N e w s & V i e w s f r o m t h e S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t

Saving New ’s Rare Deep Seeds and First Foods Germplasm: The Centralization of The Land Is the Source Companion Planting

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4 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Vol. 8, No. 5 • May 2016 Issue No. 85 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC Skip Whitson News & Views from the Sustainable Southwest Associate Publisher Barbara E. Brown Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project Editor-in-chief Seth Roffman Contents Art Director Dakini Design, Anna C. Hansen Deep Seeds and First Foods...... 7 Copy Editors Fresh AIRE: From Seeds to Landraces...... 9 Stephen Klinger, Susan Clair A Talk by Ken Greene of the Hudson Valley Seed Library . . . . . 11 Webmaster: Karen Shepherd Germplasm: The Centralization of Seed and Efforts to Conserve Seed Diversity. ..13 Contributing Writers Emigdio Ballon, Benjamin Bartley, Kristen romoting ood overeignty through eed aving Davenport, Nelsy Dominguez, Josh P F S S S ...... 17 Jasso, Japa K. Khalsa, Serafina Lombardi, Alejandro López, Travis McKenzie, Devon Owingeh Ta Pueblos y Semillas Seed Exchange...... 20 G. Peña, Rodrigo Rodriguez, Seth Roffman, Pam Roy, L. Acuña Sandoval, Miguel Preserving Indigenous Seeds and Food ...... 21 Santistevan, Beata Tsosie-Peña, Pilar Trujillo Reflections on Seed Sovereignty...... 23 Contributing Photographers Anna C. Hansen, Japa K. Khalsa, Alejandro The Land Is the Source of our Identidad, López, Seth Roffman, Miguel Santistevan, Beata Tsosie-Peña Survival, Health, Strength and Happiness ...... 25 PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANT Plants: Our Loyal Companions, Life-Givers and Teachers. 27 Cisco Whitson-Brown Partners Join to Strengthen Local Food Supply Chains...... 28 Advertising Sales John M. Nye 505.699.3492 Investing in New Mexico Grown ...... 29 [email protected] Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 Growing Health and Justice...... 30 [email protected] Super Seeds: What Is All the Excitement About? ...... 33 Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 [email protected] Newsbites...... 28, 29, 30, 37 Lisa Powers, 505.629.2655 [email protected] What’s Going On...... 38 Gay Rathman, 505.670.4432 [email protected] Kurt Young 505.913.0699 [email protected]

Distribution Linda Ballard, Barbara Brown, Susan Clair, Co- op Dist. Services, Nick García, Leo Knight, Niki Nicholson, Andy Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), PMI, Daniel Rapatz, Tony Rapatz, Wuilmer Rivera, Andrew Tafoya, Skip Whitson, John Woodie Circulation: 30,000 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 • [email protected] © 2016 Green Fire Publishing, LLC 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, , 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. © Seth Roffman Traditional varieties of Native American corn (See article, page 21) Green Fire Times is widely distributed throughout north- central New Mexico as well as to a growing number of New Mexico cities, towns, pueblos and villages. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article COVER: Santa Fe River blessing at the Village of Agua Fría on San Isidro Day submissions to be considered for publication are welcome. Photo by Seth Roffman www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 5 GA RA UrSY Radon Testing and Mitigation 1409 Agua Fria • Santa Fe RadonPRO (505) 983-4831 of New Mexico LLC Saving Lives, Improving Property 505-204-2580 [email protected] RadonProNM.com • License No. 107839 RMT

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6 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Deep Seeds and First Foods Centers of Origin and Diversification of Maíz in the Río Arriba Bioregion and the Survival of Heritage Cuisines Devon G. Peña, Ph.D.

or several decades, , eaters and resilience advocates have made impassioned calls to reorient our food systems toward local and slow foods. From an indigenous vantage point, this also means remaining mindful of what FI call “Deep Food” or what my friend and mentor, Delbert Miller, calls “First Foods,” by which we wish to designate the heritage cuisines that arise in a place-based manner as a result of a long-duration process of indigenous agroecological, ethnobotanical and ethnogastronomical knowledge and practices that are true sources of bioregional foodsheds.

