testament to Clayton and Margaret’s vision, love and dedication to heal and rebuild harmonious communities.

Guided by a variety of knowledgeable teachers, the course allows students to experience and relearn a traditional social framework of being. It is designed to demonstrate how various disciplines should be integrated into a living system.

It builds the capacity of the participants to design and implement sustainable projects and to rebuild farm or restoration programs in Native communities, both rural and urban.

The design course provides intensive training in ecological design, natural farming, seed saving, traditional food and nutrition, indigenous women in agriculture, alternative energies, passive solar design, earth building, earth restoration, natural healing and restoring community through midwifery. Using a permaculture approach, the course works with nature’s model of sustainability and diversity. It starts with farm and garden designs, composting and soils. This leads into seeds, seed saving, growing for seed and, then, traditional foods and nutrition.

© Seth Roffman

“My grandmother had all kinds of stories. She told me stories about her life, her community and everyday things.

Sometimes, she would tell stories about how those communities used to function and how they would support and care for one another. I started to notice remnants of community social networks around me. But it was all fractured because of wars, disease, loss of lands and outside religious influences. My grandmother talked about how they would organize and assist one another in agriculture and other things. Traditional Iroquois people, within those communities, still function somewhat within those social frameworks. Mutually beneficial

When Clayton and his wife, Margaret, first star ted their famil y, they intentionally sought out traditional elders, farmers and groups to learn how to rebuild healthy, sustainable families and communities. This calling sent them all over the United States, Canada, México, and to Guatemala and

Clayton Brascoupe discusses irrigation techniques with TNAFA students

Clayton Brascoupe demonstrates seed cleaning

Green Fire Times • November 2014

As cultural survivors, this desire to heal and rebuild resonates with indigenous people from all corners of the Earth.

Individuals have traveled by air from

Brazil, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Guatemala and on foot and bus from Copper Canyon, México, the U.S. Southwest, and other states in search of the Earth knowledge offered by this intensive training. Many students have gone on to create jobs, environmental-restoration projects, community agricultural projects (urban and rural), seed-saving programs, seed storage (“libraries”) and women’s health nutrition projects.

Everyone who participates in this twoweek course is forever changed.

“Each day I feel closer to the whole group, and I’m not wanting to leave!

It’s really throwing me off to be here.

It’s making me question what I’m doing back home. What can I do better? What do I still have to learn? How can I be a better resource to my people? How can I do more? …It’s awesome to see that we’re all here for similar reasons: to relearn our traditions, to serve our Creator, to retake our place as stewards of the land. There’s a deeper learning that’s taking place here than just that of the book or specific knowledge of permaculture design and techniques.”

– Arlo Star For more information, visit www. tnafanm.org or contact Clayton Brascoupe at tnafa_org@yahoo.com.

TNAFA is an Affiliate Program of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples.

Malín Alegría is a writer, educator, Aztec dancer and wannabe farmer.

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Giving Love and Thanks in Times of Contradictions

Kathy Sanchez

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redawn Tewa prayers sing of the wonder of spiritfulness and joy in life. In the beginnings of new light, one sees with the eyes of the heart.

Such joy is found in the songs of the birds. It is found in the sounds of wind in the trees. We give love and thanks

© Seth Roffman (3)

Gathering for Mother Earth, Sept. 2014

Healing Mother Earth Relay Run

for these things and for the predawn dew, one of water’s many forms. We give thanks for the healing herbs growing on the mountain slopes and the plateaus. Such joy it is to see and smell the beauty of nature undisturbed.

We continue to honor our relationship with Mother Earth, mother for all, who expresses herself in eco-sustaining lifeways.

We a l s o w a n t t o ac k n ow l e d ge o u r connectedness to all brothers and sisters of earthly kinship. We give love and thanks for humans whose hearts still listen to the wisdom of time immemorial.

Putting it all into perspective, as reflected in the new friendships created and in learning the true meaning of sustainable reciprocity, it is clear that the Gathering for Mother Earth was a tremendous success.

Kathy Sanchez (Wan Povi) is a founding member and former executive director of Tewa Women United, based in Española, N.M. The group works with indigenous women to create stronger communities. 505.747.3259, info@tewawomenunited.org, www.tewawomenunited.org

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© Anna C. Hansen

How can we acknowledge the gratitude we experienced at the 25th annual Gathering for Mother Earth at the Pojoaque Gathering Grounds, where we renewed our commitment to Turtle Island? Many creative people made the gathering of peoples possible. There was generous support from afar and from those who came to share so generously in mind, heart and spirit. We particularly want to thank our sheroe, Betty Tsosie, of Tewa Tees, Paula Tsosie, who designed the beautiful turtle on those shirts, and Sean Hughes, who designed the 25th celebration logo. The gathering would not have been possible without the contributions from local farmers and from Cid’s Market in Taos, La Montañita Co-op in Santa Fe, Whole Foods, Local Collective 18 and others who donated food for the meals.

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Page 20 (Top, l-r): Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Luci Tapahonso; artist/Pre-Contact Diet advocate Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo); Chef Naphi Craig (White Mountain Apache); Chef Freddie Bitsoie (Diné); Embudo, NM farmer Eremita Campos at her booth; prickly pear cactus fruit; Santa Domingo Pueblo grandmother Josephine Humetewa with Nadia Toya and family cooks; books on Native plants and foods; Felipe Ortega (Ollero band of Jicarilla Apache) discusses mica utility ware as authors/chefs Katherine Kagel (Café Pascual’s) and Deborah Madison listen; Above: Tomás Antonio, botanist/science coordinator at the Institute of American Indian Arts; James Beard award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison; Center: varieties of Native beans, corn, chile seed and tea

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FUZE.SW 2014 Food & Folklore Festival Museum Hill, Santa Fe

Article and photos by Seth Roffman

F

rom Sept. 12-14, at the second annual FUZE.SW Festival, award-winning chefs and food journalists from across the United States, as well as leading historians, archaeologists, farmers, artists and folklorists, gathered to discuss and demonstrate Native American culinary traditions and techniques.

Two hundred people attended the event at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) and the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) in Santa Fe. MIAC Director Della Warrior, the museum’s curators and Carnell Chosa from the Santa Fe Indian School facilitated the focus on Native foodways. Also providing guidance and insight were chefs/presenters Nephi Craig (White Mountain Apache), Lois Ellen Frank (Kiowa), Walter Whitewater (Diné) and culinary authors Deborah Madison and Cheryl Alters Jamison. MOIFA Director Marsha Bol, Marketing Director Shelly Thompson and Steve Cantrell from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs were key to the event’s creation.

Traditional Native practices can inform modern agricultural and culinary techniques.

Presentations started with a focus on traditional Native American farming practices such as non-irrigated (dryland) farming. There were discussions about how Native Americans influenced New Mexico with their food before the Spanish arrived and the fusion between Native American and Mexican/Spanish foods.

A keynote speech opened each day. The first was “Native American Food Traditions and Identity,” given by Lois Ellen Frank. Author Betty Fussell presented “Our Appetite for Change—and Its Consequences.” Nephi Craig discussed the concepts of “Food as Empowerment and Conduit for the Messages Embodied in Plants, Land, Animals and Water.” The keynotes were followed by three or four 15-minute “fastalks” including “The Pre-Contact Diet” by Roxanne Swentzell; “Indigenous Biotechnology” by Tomás Antonio, Ph.D.; and “It’s Not All Rats on a Stick,” by MIAC researcher/curator Dody Fugate, who reviewed colonial stereotypes about Native foods from an archaeological perspective.

In the morning and afternoon, attendees could choose to attend one of several concurrent panels with experts who discussed topics such as “Farming Smart in the High Desert”; “Corn: The Grain That Sustains Body and Soul”; “The Bean’s Rise from Humble Legume to Southwest Culinary Classic”; “Indigenous Cooking Utensils”; “Micaceous Pottery: How to Cook with and Care for It”; “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Fried Dough,” and “Contemporary Native American Food.”

There were cooking demos and tastings with local chefs. The attendees broke bread—buwa yaweh, a delicate, paper-thin, rolled, flat blue-corn bread—with Wenona Nutima of Tesuque Pueblo, ate prickly pear cactus fruit and tasted other Native delicacies. Meals ranged from a traditional “grandmother’s lunch,” prepared

by Pueblo mothers and grandmothers, to a vegan, hominy corn harvest stew to modern Southwest cuisine—a buffalo dinner with produce from the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. All of the foods served were sourced locally.