Valuing this link between land, seed and food, in 2010 UNESCO designated the heritage cuisine of Michoacán, México, as a major contribution to world cultural heritage. The report notes that Michoacan and other indigenous communities in México are homes to heritage cuisines that have been…

…preserved since ancient times through oral transmission of skills and knowledge between generations; through symbiosis among cookery, cosmogony A northern New Mexico acequia-irrigated that has been planted for many and environment, and…in the complex cultural system encompassing rituals, generations ceremonies and celebrations…that is a powerful factor in social cohesion Chicos are made from the roasting—and pressure-cooking—of native white flint and…identity. in adobe ovens and are a good example of local, slow and deep food.

The symbiosis between “cookery, cosmogony and environment” mentioned in the The acequia farmers of the southern San Luís Valley (SLV)—Costilla and Conejos UNESCO report is more than mere poetic language. It reflects an interest in and counties, in Colorado—are among the heirs and successors of the oldest nontribal desire on the part of conservation advocates for us to understand how foodways indigenous family farmers in the . They produce renowned place- and actual farming practices are inextricably connected and must therefore be adapted, heirloom landrace maize, bean and pumpkin/squash varieties. These protected together. The foundation of a unique heritage cuisine is, in the end, crops are considered part of the extended Mesoamerican Center of Origin. The good healthy soil and a diverse inventory of native landrace crops. UNESCO concept of “center of origin” was first developed by the Russian scientist, Nicolai outlines the inseparable links between land and cuisine in its exposition of the Vavilov, who identified several distinct biogeographical across the globe Michoacan paradigm: that are home to the wild ancestors of crops domesticated and diversified by Traditional —and in this case, the Michoacan paradigm—is indigenous farmers over millennia and remain places where the co-evolution of crops an integral part of the ancient cultural system based on corn, beans and chili… and wild ancestors persists as a direct result of surviving indigenous cultural selection [and includes] unique farming methods like the milpa (self-sustainable field of and agroecological practices [our emphasis]. corn and other crops) and chinampa (man-made farming islets in lake areas). Noted ethnobotanist Gary P. Nabhan followed Vavilov’s travels across vast Besides its originality, [this system] is ancestral, collective and communitarian stretches of northern México and the U.S. Southwest where Vavilov searched for in nature…(2010, 3; brackets added) and identified dozens of native landrace crops sustained by indigenous farmers The Río Arriba or Upper Río Grande bioregion is also home to heritage cuisines and cultivated since well before European invasion and conquest (Nabhan 2011). that bear the marks of deep place-based origins. One especially iconic indigenous Centers of origin are also centers of diversity. Nabhan appears to include the food of the Río Arriba is chicos del horno, listed by Slow Food USA in the Ark of Upper country of the SLV as a northern periphery subbasin of Taste, a compendium of rare, endangered and disappearing foods and foodways. Aridoamerica (1988: 393). More recent scientific research involving new field accessions squarely places our valley within the center of origin and diversification of maize. See map in Fig. 1, Matsuoka, et al. (2002, 6081). The foundation of a unique heritage cuisine is good healthy soil and a diverse inventory of native landrace crops. As a center of origin and agrobiodiversity, the Culebra watershed acequia are recognized for contributions to heirloom maize diversity and for sustaining several vanishing artisan production methods and practices involving the use of native crops. This is especially true of a maize white flint variety known as “maíz de concho.” The Upper Río Grande Hispano Farms study (1995–99), supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH Grant RO-22707-94) and the Ford Foundation, included what is likely the first scientific field and lab research on the local white flint maize grown by acequia farmers in the Culebra watershed of Colorado. Maize geneticist Ralph Bertrand-García, of Colorado

© Seth Roffman (2) College, collaborated in the 1995 field study and found that the white flint maize Beans and amaranth growing on a northern New Mexico farm continued on page 8

www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 7 Deep Seeds and First Foods cont. from page 7

produced by the Corpus A. Gallegos family in San Luís is a highly inbred parent line. This implies genetic purity and the absence of transgenes from commercial, conventional hybrid or genetically engineered (GE) maize. The 1995 field study was done before commercial plantings of genetically modified (GMO) maize in the United States when the associated transgenes were not yet a threat.