FUZE.SW’s third day was free to the public. It featured New Mexico-grown and prepared foods to taste and buy, cooking demos, cookbook signings, horno bread baking and Pueblo dancers.

For information about next year’s FUZE.SW, which will take a different look at the deep and rich influences that make up New Mexican cuisine, email fuze.sw@ gmail.com or visit fuzesw.museumofnewmexico.org

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Page 21 (top-bottom): Culinary journalist/author Betty Fussell; Buffalo Dancers from the Pueblo of Pojoaque; Panel discussion on “Seeds: The Connection through Generations” with (l-r): professor Richard Ford; Native seed advocate Louis Hena (Tesuque Pueblo); Lynda Prim of Native Seeds Search; Scott Canning of the Santa Fe Botanic Garden; and botanist/IAIA professor Thomas Antonio. Bottom: event participants on a break

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A Small Sample of Who We Are

Maceo Carrillo Martinet

W

e all have a relative, friend, work associate, or even a bit of ourselves that is pessimistic about the future of humanity. We are told that a gloomy future is our destiny, that everything we touch we eventually destroy. Even the cinematic aliens that visit our planet, like the character named Prat in the movie K-Pax, proclaim that “it’s hard to imagine how we’ve made it this far.” Pessimism toward humanity seems to have more to do with our level of education, or lack thereof, rather than the many threats we face.

Although there is rampant deforestation going on today, for most of humanity’s history, in many cases, we have actually been amazing forest stewards. For more than 11,000 years, the indigenous communities of Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo and other countries throughout Southeast Asia cultivated an array of fruit, nuts, vegetables and meats from the tropical rain forests.1 The ingenious idea of planting a “food forest,” a concept in today’s permaculture lexicon, is nothing new. Thousands of years before people learned how to grow rice in that region, communities were cultivating and harvesting all sorts of food from the forests.

In some of the world’s largest populated communities, humans actually helped improve the soil and forests.

For millennia, people have harvested fruit, nuts, wood and many other things from the forest without destroying it. Some argue that the human-caused destruction in the region was small because the population was small, but recent research has revealed some of the largest populated communities in the world, at the time, lived in those forests. Amazingly, researchers are finding that humans actually helped improve the forest. Archaeological excavations reveal that the Maya in Central America created a more nutritious tropical soil, which helped nourish the people. Think of it as a massive, community-based, soil-engineering project.The Mayan people developed an ingenious method, which today is commonly called biochar, to retain nutrients and minerals in tropical soils that are continuously being leached by drenching rains. The Maya are just one example demonstrating that a human community can live for thousands of years while contributing to the long-term health of the soil and the forest.3 In 2011, a fascinating study came out in Science magazine in which researchers documented both the health of the forest and the people in 84 land-based communities across six countries in East Africa and South Asia. The researchers found that when forest management, i.e., rulemaking, zoning, and land-use planning, was still controlled by a community-based process with traditional roots still intact, the forest biodiversity and resiliency to climate change actually increased.4 In fact, more countries around the world are starting to realize that transferring forest management back to local communities can benefit both the economy and the environment. Over the past 20 years, a forested area larger than Alaska—about 494 million acres—has been putting out-of-state or federal land-use decision-making back into local indigenous community-based management.5 Many argue, rightfully so, that an essential tool to fight climate change—and poverty—is to protect local community control of forests and return forest management to indigenous communities.6 Today, locally based communities manage 19 percent of the world’s forests. It’s a complete 180-degree reversal of the policies espoused by the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and other authoritative institutions that proclaimed over many decades that local and indigenous people didn’t know how to properly manage forests.

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© Anna C. Hansen

The Amazon rain forest, just like the southeastern Asian forests on the other side of the planet, is often portrayed as an untouched wilderness with dangerous forms of life. Researchers digging through the forest floor are now corroborating what the local indigenous communities have always said: The forests are part of ancient gardens cultivated by the people.2 The mix of tropical vegetation you see today throughout the Amazon is, to a great extent, the result of human management and stewardship. Over hundreds of generations, the natives planted various types of trees. Today these “food forests” still feed the local people and wildlife.

Los Brazos, NM

The acequia system, part of a rich cultural tapestry of water management throughout the U.S. Southwest, is an amazing example of stewardship. Through an engineered system of gently sloping ditches running along the edges of the valley, water revered as the “blood of Christ” is delivered to each village. The slow seepage of acequia water infiltrates the entire river valley floor, recharging the aquifer, spreading water across the valley further than the river would do naturally and actually improving the water quality for downstream communities. For over 400 years, the act of sharing water has helped the verdant valley stay lush, allowing the people to grow a variety of chile, corn, beans and many other nutritious drought-tolerant crops.7 Our ancient history of taking care of the common land and the common people is proof that humanity is not simply “solitary, poor, nasty and brutish,” as Thomas Hobbes, one of the philosophical godfathers of today’s capitalist economy, would like you to think. The survival of humanity has never been about the “survival of the fittest.” It has been the “survival of the collective.” Humanity’s instinctual ability to help each other and work together is indeed our defining trademark. One might not know what “sustainability” means, but the idea and principle of this word is in our DNA, as is the urge to treat each other with dignity, respect and justice. These traits are just a small sampling of who we really are. i Maceo Carrillo Martinet, Ph.D., is a New Mexico-based ecologist/educator working on ecological restoration and community-based environmental education. conuco8@yahoo.com 1 Hunt and Rabett. 2013. Holocene landscape intervention and plant food production strategies in island and mainland Southeast Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2013.12.011.

2 Ross, N.J. 2011. Modern tree species composition reflects ancient Maya “forest gardens” in northwest Belize. Ecological Applications 21: 75–84.

3 Mann, C. 2006. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. Vintage Books, New York.

4 Persha et al. 2011. Social and ecological synergy: local rulemaking, forest livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation. Science 331: 1606–1608.

5 Agrawal. A. 2012. Local institutions and the governance of forest commons. In Comparative environmental politics: theory, practice, and prospects. P.F. Steinberg and S.D. VanDeveer, eds. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

6 Stevens et al. 2014. Securing rights, combating climate change: how strengthening community forest rights mitigates climate change. World Resources Institute. Washington, DC. Accessible at www.wri.org/securing-rights 7 Juan Estevan Arellano. 2014. Enduring Acequias: Wisdom of the Land, Knowledge of the Water. University of New Mexico Press, New Mexico

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On the Land: Together with the Earth A New Film Documentary

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n northern New Mexico, those seeking wisdom and inspiration don’t have to look far, and looking to the past need not mean being stuck in the past. This is evident in a new documentary film, On the Land: Together with the Earth, which takes a dramatic look at the relevance of the region’s traditions, connecting old and new ways of sustainable living.

The film’s seven personal stories reflect experiences and humor gleaned f rom Pueblo, Hispano and Anglo cultures and show how, in some ways, they are united by conscious efforts to respect the land and each other. The stories include growing up at Taos Pueblo in the 1950s, healing a troubled, violent life by returning to the land and grandparents’ teachings, and using traditional age-old building methods along with innovative green-building techniques and solar energy. There is also practical advice about how to make a ranch or home self-sustaining using indigenous materials.

© Painting by Jonathan Warm Day Coming

Somewhere in northern New Mexico, people are building with old and new technologies, living off the grid and embracing traditional teachings.

“When you turn on the evening news, you see a world that is mostly steeped in chaos and rampant disrespect for the natural world and each other,” said filmmaker Cindy Pickard, founder of the nonprofit Rites of Passage. “On the Land shines a hopeful lens on humanity and the earth by showing the land’s power to heal and bring people together.”

Imagica Pictures and Rites of Passage collaborated to produce the film. It was filmed and edited by Andy Pickard. A compelling soundtrack features local New Mexico Hispanic musicians and Native American music selected by Grammy-winning producer Tom Bee, founder of the Albuquerque-based Sound of America Records.

© Seth Roffman (2)

The film premiered in Taos last month, where it was introduced by some of the featured participants. Prior to the screening, there were performances by 10-year-old Taos Pueblo drummer/singer Cruz Lujan, Taoseño flamenco guitarist Ricardo Anglada (his first public performance since recovering from a stroke in October 2013), and professional guitarists and a percussionist from Taos led by Vito Trujillo, Sr. and Allen Vigil.

Screenings are being arranged for Albuquerque, Santa Fe and beyond. DVDs are also available. More information on the film can be found at www.the8thfire.org. To view the film’s trailer, visit http://vimeo.com/33124684

© Anna C. Hansen (2)

Quotes from the film

Painter Jonathan Warm Day Coming, from Taos Pueblo: “In my work, I hope to preserve a record of the traditional life of our people…increased knowledge and understanding will help all of us to live better with one another and the natural world.”

Ed Cárdenas, social worker, teacher and author: “The messages of our ancestors are always around if we only open our hearts to listen.”

Victor García, rancher, farmer and building craftsman: “You can’t eat money.”

Mark Myers, solar designer: “The new technology is here.

It just needs to be implemented.”

Other Nuevo Mexicanos interviewed include Jody Armijo, Top: Filmmaker Cindy Pickard with some of the people profiled in the film. L-R: Ed Cárdenas, Willy Groffman and George Martínez and innovative solar homebuilder Willy Jonathan Warm Day Coming; Right: Cruz Lujan and emcee Julia Pratt; Bottom: Musicians led by Vito Trujillo, Sr. Groffman. i and Allen Vigil; Right: flamenco guitarist Ricardo Anglada

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Small Agricultural Lands Conservation Initiative

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owners who volunteer to place some or all of their land into permanent conservation with a land trust. Under these agreements, farmers continue to own and work their land and can leave it to their children, sell it, or arrange other

Nearly half of New Mexico’s farms are small properties of one-to-nine acres, representing a long tradition of familyowned lands. But many of these family farms are in trouble. Farming alone doesn’t pay the bills—most farmers have second jobs—and farmers generally are aging, with the majority in their 50s and 60s. For many, their family’s land is their primary asset, and they can’t retire without selling it to developers.

Farmland is often the most attractive land to developers because it’s beautiful and green, has water, and already has roads and utilities. All of this adds up to

For many, their family’s land is their primary asset, and they can’t retire without selling it to developers.

© Anna C. Hansen (2)

f you enjoy locally grown organic fruit, vegetables, meats and dairy or shop at one of New Mexico’s 50-some farmers’ markets, you’re an important part of our state’s farming community and economy.

Velarde, NM farmland

New Mexico losing about 4 percent of its already-scarce farmland per year, and the rate at which farmland is converted to housing and other development is accelerating.

The Santa Fe Conservation Trust (SFCT), in collaboration with other organizations and drawing on state financial incentives, can help. New Mexico offers financial incentives in the form of tax credits to farmland

options. The landowners can use the tax credits to reduce their taxes or convert the incentives into cash. Through these agreements, precious small farms are protected from development, thereby benefiting all of us who appreciate New Mexico’s agricultural lands and the goods they produce.

Unfortunately, there are significant barriers to participation in the state’s conservation incentive program for small farmers. For example, the up-front costs of placing land into conservation with a land trust are considerable. Fortunately, with the help of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute and others, SFCT formed a statewide coalition of farming, legal, financial and landtrust organizations called the Small Agricultural Lands Conservation Initiative (SALCI) to address issues that prevent small farmers from benefiting from the state’s incentive program.

Through SALCI, SFCT is developing a revolving fund to help cover the up-front costs. If you or another small farmer would like to discuss the possibility of taking advantage of these opportunities, contact SFCT at 505.989.7019 or email info@sfct.org i

Grass, Soil, Hope: Journey through A Carbon Country

By Courtney White.

Foreword by Michael Pollan Chelsea Green Publishing, 272 pages.

ISBN: 9781603585453

W

ith a masterful blend of storytelling and science, this book tackles an increasingly crucial question: What can we do about the seemingly intractable challenges confronting all of humanity today, including climate change, global hunger, water scarcity, environmental stress and economic instability?

Increasing soil carbon levels creates a host of benefits.

Many people know that effective agricultural practices improve land health, but fewer understand that increasing soil carbon levels creates a host of benefits. No one is immune to the carbon cycle, author Courtney White reminds us. We might as well understand it and use it to our advantage. Soil is a huge natural sink for carbon dioxide (CO2). If we can draw increasing amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it safely in the soil, we can significantly address all the multiple challenges that now appear so intractable. Soil scientists maintain that a mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions going into the atmosphere.

But how can this be accomplished? What would it cost? Is it even possible?

Yes, says White. It is not only possible but essential for the long-term health and sustainability of our environment and our economy. Right now, the only possibility of large-scale removal of GHGs from the atmosphere is through plant photosynthesis and related land-based carbon-sequestration activities.

These include a range of low-tech proven practices: composting, no-till farming, climate-friendly livestock practices, conserving natural habitat, restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands, increasing biodiversity and producing local food. In Grass, Soil, Hope, White shows how all of these practical strategies can together reduce atmospheric CO2 while producing substantial co-benefits for all living things.

A former archaeologist, White co-founded the Quivira Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to building bridges between ranchers, conservationists, public-land managers, scientists and others concerned with land health. Today, his work with Quivira concentrates on building economic and ecological resilience on working landscapes, with a special emphasis on carbon ranching and the new agrarian movement. White lives in Santa Fe with his family and a backyard full of chickens.

2014 Quivira Conference: “Back to the Future” • November 12–14 in Albuquerque The 2014 Quivira Conference will focus on concepts and practices that are old and yet new. “Back to the Future” is part of the burgeoning, regenerative agriculture movement, whose aim is to restore soil, land, ourselves and our communities to health and happiness via naturally renewing processes. In some cases, this means reviving or expanding time-tested practices; in others, it means adopting new technologies and ideas appropriate for regenerative goals.

The conference reflects the larger global celebration of the International Year of Family Farming and Ranching. Its goal is to help raise the profile of family farmers and ranchers and the significant role they play in alleviating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources and protecting the environment. The conference’s speakers represent the diversity of the regenerative agriculture movement around the globe.

The two workshops on the first day, Wetlands Restoration in Working Landscapes and How to Build Soil through Planned Grazing, will be Avery Anderson, Quivira Coalition followed by a Conversation about Carbon, Climate and Cattle. Six esteemed speakers will present diverse topics on each of the following two executive director with founder Courtney White days. The event concludes with an awards banquet. For details, call 505.820.2544 x 2 or visit quiviracoalition.org/2014_Quivira_Conference

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SERVICES

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Renewable Energy Development on New Mexico State Trust Land

“N

ew Mexico has the potential to lead the nation in new energy jobs and the production of clean renewable energy,” says State Land Commissioner Ray Powell. The New Mexico State Land Office, under the direction of Powell, has been working with local communities and the private sector in support of that goal. “Through successful private-public partnerships, we are working hard to seize the opportunities,” Powell said.

Harnessing the state’s vast solar and wind resources not only advances clean energy and creates jobs, it also earns money. The Land Office offers a flexible land-lease structure that works well with the renewable-energy industry’s business processes.

The leases are expected to generate about $500 million over the next 40 years.

About 94 percent of that goes to support public schools statewide. It also supports universities and hospitals.

The plant was built by the world’s largest solar developer, First Solar, and created about 300 construction jobs. First Solar recently sold the plant to Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy (owned by Ted Turner). However, First Solar will continue to operate and maintain the facility. This project will provide power to El Paso Electric customers in New Mexico and Texas through a 25year power-purchase agreement. Payments over the 40-year term of the lease are estimated to generate about $10 million for the state’s public schools.

In September 2014, the State Land Office earned more than $78 million for schools, hospitals and other beneficiaries.

There are currently five utility-scale wind projects under lease and three utility-scale solar projects on State Trust Land. The largest distributive solar system, where the commercial user of the electricity also owns the generating facility, is located on a former landfill site at Emcore in Albuquerque. Dozens of new applications are in progress, including a proposed 150-megawatt (MW) solar array to be located on 2,770 acres in Otero County. The auction for that development lease will take place on Jan. 5, 2015.

Luna County – Macho Springs Solar Project

The Macho Springs Solar Project, near Deming, began operations in May 2014.

The plant is currently the largest solar project in New Mexico, generating about 50 MW on about 600 acres of Trust Land. The solar array will generate enough to power more than 18,000 homes without air emissions and realize significant water savings over gas-fired or coal-fired generating plants. The project will displace more than 40,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the equivalent of removing 7,500 cars from the road. Similar amounts of electricity generated with coal-fired plants use about 340,000 metric tons of water, or 332 acrefeet annually.