Bertrand-García once suggested to the author that Culebra concho may share morphological qualities and possibly genome qualities associated with ancient Anasazi remnants found at sites across the desert Southwest including Mesa Verde, Chaco and Grand Gulch. This inquiry supports oral histories in Costilla County, which declare that concho originally came from Anasazi ancestral maize populations via modern-day Taos, San Juan, San Ildefonso, Picuris and other northern pueblos.1 Seed exchanges among indigenous farmers from these communities continue today. Some of the concho varieties may have also evolved out of seed stocks from northern México (Sonoran) populations, as an examination of the CIMMYT (Centro Internacionál de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo) on- line library of Mexican landraces appears to suggest.

In the Gallegos concho parent-line Bertrand-García identified three adaptive responses to conditions in high-altitude cold deserts characterized by short growing seasons and late spring and early fall frosts. These include 1) rapid development with average of 74–80 days to maturity (between sowing and harvesting); 2) resistance to desiccation and tissue damage from intense ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation at high altitude and early or late frosts; and 3) adaptation to diurnal temperature extremes with a daily average range between upper 30s to low 40°F and highs of 80°F during the growing season. These are significant traits in the context of today’s climate-change challenges and should qualify the genomic integrity of the Culebra bioregional landrace maize populations as a national agrobiodiversity conservation priority. Integrating , soil biodynamics, seed saving and plant breeding SUMMER CAMP @ SFSAS with culinary traditions Miguel Santistevan (2003) has also described the specific heirloom white flint used by acequia farmers as maíz de concho. Adopting the scientific name Zea mays clibanus for this population, he notes that the heirloom variety is grown in rotation or intercropped with maíz de diente, another local flint, so named because farmers describe the kernels as “horse’s teeth.”

There is a wide range of distinct inbred parent lines, as well as a constantly shifting mosaic of native chimera varieties incorporating adaptive morphological, forage/ biomass, nutritional and culinary qualities valued by acequia communities. Some chimeras of two or more parent lines from local landraces often have features expected separately in dent and landraces. One of our local heirloom varieties, gifted to The Acequia Institute, in 1998, by the late Corpus A. Gallegos, can be described as a “floury flint.” Depending on the timing of harvest, it can be used to produce chicos or pozol (). But left on stalk to develop as seed corn, it can be used for making or harina after .2

The Slow Food USA listing of chicos as an endangered food in the Ark of Taste project includes concern for disappearing artisan craft skills involved in constructing and maintaining the crucial adobe ovens and place-based knowledge required to Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences prepare the oven-roasted chicos for consumption or sale. Despite the scarce number Fun and Affordable! Summer enrichment camps led by experienced teachers of producers, chicos remain a living icon of heritage cuisine and the center of for kids ages 3 to early high school. Everything from In the Castle for our youngest acequiera/o foodways and farming practices. Like the Michoacan paradigm, the campers to Animation for teens - there is something for everyone! Our 8-week production of a heritage cuisine like chicos del horno requires the unity of land, water, program runs from June 6 through August 5 (no camp the week of July 4th). continued on page 18 Camp times: 9am - 3pm, Monday through Friday. Extended care available from 8am, until 5pm. Camp cost: $230/week, unless otherwise noted. 1 Corpus A. Gallegos interview with Devon G. Peña, July 18, 1996; archived at The Acequia Institute. 2 A process for the preparation of maize in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, CYFD funds accepted. Scholarships available. usually limewater, and hulled; the process makes the lysine and other essential amino acids available to To see the summer schedule along with detailed descriptions, and to register the human digestive system, maximizing the nutritional value of maize consumption, a point overlooked for camps, see our website: www.santafeschool.org or call 505-438-8585. by many scientific specialists studying maize who repeat the mythic refrain about the malnourished state of so-called maize-dependent consumers.