Torrance County – El Cabo Wind Farm

The proposed El Cabo wind farm will be the largest wind-energy project in the state. Pacific Wind Development, LLC (Iberdrola Renewables) was the winning bidder for the Trust Land lease. The project will be located on about 40,000 acres of private land and 39,400 acres of Trust Land in Torrance County. The wind farm ultimately will generate about 1,000 MW, enough to supply about 400,000 homes.

It will generate about $38 million over the life of the lease for public schools and Carrie Tingley Hospital.

When completed, the wind farm will reduce CO2 emissions by 2.6 million tons, equivalent to taking 154,688 cars off the road, and save more than 1.1 billion gallons of water annually, or 3,428 acre-feet, when compared to coal-generated electricity. Most likely, the project will be built in several phases over the next 10 years. The start of the project is currently pending while issues with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are being resolved and power-purchase agreements negotiated.

Union County – Gallegos/Triangle Wind Farm

The Land Office recently auctioned a lease for about 19,000 acres of Trust Land in Union County. Triangle Gallegos LP won the bid and agreed to make lease payments that are estimated to generate about $47 million over the 45-year life of the project. These payments will support public schools, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Military Institute and New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute.

It is anticipated that this wind project will generate a total of 500 MW from 285 wind turbines—enough energy to supply up to 200,000 homes. When compared with coal-fired generation, the project would displace CO2 emissions by 1.3 million tons, equivalent to removing more than 77,000 cars from the road, and saving more than 550 million gallons of water annually, or 1,714 acre-feet. The project is scheduled to be built in two phases, with construction starting in 2015. It will create about 400 construction jobs and about 20 new, well-paying, permanent jobs.i

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Local Food Businesses

© Melanie West

The first model is in the testing phase in northern New Mexico in cooperation with a new food hub. DNM, as the marketing arm, will broker deals with restaurants and wholesale buyers for the hub and its own kitchen clients and network members. With a commercial kitchen serving the needs for processing raw goods and a hub ready to distribute products, it’s a win-win situation and partnership.

Several kitchens are poised to open their doors to food businesses. The goal for the statewide network is to help over 120 new food businesses, which will create nearly 300 jobs. In rural communities so often desperate for jobs, these are not insignificant numbers.

Creating a Trusted Local Brand

DNM’s success is partly due to its already recognizable brand for local quality products. Growing markets for

continued from page 13

value-added, locally made products in a local food system requires building demand, and that means building a consumer-awareness campaign. Eaters are a part of the system, and they play a valuable role within it. DNM helps eaters understand that products they find at local farmers’ markets, like organic raspberry red chile jams, artisan breads, lavender chocolate bark or apricot scones, are in limited supply because the makers of those products need a support system to help them grow into larger markets. The makers of your favorite mustard can’t possibly be at every farmers’ market or grocery store doing one-off sampling every weekend, unless they have a stock of cash to pay employees to do that for them. What they need is a support system that helps them get beyond farmers’ markets, into grocery stores that stock their shelves full of their products and reorder from distributors who deliver consistent products by the pallet. DNM also helps eaters understand that, when they ask for local products that are using more locally sourced ingredients, they are helping grow the market themselves.

They are creating demand, voting with their voice and their dollars for their favorite products.

The local food movement has grown by leaps and pounds (pun intended) in the last five years, with more food hubs coming online every year. We must be willing to test ideas quickly and move on fast if they fail and, by contrast, celebrate the small victories when we create models that work. Connecting farmers, ranchers and growers to food processors and consumers is key in keeping the system well fed (pun also intended.)

Delicious New Mexico was designed to be a support system for businesses that grow the economy from the ground up.Growing homegrown businesses that share in pride of place by celebrating the flavors of our great state is a benefit to all. i This article first appeared in Green Money Journal (www.greenmoney.com).

Vicki Pozzebon, a BALLE Fellow, is the owner of Prospera Partners, a consulting company, and Chief Foodie at Delicious New Mexico (www.deliciousnm.com). She is the author of the forthcoming book For the Love of Local: Confessions from the Heart of Community.

Read her blog The Local Voice at www. prosperapar tners. org and follow her on Twitter: @ vickipozzebon

Farm-to-Table Vending Machine

Comida de Campos, an Embudo, New Mexico-based family farm operation, has launched its Farm-toTable vending machine. It is only the second company in the nation to place farm-fresh food in refrigerated vending machines. Their salads, fruit cups and other locally produced foods are now in the Manuel Luján Building in Santa Fe and will soon be in Holy Cross Hospital in Taos. The products are monitored on a daily basis via the Internet and restocked at least twice a week. The family has been invited to place the machines in other state and city buildings and are setting up an Indiegogo crowdfunding account to try to raise the money to begin placing the machines in schools.

© Seth Roffman (2)

The Campos family has sold at local farmers’ markets and to restaurants for years. The family also hosts folks from around the world at their cooking school. 505.852.0017, algonativo@cybermesa.com, www. comidadecampos.com

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Former Commissioner Sues New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission

© Robert Boherz

The former director of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission has been granted a temporary restraining order, halting the commission’s deliberations over the future of the Gila River. Norm Gaume, an engineer, filed suit against his former agency, alleging that the commission violated the state Open Meetings Act because of closed-door discussions. The commission must decide by Dec. 31 whether to accept up to $62 million in federal funding to help dam the river to create a water diversion and reservoir system. Guame and his many supporters think that the project would devastate the river environment and would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the initial federal funding. The Gila River, in southwestern New Mexico, is the last free-flowing river in the state.

The Gila River

In the suit, Gaume says that the agency secretly met without public notice and took a series of actions including a subcommittee decision to spend $700,000 on a consulting contract. Amy Haas, an attorney for the commission, said in a written statement that “Gila Committee” does not constitute a quorum and therefore its meetings are not public and do not require notice. Brian Egolf, Gaume’s attorney, said if it is doing substantive work, the subcommittee must abide by the law, provide notice and hold its meetings in public. At press time, the District Court was to decide whether to lift the restraining order, extend it or issue another injunction.

Water-Wise Training for Professional Landscapers

From Nov. 10–14, the city of Santa Fe Water Conservation Office will be hosting an EPA-approved Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) training to area landscape/irrigation professionals, local nonprofits, governmental agencies, water utilities/service providers and educational institutions. The training is offered at $75. QWEL provides 32 hours of education based on principles of proper plant selection for the local climate, irrigation-system design and maintenance and irrigation-system programming and operation.

“Having certified professionals extends the city’s ability to provide expert water efficiency evaluations and irrigation check-ups to encourage customers to put every drop of water to work by ensuring their irrigation system operates at peak efficiency to minimize overwatering, evaporation and runoff,” said Water Conservation Manager Laurie Trevizo. To register, call 505.955.4220 or go to www.savesantafewater.com/2014/10/fall -2014qwel-training

Santa Fe Median Wins EPA Award for Stormwater Management

The city of Santa Fe has received a national honor for a 640-foot street median that makes better use of storm runoff. The demonstration project at St. Michaels Drive and Calle Lorca received the U.S. E.P.A. People’s Choice Award for Green Infrastructure and Low-Impact Development. The award honors small-scale effective uses of green infrastructure.

The city’s Water Conservation Office is using the median to show how small, low-cost design changes can significantly improve stormwater flow and make it possible to retain rainwater for use as irrigation on public-owned medians. The median was re-designed using recycled materials for infiltration galleries, curb cuts to access runoff and planted with native species to filter rainfall, recharge groundwater and reduce maintenance. Construction took 86 man-hours and cost $280 in materials. The design, removal and installation time was less than a week.

“The city wants to lead by example and provide incentives for both other city infrastructure improvements and for our customers who want to take water-conservation efforts to the next level,” said Laurie Trevizo, Water Conservation manager.

For more information about water conservation in Santa Fe, including the Drought Water Management Plan, residential and commercial rebate programs and outdoor/indoor water use requirements, visit www.savewatersantafe.com

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Planning Santa Fe’s Food Future Querencia ­— A story of food, farming and friends Seth Roffman

T

he 13-member Santa Fe Food Policy Council (SFFPC), which includes city and county staff, was established by a joint resolution f rom the city and county of Santa Fe. The council’s recently unveiled Food Plan presents current food, farm and health data to help area residents get, grow and learn about healthy food. It is also intended to facilitate the creation and maintenance of a regional food system that will ensure the availability of food supplies, including for low-income people, in coming decades. Accomplishing that goal will require increasing the Santa Fe area’s capacity for self-reliance.

step will be to educate residents about the recommendations and establish new ordinances that help preserve farmland and support urban farming. The SFFPC sees this collaborative effort as the foundation from which a just, sustainable and regenerative community food system can be built. The group expects that full implementation of the plan’s recommendations will occur over three years.

Our food cannot be separated from how we work the land and water our crops.

The culmination of several years of extensive community-level research, Planning for Santa Fe’s Food Future shows how food issues tie into health, economic development, education, transportation and land-use policies that affect agriculture, land and water conservation. The plan bridges local, state and national issues pertaining to food. Intended as a tool for discussion and ongoing modification as goals are prioritized, it suggests a variety of policy actions to promote food security.

Its recommendations are aligned with the Santa Fe County Health Action Plan, the Santa Fe County Sustainable Growth Management Plan and the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan.

Late last month, the SFFPC asked the City Council and the County Commission to adopt the plan as the guiding document for city and county officials, food and farm organizations and a variety of community groups. Once adopted, the next

Planting demonstration at Gaia Gardens in the city of Santa Fe

The Food Plan is divided into three sections: “Getting Food,” “Growing Food” and “Learning About Food.” Each section provides a list of recommendations and identifies agencies and/or organizations that should take responsibility for the goals’ implementation. “Getting Food” encourages the community to use all available means to make healthful and affordable food accessible. “Growing Food” highlights the critical role that farmers and the region’s natural resources play in ensuring the food supply. It strongly urges city and county governments to promote new and existing gardening, farming and ranching opportunities. “Learning About Food” underscores the connection between the food supply and healthy living. It calls for the widespread adoption of wellness policies, institutional practices and educational programs such as school gardens that increase the understanding and application of food production, cooking skills and the safe handling and processing of food.

The SFFPC meets the fourth Thursday of every month, 9-11 a.m., except for November and December, when it meets the third Thursday. Meetings are at the Food Depot, 1222 Siler Rd. and are open to the public. For more information, contact Peggy O’Mara at 505.983.6771, peggynomara@gmail.com or visit http:// www.santafefoodpolicy.org i

Santa Fe Food Statistics © Seth Roffman (2)

• 1 4.9 percent, at least 21,270 Santa Fe County residents, don’t know where their next meal is coming from. This number is equal to twice the population of Española.

• 10 percent of low-income families live a mile or more from the nearest grocery store.

L-R: Don Reece, Santa Fe County Health Policy and Planning commissioner, District 3; Patricia Boies, director of Health Services Division of Santa Fe County’s Community Services Department; Kathy Holian, Santa Fe County commissioner, District 4; Sue Perry, chair of the Santa Fe Food Policy Council and City Wellness coordinator; Tony McCarty, Santa Fe Food Policy Council and co-founder and executive director of Kitchen Angels; Erin Lloyd Ortigoza, Santa Fe Food Policy Council and county community planner; Susan Odiseos, Santa Fe Food Policy Council and president of Food for Santa Fe; Pam Roy, Santa Fe Food Policy Council and executive director of Farm to Table; Lynn Walters, Santa Fe Food Policy Council and founder and executive director of Cooking with Kids

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• 3 0,000 Santa Fe County residents experience the effects of obesity. That’s 20 percent of the population or 1 in 5.

• One-third of the restaurants in Santa Fe are fast-food restaurants. One in three.

• The Food Depot provided 4,827,818 pounds of food to partner agencies in 2013.

• Kitchen Angels has prepared and delivered over 725,000 meals since 1992.

• Food for Santa Fe weekly distributes 900 bags of groceries.

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Sustainable Santa Fe Monthly Update Announcing SSF’s Community Scorecard Measurement is the Key to Management.

H

ow effective are Santa Fe’s sustainability programs? Are the city’s efforts making a significant impact or spinning well-intentioned wheels? To find out, we need to see real numbers. Without concrete data and facts, all we have to go on are opinions.

That’s why the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission has developed a Community Scorecard that tracks data indicators. “It’s not enough to just implement a program and hope for the best,” notes the introduction to the Scorecard. “This tool provides concrete feedback on the efficacy of programs and information to guide and focus sustainability efforts where they are most needed.” In short, we need to verify that SSF efforts are accomplishing what we intend or adjust our strategy accordingly. What’s more, regular measurements can be used to hold responsible departments accountable for results.

While inspired by national tracking and reporting tools, including the Sustainability Tool for Assessment and Reporting (STAR) Communities system, the SSF Scorecard will specifically focus on our unique regional needs and priorities. This tool tracks more than 20 community data indicators in areas such as water use, electric use, solar installations, and recycling and diversion rates. Each has been chosen to guide the implementation of climate-change mitigation or preparation initiatives. This tool will also serve as the baseline data for Mayor Gonzales’ Climate Action Task Force.

A tool to guide implementation of climatechange mitigation or preparation initiatives The scorecard allows us to move beyond programs that “seem like a good idea” to results-driven initiatives. With this data, we will be able to see exactly how much we are progressing each year and make timely adjustments to bring us toward a measurable goal. This strategy has been dubbed the “Prius Effect” by scientists because it has been documented that most drivers respond to the immediate, observable feedback on the Toyota Prius’s dashboard by driving more efficiently.

The Community Scorecard will use this Prius Effect to create effective changes in how we manage our resources. The effects of city policy, improved infrastructure, resident education and behavior change, greener business practices and other sustainability programs will show up as changes in these indicators over time.

For example, water use is being closely tracked with multiple indicators.

Maintaining low per-capita water use has always been a strong suit for Santa Fe; in 2013, we averaged 101 gallons per capita per day. That is one of the lowest per capita water-use rates in the U.S. Southwest, and it measures not only residential use but also commercial, industrial and irrigation water. However, because

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of population grow th and other factors, such as wholesale water deliveries not included in per-capita calculations, our total water use is still increasing a n n u a l l y. M e a n w h i l e , water-efficiency incentive programs, like rebates on water barrels and toilet upgrades, have been used less every year. Carefully tracking resource use from multiple perspectives like this is a valuable tool for refining our conservation strategy even more. With t h i s i n f o r m a t i on , t h e commission can recommend initiatives to address Santa Fe’s total water use such as new commercial-efficiency programs or rainwaterharvesting opportunities.

© Anna C. Hansen (2)

Ashley Zappe

Santa Fe River, summer and autumn

data indicators included in the 2013 report:

• E nergy: City operations total electric use; city operations sources of electricity; average residential energy use; new solar installations; vehicle fuel use; electric and hybrid cars.

• Water: Per capita water use; total water consumption; sources of water; water-efficiency incentives; water conserved for water bank; water education; rainwater-harvesting permits.

• Waste: Per capita tons of solid waste; recycling participation; percent of recycled materials in solid waste; diversion from landfill; CO2e emissions reduced through recycling.

• Ecosystems: Tree canopy; river flow; conserved land.

• C ommunity Design: Complete and compact community development; walkability; public transportation use; average daily vehicle miles; developed parkland per 1,000 residents and distribution by district.

These data sets are drawn largely from previously published reports such as the 2012 City of Santa Fe Annual Water Report used for the example above, but the sets included in the scorecard have been selected and presented together for sustainability evaluation. As data become available, the following data sets will be added: CO2e emissions total from Santa Fe community; CO2e emissions by sector; climate-change preparation; aquifer; grey-water installations; river, arroyo and watershed restoration; bikeability; and green economy.

Data-indicator tracking is a standard procedure for many other sectors: companies use data indicators to increase their sales; Facebook offers data “insights” for organizations to increase their social-media reach; traffic planners use big data analytics to optimize traffic flow; and financial traders use data to make trading decisions. Why shouldn’t Santa Fe also harness the power of data tracking to develop our sustainability? i A downloadable copy of the 2013 Scorecard will be available Nov. 15 and can be found at http://sustainablesantafe.wordpress.com

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For the location nearest you, call Nick García at 505.203.4613 www.GreenFireTimes.com

NEWSBITEs

NASA Discovers Massive Methane Leak Over the Four Corners

Last month, NASA scientists announced that “leaks” from natural-gas producers in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin have created a 2,500-square-mile cloud of methane hovering over the Four Corners. The methane cloud, exposed by satellite data and unnoticed until now, is three times larger than had been measured from ground-based readings.