8 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Fresh AIRE

From Seeds to Landraces A Story of Reconnection and Understanding Article and photos by Miguel Santistevan

ne of the greatest achieve- agriculture are shifting livelihoods culinary significance. The search for conventional counterparts, which ments of humankind is the and leaving their homelands in maize-based foods of my youth like require a stable range of environmental domestication of crops over search of opportunity or safety. In chicos, chaquegüe, posole and conditions along with chemical and Othousands of years. Our crops of today the modern world, most people have also drove my quest. mechanical inputs. There must be came from wild plants of different fami- no connection to the source of the Over the years I farmed in a variety of some biological indication that offers lies, domesticated by cultures around the food and nourishment that sustains contexts and locations in New Mexico, perspective into the functioning of globe for a multitude of uses. Over time, them beyond a monetary exchange. from Albuquerque to to landraces over time, such as the amount cultures came to be characterized by— As the population grows, increases in Chimayó Taos. With my growing relationship of yield, the number and mass of seeds among other things—foods from the efficiency and food supply are sought to seeds and agriculture, I became produced per plant, and the amount of crops they developed that were special- by agricultural corporations that have interested in the identities and stories resources allocated for seed production ized to particular agricultural practices consolidated almost every aspect of all these seeds, the histories of their versus other parts of the plant such as and environments. These specialized of production. While it is incredible roots, stems, leaves or flowers. crops withstood countless generations to think of the scale of agricultural of good and bad years and came to production worldwide, it is even more have genetic traits that allowed survival mindboggling to think of the scale of seed through a myriad of agricultural prob- production required to support that scale lems. Termed “landraces,” these crops of production. can be considered humankind’s founda- In the face of these facts, a mindful tional half in a mutual relationship that person will try to develop a more intimate joined the plant and animal kingdoms relationship with food and the people in a collective evolution. Most aspects who grow it by shopping organic, at of human cultures developed through local farmers’ markets or by participation this union, and the plants proliferated in food co-ops or CSAs. A person to many corners of the globe. who wants to actualize a more direct relationship to food while connecting Locally adapted seeds with nature may turn to gardening. are important for Eventually, an interest can develop in AIRE research farm in Taos, New Mexico reconnecting with the seeds, which are a the greatest survival necessary part of the gardening process. origins and their experiences in new As I try new varieties, I am intrigued and food production This is how it happened for me more lands, soils and farming contexts. All by the growth patterns of plants, their than 20 years ago. of the seeds originated as landraces, cultural histories and their culinary uses. potential during but I wondered if planting them in new In planting and harvesting my first Many times, these seeds are identified locations by new farmers affected their adverse conditions. field of the sacred of the R o as heirlooms, open-pollinated and/ í identity. And what would it mean to Grande , I became captivated or organic. I became interested in the their biology? In many parts of the world, landraces by the infinite possibilities of the gradient of experience in a seed that are still maintained in the ways and would take it from an open-pollinated, color blue. My taste and need for Landraces are known by sustained places of their origin. These practices or organic, seed to an heirloom and green chile also motivated my interest yields or the ability to produce crops are in the decline, however, as many and search for a relationship with eventually a landrace. Heirlooms people who once had connections to in less than optimal conditions. The this foundational of bioregional yields are less abundant than their continued on page 22 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 9 New Mexico’s History Is Alive at El Rancho de las Golondrinas El Rancho de las Golondrinas, “The Ranch of the Swallows,” was founded 300 years ago as a paraje — stopping place — on El Camino Real, the Royal Road to Mexico City. Today, it is a one-of-a-kind destination where the past comes to life and weekend programs are fun for the whole family! open Wednesday–sunday, 10am–4pm, June 1–october 2, 2016 upcoming Weekend events Fiesta de la Familia | may 14 & 15 Have fun with the whole family at an event filled with crafts, games, good food and entertainment. Spring Festival & Fiber Arts Fair June 4 & 5 Experience traditional sheep shearing, wool dying, spinning and weaving and a fiber arts marketplace. Plus wagon rides, bread baking and crafts for the kids!

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10 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com A Talk by Ken Greene of the Hudson Valley Seed Library Kristen Davenport

he statistics are depressing: In time, the seed library simply took agrochemical giant over his life, Greene said. Thus was born owns 26 percent of all the seeds Hudson Valley Seed Library, designed Tsold in the United States. Recently, a to cultivate, improve, nurture and $130 billion merger between DuPont sustain some of the world’s disappearing and Dow means that company now owns vegetable varieties. While Monsanto’s 18.2 percent of the seed market share. genetically modified (GMO) corn Roughly three companies, in other words, has names like “MON 802,” a lively sell half of all the seeds in the country. discussion was held at Greene’s workshop about a new organic corn variety—a Nonetheless, there is a real uprising in the non-hybrid—called “Who Gets Kissed?” United States of growers who want more choices. Ken Greene, founder of Hudson The variety, developed under organic Valley Seed Library (www.seedlibrary. conditions by High Mowing Seed org), based in upstate New York, came Company, was named based on a game Ken Greene’s presentation to New Mexico farmers to Santa Fe in March to talk about seed played at corn-husking bees across early sovereignty, seed saving America. “All corn was common in all seed catalogues are thing as a place to buy seeds—people and the general state of OP (open-pollinated) patents owned by Monsanto and other simply planted their own. the seed universe with Library customers back then and very major agrochemical corporations. For the public and Santa are invited to “check diverse,” the High Companies such as Hudson Valley, example, Sierra Blanca onion, while Fe Farmers’ Market Mowing site states. Adaptive Seeds, Uprising Seeds, Victory out” seeds in the not GMO, is an F-1 hybrid, the patent vendors. The event was “When a person found Heirloom Seeds, Turtle Tree, Wild of which is owned by a company sponsored by the Santa spring, grow-out an ear with red, instead Garden Seed, Baker Creek and others owned by Monsanto. Fe Farmers’ Market the vegetables, and of yellow kernels (a Institute, the nonprofit very rare occurrence), fundraising arm of our return seeds after they could choose local farmers’ market. harvest in the fall. whom to kiss! While you won’t find any red Greene was working in a library in ears, OP variability is a signature of ‘Who Gardiner, N.Y., more than a decade ago Gets Kissed?’ and provided the inspiration when he first became interested in seeds. for its name.” Soon he started seeking out old seed catalogues, poring over pages of tomato and Greene, too, can tell tales about his OP pepper and other listings from the 1800s, vegetables—the librarian who brought filing away information on old varieties and her father’s baking bean back into organizing a “seed library” to accompany production; the “Bridge to Paris” pepper his book library. Library customers were developed by some New York small invited to “check out” seeds in the spring, farmers after their favorite hybrid pepper grow-out the vegetables, and return seeds was dropped by seed companies; the

after harvest in the fall—forming the first Lacy Phacelia flowers bred by New York © S eth R offman (3) model for a seed library in the nation in orchardists for growing under their trees. Farmers discuss seeds at Ken Greene’s workshop 2005. (Many more exist today.) Nationally and globally, consolidation in the seed market increased dramatically For home gardeners and small farmers, are springing up across the country as from the 1990s to 2013, as Greene showed it is becoming increasingly important more farmers begin to value the old in a visual chart that chemical companies, to save your own seed, as we lose the varieties that are often more suited to including Monsanto, (which biodiversity of vegetable seeds that some climates, Greene notes. In New Monsanto is attempting to buy), Dow and our grandparents grew. And hybrid Mexico, look to more local companies DuPont actually own a large percentage of seed does not reproduce true, so such as Farm Direct Organic Seed, based the world’s seed companies. In other words, many seed companies are increasingly in Colorado, which breeds varieties in 2013, chemical companies—those that encouraging growers to plant non- that might work best for our Rocky peddle and herbicides—owned hybrid, heirloom and OP seed. Greene Mountain and Southwestern climates. the seed companies selling most of the talks about his explorations of old seed Big companies are breeding tomatoes for, world’s seeds. catalogues from the 1800s and early say, market shelf life, while old varieties 1900s, when nearly every region had a were bred for taste or production under Most of those seeds are hybrids, local seed company that carried seeds certain circumstances. When deciding Greene says, and not GMO. Many that would work in that region. Before where to buy seed, Greene suggested people don’t realize that hybrids can be that, he said, it seems there was no such patented, and even some basic varieties continued on page 24 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 11 LOOKING FOR A GREEN HOME? I can help you find a home with environmentally-friendly features. SELLING YOUR GREEN HOME? I know the requirements for “green,” and can effectively market it for you.