Scientists had ignored it for years because they assumed that something that immense and unusual had to be an equipment malfunction.

The satellite data was from 2003-2009 and doesn’t take into account the hydraulic fracking boom in the area in recent years. The methane emissions recorded are likely due to potent leaks as workers pump natural gas out of coal mines. The San Juan Basin is the most active coal-bed methane area in the United States.

The methane hot spot is not a local safety or health issue for residents, but it is 86 times more potent for trapping heat in the short term than carbon dioxide (CO2).

According to the EPA, its impact on global warming is over 20 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period. More than a third of the greenhouse gas that the United States produces—some of it from cattle—is methane.

A Fracking Primer

mora’s drilling ban stays — for now In October 2014, the Mora County (NM) Commission voted to maintain its “community rights ordinance,” a first-in-the-country ban on oil and gas drilling that is facing lawsuits from powerful drilling interests. The ban outlaws fracking.

The vote may change after Dec. 31, when Commissioner John Olivas leaves office and is replaced with drilling advocate George Trujillo. In San Juan County, Chaco Canyon, a World Heritage Site sacred to Indians of the Southwest, is surrounded by one of the most productive oil and gas basins in the United States. Thanks to new technology, thousands of new wells are possible.

Currently, thousands of companies across the country are in the fracking business, and operate more than one million producing wells across the U.S. The natural-gas boom is providing many jobs and plentiful, low-cost fuel. Today, 33 percent of gas production and 26 percent of oil production emanate from shale resources accessed by fracking. Industry experts estimate that 60 to 80 percent of all new and existing wells drilled will employ fracking to remain viable.

Fracking fluids, including possible and known carcinogens such as arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, thallium and sulfuric acid, are forced into the ground and surrounding environment with high pressure, breaking through porous rock formations that hold trapped oil and gas. In drought-prone California, state regulators shut down 11 fracking injection wells last July. The state Resource Board says that nearly three billion gallons of wastewater were illegally injected into aquifers used for drinking and farm irrigation. The U.S. fracking fluid market was valued at $18.4 billion in 2012, grew to $26 billion in 2013 and is projected to reach about $37.3 billion in 2018.

Because of growing environmental and health concerns, the industry is seeking new fracking fluids that offer both financial and environmentally sustainable benefits.

Environmentalists also cite common methane leakage in fracking. Methane leaks during natural-gas production and distribution. A paper published in April 2014 in the journal Climate Change says that up to 5 percent of the methane from fracking probably escapes into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, a 50 percent reduction in methane emissions would be equivalent to closing 90 coal-fired power plants. Some say that lowering methane emissions can be done with existing technology at fairly minimal cost.

Another impact of cheap, fracked shale gas is that the massive investment in pipelines and gas-fired power plants deincentivize conversion to clean energy such as solar and wind. Acem Steiner, director of the United Nations’ Environment Programme, has said that the development of shale gas is “a liability” in fighting global warming that could create a 20-to 30-year delay for low- and zero-carbon models.

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Judge Orders Water Commission to Reschedule Hearing

In response to a petition by the Sierra Club’s Río Grande Chapter, District Court Judge Sarah Singleton has ordered New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn to conduct a Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) meeting to reschedule a hearing on groundwater-protection rules for the dairy industry.

A statement the Río Grande Chapter released says that, “Although 57 percent of New Mexico dairies have polluted groundwater in excess of health standards, Flynn’s Environment Department has not been enforcing a groundwater-protection rule the commission passed in 2011 specifically for the dairy industry. The Environment Department and an industry group calling themselves ‘Dairy Industry Group for a Clean Environment’ have been working together—often barring the public from their discussions—to dismantle the rule’s most important water protections.”

The WQCC had scheduled a hearing on these rule changes to be held in Roswell, ignoring state laws that require a public process and hearing in Santa Fe. “The Environment Department is pandering to the industrial dairies that want the hearing about dismantling the rule to be held in the most sympathetic locale in the state,” said Río Grande Chapter Conservation Coordinator Dan Lorimier. “If they are able to quietly get away with gutting the dairy safeguards and allowing the copper-mining industry to write its own groundwater rule, what protections are the 90 percent of New Mexicans who drink groundwater left with?”

A typical New Mexico dairy produces thousands of gallons of waste daily—as much as a small city. But cities treat their wastewater, while dairies dump untreated, antibiotic-laden waste into gigantic open-air lagoons. The rules agreed upon by all stakeholders—including the dairy-industry group and the Citizens Coalition— required synthetic liners for those lagoons, as well as other protections for drinking water. But the Environment Department has yet to enforce that rule, and many dairies are operating in New Mexico without permits.

Coalition Threatens Lawsuit Over Oil and Gas Leases

In response to last month’s sale of leases on 22,000 acres of Santa Fe National Forest lands for horizontal oil drilling and hydraulic gas fracking, a coalition of local and national conservation groups say it will sue the Bureau of Land Management. The lawsuit cannot be filed until the leases are officially issued. The minimum bid for the leases was $2 per acre. The noncontiguous parcels are in Río Arriba and San Juan counties on the western boundary of the forest north of Cuba, N.M., near the Continental Divide. The federal government also has jurisdiction over mineral rights on Bureau of Indian Affairs and private land on other lease sales that are pending.

“The environmental assessment that the BLM put out for this refused to take a look at any of the environmental and cultural impacts that the oil and gas development might have,” said Kyle Tisdel, attorney and director of the Western Environmental Law Center in Taos. In a press release, Mike Eisenfeld, New Mexico energy coordinator for the San Juan Citizens Alliance said, “This new lease of the Santa Fe National Forest continues a reckless, lease-everywhere mentality that destroys recreation, wildlife and cultural resources and ignores BLM’s responsibilities to honestly analyze impacts.”

Renewed New Mexico Green Building Credit Proposed

Sustainable building tax credits, first offered in New Mexico in 2007, have helped create jobs and have saved homeowners and commercial building owners money through lower energy and water costs. The tax credits, which are applied against a homeowner’s income taxes, have provided a measurable incentive during tough economic times. The $4 million state tax credit offered to builders of homes that are at least 40 percent more energy-efficient has run out, although there is a backlog of builders and homeowners who have applied for it. One million dollars is still currently available for commercial and multifamily structures.

Sen. Peter Wirth and Rep. Carl Trujillo have been working with builders to draft bills they can sponsor in the 2015 state Legislature that would extend the tax credit, double the cap, increase energy-efficiency requirements for qualifying buildings (which include some manufactured homes), and add water conservation as a feature that qualifies for the credit.

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What's Going On! Events / Announcements Bill McDonald, Jo Robinson and others who represent the diversity of the regenerative agriculture movement. 505.820.2544, ext. 2. http:// www.quiviracoalition.org (See ad on page 6)

ALBUQUERQUE

Nov. 3, 10 am-12 pm NM Food & Agriculture Policy Council Meeting NMSU ABQ, 4501 Indian School NE

Presentation/discussion on farm and foodfocused legislative priorities among participating groups including Farm to School program. RSVP: 505.660.8403, www.farmtotablenm.org/programs/new-mexicofood-agriculture-policy-council

Nov. 4- Dec. 30, 2-5:30 pm LEED Certification Training CNM Workforce Training Center

Training for initial or renewed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. $899. 505.224.5200, www. cnm.edu/wtc

Nov. 4, 5:30-7:30 pm TEDxABQ Salon/Youth ABQ Museum of Art and History

Salon geared toward youth impact, ideas, inspiration and innovations related to the future of NM communities. $20/$10. http:// tedxabq.com

Nov. 5, 5:30-7 pm Green Drinks Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW

Network with people interested in local business, clean energy and green opportunities in our communities. Presenter: Mayling Armijo, Bernalillo County Economic Development Director. Free. centralNM@nmgreen chamber.com, www.greendrinks.org

Nov. 6, 6 pm Treehugger’s Bash Grove Café & Market, 600 Central SE

Gourmet dinner, silent auction. Benefit for WildEarth Guardians. Learn about conservation objectives to prevent further industrialization of public lands. $35. http://wg.convio.net/site/ PageS er ver?pagename=Treehug gers_ Bash_2014_Invitation_and_Tickets

Nov. 8, 10 am-6 pm; Nov. 9, 10 am-5 pm NM Green & Healthy Living Expo Manuel Luján Complex, NM State Fairgrounds, 300 San Pedro NE

Educational presentations, live demonstrations, information on sustainable living, health & wellness. Eco-friendly products and services. Admission: $8/$5/under 12 free. 505.633.8921, Tracy@nmexpos.com, nmexpos.com (See ad on page 9)

Nov. 12-14 Quivira Coalition Conference Embassy Suites Hotel

“Back to the Future.” Presentations and workshops on agricultural and conservation practices that are old yet new. Speakers include Dorn Cox, Fred Kirschenmann, Winona LaDuke,

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Nov. 13, 8-9:30 am NM Energy Forum ABQ Convention Center, 401 2nd St. NW

This forum, hosted by ABQ First, will offer energy insights from world-class experts in energy, economics, geopolitical risk, sustainability and supply chain management. $40.

505.348.8326, tfenstermaker@bizjournals. com, www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/ event/113391

Nov. 14, 7:30 pm The Pragmatism of Historic Preservation Maxwell Museum, Hibben 105

Southwest lecture by Dr. Jeff Pappas, NM State Historic Preservation Officer. Free.

505.277.4405, http://maxwellmuseum.unm. edu

Nov. 15, 9 am-4 pm NM Archeology Conference Maxwell Museum, Hibben Center

Info: dap@unm.edu, 505.277.4405, http:// maxwellmuseum.unm.edu

Nov. 15, 9 am-4 pm 4th Annual Pueblo Fiber Arts Show Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 2401 12th Street

Meet traditional Pueblo fiber artists and see live demonstrations of weaving, embroidery, spinning, knitting and basketry and more.

Raffle. Free. Presented by the NM Pueblo Fiber Arts Guild and IPCC. 505.363.1294, runasamai@hotmail.com

Nov. 15, 10:30 am–12:30 pm Eating for Your Health Highland Senior Activity Center 131 Monroe NE

Community-based workshop led by Susan Clair, covering elements of a healthy lifestyle, plant-based and animal proteins, organic vs. conventional, antioxidants and systemic alkalinity, herbs & spices, refined carbs & sweeteners, healthy fats. Free or by donation. 505.281.9888, clair@nmia.com

Nov. 15, Doors open at 12 pm TEDxABQ Youth 2014 Stay Curious Bosque High School 4000 Learning Rd. NW

Share big ideas, mind-shifting stories and creativity through local thinkers, explorers, innovators, artists and more. $40/$20. http://tedxabq.com

Nov. 15 Navajo Rug Auction Prairie Star Restaurant

Contemporary and historic rugs. Proceeds benefit Navajo weavers and the Maxwell Museum. 11 am viewing, 1 pm auction.

Nov. 16, 10 am-5 pm Unique ABQ Craft Sale PB&J Family Services, 209 San Pablo SE

Made in ABQ crafts such as jewelry, crocheted, knitted scarf and hats, traditionally inspired garments and tote bags at bargain prices. Intl. District artisans including boys

Green Fire Times • November 2014

and girls. www.womensglobalpathways.com, www.irrva.com, www.powernm.org

Nov. 21, 6-10 pm Spirit of Hope Gala Sandía Resort & Casino

Benefits NM Voices for Children. $100. http://www.nmvoices.org/spiritofhope

Nov. 22, 1:30-3 pm Composting with Worms Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW

Learn vermicomposting. Bernalillo County Extension Master Composters. Registration: 505.897.8831, register@nmcom posters.org

Nov. 22, 1-3 pm Asian American Legacy Stories: The NM Experience Maxwell Museum’s Hibben Auditorium

Free oral history program. A multimedia presentation accompanied by live readings focused on leaders and activities of New Mexican civic groups in NM in the late 19th through early 20th centuries. Partially funded by the NM Humanities Council. nation ofwong@comcast.net, www.aaanm.us

Dec. 3, 6-8 pm Green Chamber Fundraiser Hotel Andaluz, 125 Second St. NW

Network with people interested in local business, clean energy and green opportunities in our communities. centralNM@nmgreen chamber.com, www.greendrinks.org

Daily Degrees of Change: NM’s Climate Forecast NM Museum of Natural History & Science, 1801 Mountain Rd. NW

With a focus on NM and the SW, this exhibit reveals current and predicted impacts on humans, landscapes and ecosystems, and takes you back in time to discover past climates.

Tickets: $7, $6, $4. Info: 505.841.2800, www. nmnaturalhistory.org

Wednesdays through Nov. 19, noon-12:45 pm Water & Energy in NM Pearl Hall (Stanford & Central),Rm.P139

Conversations on Our Common Future seminar/discussion series. Free. cscruggs@ unm.edu. 10/1: Water & energy use in NM agriculture; 10/8: Implications of militarized landscapes for groundwater

Through Dec. 20 Fall 2014 Exhibitions UNM Art Museum UNM Center for the Arts

David Maisel/Black Maps, American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime; Luz Restirada: Latin American Photography; The Gift, woodcuts by John Tatschi. $5 suggested donation.

Through May 31, 2015 El Agua es Vida: Acequias in Northern New Mexico Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, UNM

Groundbreaking, multidisciplinary exhibit.

Free. 505.277.4405, maxwellmuseum.unm. edu

SANTA FE

Nov. 1 Enrollment Open Foundations of Herbal Medicine Program

250-hour hands-on course presented by Milagro School of Herbal Medicine, limited to 12 students. Online course also offered.

505.820.5321, info@milagroherbs.com

Nov. 1 NM Community Foundation Luminaria Awards

Pays tribute to outstanding individuals from throughout the state who make a profound difference in their communities.

505.820.6860, www.nmcf.org

Nov. 1-2, 1 pm Climate Leadership Summit Temple Beth Shalom, 205 E. Barcelona

Workshop, visioning session and kickoff of Change the Course, a new program from Rainforest Action Network to create a just transition to a post-carbon future. beaut ifulhealthyplanet@gmail.com, www.ran. org/ctc_summit_santafe_nov_1_2_2014

Nov. 3, 9 am-12:30 pm Climate Action Summit Genoveva Chávez Center Community Room

Mayor Javier Gonzales will host this summit, which will examine the city’s efforts and progress in water, energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation. The mayor will be joined by the Climate Action Task Force. 505.795.4169, mross@santafenm.gov

Nov. 3, 6 pm Lessons of the Ancient Hohokam Hotel Santa Fe

SW Seminars lecture on Water Control in an Uncontrolled Environment by geoarchaeologist, geomorphologist, former Washington State University professor Dr. Gary Huckleberry. $12. 505.466.2775, southwest seminar@aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org

Nov. 4, 7:30 pm Art2Art Garrett’s Desert Inn, 311 Old SF Trail

Music, color and conversation with recording artist Nacha Méndez, visual artists Linda Storm and Pablo Perea. Free. Donations benefit NM Music Commission.

505.476.0522, Caitlin.olsen@state.nm.us

Nov. 6-8 Tony Hillerman Writers Conference SF Hilton, 100 Sandoval St.

10th anniversary. Hands-on workshops with a mix of presenters and seasoned authors.

Gala opening celebration featuring film clips from Hillerman movies. Panel presentations, interactive sessions. http://word harvest.com/registration.php

Nov. 8, 10 am-2 pm Arts & Crafts Flea Market Palace of the Governors Meem Room, 110 Washington Ave.

Find treasures while northern NM artists recycle. SF Book Arts Group/Palace Press annual multivendor flea market featuring arts & crafts supplies, handmade books, handmade and specialty papers and gifts.

505.476.5100

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Nov. 8, 4:30-8 pm Wild & Scenic Film Festival SF Farmers’ Market Pavilion

Award-winning short environmental and adventure films include Tewa film The Longest Sun, silent auction, music, food and more. $10/$12. A benefit for the NM Environmental Law Center. 505.989.9022, info@ nmelc.org, nmelc.org/filmfest

Nov. 8, 5:30 pm Reception; 7:30 pm Films Lunafest Film Festival Pop Gallery, 125 Lincoln Ave; NM History Museum, 117 Lincoln Ave.

8 short films by, for and about women. Proceeds benefit Girls, Inc. of SF and the Breast Cancer Fund. $35/$25. 505.988.1234, ticketssantafe. org, at the door. 505.982.2042, events@girls incofsantafe.org, www.Lunafest.org

Nov. 22, 10 am-12 pm Green Writers’ Circle

Writers engaged in sustainability, ecology, health and environmental issues meet for training, publication and information resources and discussion. RSVP: sguyette@ nets.com for details.