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12 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Germplasm: The Centralization of Seed and Efforts to Conserve Seed Diversity L. Acuña Sandoval ermplasm: The Seed and germplasm are a reservoir of genetic information Six,” as they are known, seem more like Darth Vader characters, rolling around that at times seem so small and, to some, unimportant. Seed contains the universe in big steel balls that have, in the last few decades, insidiously and vast information about a plant’s history and evolution. It is difficult to systematically taken control of the world’s seed. Some now even own smaller Gdescribe how vital this is. This year, I am growing seed for a conservation farm; organic seed companies, perhaps as an attempt to buy legitimacy. it is seed that used to be in Thomas Jefferson’s collection. It is not going well. I The question is, how do the few biotech seed companies controlling seed impact know nothing of the history of the seed except that its yield has declined. I grow nature—and us? How is it impacting farmers? Here is a science fiction-like many varieties of peppers every season, including landrace peppers that have been metaphor I think is fitting regarding the pollen from genetically engineered (GE) in areas of New Mexico for hundreds of years. The seed I am growing for the seed: What if a few huge industries conservation farm is slow to germinate, is not vigorous, and grows very slowly. controlled oxygen and only allowed Other peppers planted later pass it by. I am doting on it, but I do not think it others to breathe if they pay for it? is going to make it. Without knowing how the previous grower cultivated it or Those who pay are given a little how big the population was from which the seed was collected, I am working oxygen but are required to sign a blindly. Exponentially multiply this experience, and in the future there is a very contract that bars the use of the real possibility of not having access to viable seed to grow enough food to meet company’s oxygen to create their the needs of our expanding population of people and animals. own; instead, they must return each © Seth Roffman year to fill their tank and cannot get A handful of biotech companies now oxygen from anywhere else. If others try to produce and supply oxygen, their labs control a major percentage of the seed are contaminated with the company’s altered oxygen, which is floating around, so now your clean oxygen may have unknown chemicals in it that may be harmful to that we humans depend on. breathe. And then the company comes back, and, if you happen to have some of Seed is so important and valuable that multinational seed companies have the company’s altered oxygen mixed into yours, the company will claim you stole centralized its ownership and control. A handful of the world’s biotech companies it and will do everything in its power to destroy you, even take your lab away so now control a major percentage of the seed that we humans depend on. The “Big continued on page 14