Nov. 24, 6 pm Ethnobotany of Combustible Plants in Northern NM Hotel Santa Fe

SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Richard I. Ford. $12. 505.466.2775, Southwestseminar@aol. com, Southwestseminars.org

Dec. 5 Entry Deadline City of SF Water Conservation Poster Contest

Nov. 9, 7 pm Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour The Lensic

Benefit concert with the jazz legends for Assistance Dogs of the West. $25/$100.

505.988.1234, tickessantafe.org

This year’s theme: How Water Connects Us. Public, private, charter and home-schooled students in grades 1-6 invited. The winning poster will be displayed on the back of a city bus and on a calendar cover. Other winners will be included in the calendar.

505.955.4225, www.savewatersantafe.com/ conservation-classroom

Nov. 12-14 Building Creative Communities Conference La Fonda Hotel

Dec. 13, 10 am-4 pm Young Native Artists Holiday Show & Sale Washington Ave. Entrance

A training, educational and networking event for community builders throughout NM. Presented by NM Arts, NM MainStreet, NM Historic Preservation Division and NM Tourism Dept. $180. www.build ingcreativecommunities.org

Nov. 15, 6:30 pm Ice Cream & Activism with Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s SF Convention Center

Tickets: $12/$20. 505.988.1234, Lensic.org.

Presented by the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce. Info/sponsorship: 505.428.9123, glenn@nmgreenchamber.com

Nov. 16, 3-6 pm Friends of Archeology Holiday Party Hotel Santa Fe

Silent auction and archaeology demonstrations. $20. 505.982.7799, x 5., www.nmarch eology.org

Nov. 18-19 59th Annual New Mexico Water Conference La Fonda on the Plaza

“NM’s Water Future: Connecting Stakeholders Needs to Water Information” Hosted by the NM Water Resources Institute.

Wrri.nmsu.edu

Nov. 20, 7 pm SFAI: 20 Short Talks SF Art Institute 1600 St. Michaels Drive

Artists in residence and northern NM community members discuss ideas and projects in 140-second presentations. Speakers include Todd López, Nicholas Mang, Lida Nosrati, Kate Daughdrill and Mira Burack.

505.424.5050, info@sfai.org, www.SFAI.org

Nov. 21-22 Hemp Bound Carbon Economy Series SF Community College

Friday night talk (7-9 pm, $10) by Doug Fine and Saturday workshop/panel discussion (9 am-5 pm, $99) on the potential of hemp with industry leaders. 505.819.3828, www.carboneconomyseries.com

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NM History Museum Children and grandchildren of the Palace Portal artists. Get on the ground floor of collecting from the next generation of Native artists. Free admission.

Dec. 13, 4-7 pm Kindred Spirits Animal Sanctuary Holiday Celebration 3749A Highway 14

Kindred Spirits provides hospice care to dogs, horses and poultry. 505.471.5366, kindredspiritsnm@earthlink.net, www. kindredspiritsnm.org

Dec. 14, 4-7 pm SF Artists Medical Fund Art Auction

Yares Art Projects, 123 Grant Ave. Over 175 works of art. santafeartistsfund@ gmail.com

Dec. 15, 6 pm NM’s Cultural History Lesson to the World

SW Seminars lecture by Dr. Tom Chávez. $12. 505.466.2775, Southwestseminar@aol. com, Southwestseminars.org

Through Dec. 15 Safety Training Classes SF Community College

Certified Renovator, Certified Renovator Refresher, OSHA Construction Standards.

505.428.1866, www.sfcc.edu/environmental _health_and_safety_training

First Saturday of Each Month, 10 am-12 pm SF Citizens’ Climate Lobby Various Locations

“Creating political will for a livable world” santafe@citizensclimatelobby.org

Tuesdays and Saturdays, 7 am-1 pm Santa Fe Farmers’ Market

1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe) Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veggies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked goods, body care products and much more. www.santafefarmersmarket.com

Sundays, 10 am-4 pm New Mexico Artisan Market Farmers’ Market Pavilion www.artmarketsantafe.com

Become a Site Steward Santa Fe National Forest

Monitor archeological and historical sites on a regular basis for evidence of natural deterioration or vandalism. www.sfnfsitestewards.org

Santa Fe Creative Tourism Workshops, Classes and Experiences http://santafecreativetourism.org/

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 Rd., 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).

Española

Through Nov. 19, 5-8 pm Business Development Series Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, 325 Paseo de Oñate, Española

Six-week workshop series presented by WESST-Santa Fe in collaboration with EVFAC. Starting or growing an arts business? Learn: The Basics, Research, Pricing, Financing, Goals, Business Plan. $29.

505.747.3577, info@evfac.org

Veterans Green Jobs Academy Northern NM College Española, NM

Workforce training and specific degree programs to support military veterans in fully accredited academic certificate and degree programs in areas of environmental science related to renewable energy, hazardous materials response, forestry, sustainable agriculture, wildland fire science, construction trades and others. A partnership with the NM Dept. of Veterans Services. For more info, call Dr. Biggs at 505.747.5453 or visit www.nnmc.edu/vetacademy.htm

TAOS

Nov. 10-16 TCEDC Week TCEDC Campus and Bataan Hall, UNM-Taos, NM

Supports food, land and cultures of northern NM. Taos County Economic Development Corporation celebration and thanksgiving for the harvest. Classes, films talks, tours, expo/feast, fundraising dinner. (See story on page 14) friendsoftcedc@gmail.com, http:// facebook.com/tcedc.taos?fref=ts

Through Feb. 28, 2015 Art through the Loom Weaving Guild Show Old Martina’s Hall, Ranchos de Taos www.artthroughtheloom.com

HERE & THERE

Nov. 8, 15, 10 am-4 pm Chimayó Youth Visioning Workshops Bennie J. Chávez Community Center Chimayó, NM

Workshops will engage youth and young adults in an intensive 3-part planning and

design workshop to explore the future of Chimayó. Mapping, drawing, photography field observation and analysis. Free. Presented by Santa Fe County with UNM School of Architecture. Community exhibit/celebration organized by participants will happen in Feb. 2015. 505.986.6200, www.santafecounty nm.gov/event_detail/3382

Through Nov. 9 Day of the Dead Show Tomé Art Gallery, Hwy. 47 Los Lunas

Art show features silk, fiber, furniture, glass, pottery, jewelry, paintings and more. Reception: Nov. 2, 12-3 pm. 505.565.0556

Nov. 15 America Recycles Day National Celebration

Educational events around the country. Recognizes the benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling. AmericaRecyclesDay.org

Dec. 3 Application Deadline Western SARE Farmer/Rancher Grants

$15,000-$25,000 grants from Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education for projects by agri-producers with technical advisor support. Often used to conduct on-site experiments that can improve farm operations and the environment. www.westernsare.org/ Grants/Types-of-Grants

Dec. 6-7, 10 am-4 pm Wool Shed Christmas Sale Maple Winds Farm, Stanley, NM

Handmade hats, socks, yarns, fiber, wool, alpaca, angora, wool & silk blended yarns and more. Hot chocolate & cookies. Regular hours 10-4 on Mondays. 505.201.6127, Victorias-Mountain-Yarns.com

Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-1 pm and Saturday Pajarito Environmental Education Center 3540 Orange St., Los Alamos, NM

Nature center and outdoor education programs. Exhibits of flora and fauna of the Pajarito Plateau; herbarium, live amphibians, butterfly and xeric gardens. Tuesday-Saturday. Free. 505.662.0460, Programs@Pajarito EEC.org, www.pajaritoeec.org

Daily, 10 am-6 pm Wildlife West 87 N. Frontage Rd., Edgewood

122-acre park/attraction with educational programs dedicated to native wildlife and ecology. $7/$6/$4/children under 5 free. www.wildlifewest.org

Río Grande Return Gifts from the River

Locally produced salsas, jams, honey, chocolates, soaps, lotions, incense and more. Supports local farmers, producers and the conservation of the Río Grande.

505.466.1767, toll free: 866.466.1767, www. riograndereturn,com

NM Green Chamber of Commerce

The NM Green Chamber of Commerce, with chapters around the state, has a business directory that is a great resource for conscious consumers looking for locally owned and environmentally friendly businesses in their area. Contribute to a sustainable future by supporting businesses in your city/town that are striving to be leaders in green business practices. Info: 505.859.3433, info@nmgreen chamber.com, http://nmgreenchamber. com/members?page=2

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