FTSementes ChinaSeed AgraQuest AgroGreen's Paragon SeedEx Melhoramento BioNem Seed Industry Structure Hornbeck Agropastoril's soy Divergence Bruinsma Monsoy CNDK EUROSORT germplasm (1994) Nunhems LeenDeMos Semillas SORT Wehrtec Petoseed Advanta Western RapsGBR's (1995) Genecorp Rosetta Cristiani Agrauxine CottonSeedIntl (1995) Canola canola business (1994) Green Burkard 1996 - 2013 Abbot&Cobb's RioColorado Hungnong Peotec DeltaPineLand Gustafson Barham ISG melon seed SoyTech Nunza Carnia business (1986) WestBred PGS AgrEvoCotton Agracetus Seminis Roussel ProSoyGenetics' Horticeres Calgene Syngenta's Bayer -Uclaf Hoechst Proagro Granja4Irmaos DeRuiter Marmot Global Cotton Division germplasm ChoongAng Reliance Agroceres MitlaPesquisa Asgrow EIDParryRallis AssocFarmersDelinting Genetics RoyalSluis Schering (1995) Pannon RaNA Aventis AgrEvo GeneXSorghum Precision Therapeutics Prophyta PlantingCotton Planting Seminium Ciagro Stoneville SementesRibeiral Athenix NideraSemillas Grassroots GermainsCotton CDMMandiyu Cargill PlanTecBiotech Holdens Monsanto HollandCottonseed HelenaCotton Nidera Sunseeds InterstateCanola Renessen PBIC Terrazawa Sementes Ecogen BrownfieldSeedDelinting Fartura Poloni HybriTechEurope Cargill's intl. seed RhonePoulenc Ayala DeKalbAyala division Kenfeng (1995) DeKalb (1995) Beeologics PauEuralis DeltaPesquisa CustomFarmSeed JacobHartz Kenfeng- Unilever (1995) RhoBio KWS Limagrain SemíliaGenética Paras Sensako Biogemma AlyParticipacoes Melhoramento CPBTwyford Cotton (CanaVialis; HybriTech Daehnfeldt States Alellyx) (1995) EmergentGenetics LSL Synthetic ClovisMatton Dahlco Wensman LochowPetkus Hazera AnhuiHengji KWS Agroeste InterGrain Genomics AgriProWheat (1967) K&BDevpt's Indusem Inc. Eurodur Mahendra onion business Maïcentre AgReliant CornStatesIntl Mahyco FirstLine Kyowa Domagri SunbeamExtract Clause CampbellSoupCo's ProducersHybrids Riber GreatLakes CornStatesHybrid AustralianGrainTech SementesAgroceres vegetable seed CerealGrains Swaghat WilsonSeeds DonMario BiscoBioSciences Limagrain Genective ChannelBio Diener GoldCountry joint research & wheat joint -Vilmorin CarlSperling MidwestSeedGenetics Kruger CornBelt development venture Cenex Trisler AdvantaEUVegetable ABIAlfalfa Crows MoweaquaSeeds YuanLongping Hytest TrelaySeeds CenexHarvest iCORN BioSeeds Westhove NCPlusHybrids Agriliance ASI SpecialtyHybrids CeeKay Land HarvestStates StewartSeeds HarrisMoran O'Lakes FieldersChoice Brasmilho's corn Fontanelle REA ExSeed SOYGENETICS Genetics & seed Genetica FarmlandIndustries CampbellSeed Agricola HeartlandHybrids BASF SpecialtyGrains NebraskaIrrigated Thurston Becker Innoseeds FFRCoop LewisHybrids BoCa Underwood Anadolu Sieben HubnerSeed Avesthagen HeritageSeeds CropDesign VandenBerg CooperativeBusinessIntl StoneSeeds Jung SuTarim Atash Hawkeye Mikado

NickersonVerneuil Century Link Sudwestsaat DairylandSeed Triumph Gutwein Hybrinova Northwest EridaniaBeghinSay/ Metabolon Danisco PlantBreeding Brodbeck PfisterHybrids Koipe Goldsmith HRZWheats InterstatePayco Pannar Solae PSAGenetics (ProteinTech. Int.) ConradFafard SPS Sunfield Garst Doebler's BioPlantResearch Terral AdvancedAgriTraits Pennsylvania Nandi's KoipesolAgrosemAgra AdvantaNACornSoybeans AgriPro Hybrids ResourceSeeds cotton business Agromen Dow IllinoisFoundation CibaGeigy NorthrupKing Pybas SeedConsultants Nagarjuna's GrandValleyHybrids DuoMaize Fischer cotton DiaEngei germplasm Floragenex Maisadour Novartis Syngenta Warner AWB NuTech MTI Cal/West DuPont PrairieBrandSeeds Agritrading Sandoz Synergene LongReach AgVenture BiogeneticaDeMilho Maribo Hyland AgSource RenzeHybrids EmpresaBrasileira DoisMarcos Zimmerman SturdyGrow GoldenHarvest Hoegemeyer UnitedAgriseeds Sanbei Hybrids Morgan AstraZeneca PasteuriaBioscience Mycogen Sunseeds Pioneer HibridosColorado Devgen OptimumQualityGrains Zeneca Astra CircleOne Verdia Mogen Global DinamilhoCarol Seed Companies Monsanto's CurrySeed Phytogen MayAgro's global hybrid ShandongDenghaiPioneer vegetable sunflower seeds CargillNorthAmerica Chemical Companies breeding GreenLeafGenetics DunhuangPioneer JGBoswell ZeraimGedera Denghai Dunhuang Other Companies Full Ownership Phil Howard, Associate Professor, Michigan State University Size proportional to global seed market share http://www.msu.edu/~howardp Partial Ownership Courtesy of Dr. Philip H. Howard Courtesy of Dr.

www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 13 Germplasm: The Centralization of Seed continued from page 13 you cannot breathe. Anything that interferes with the company’s oxygen—even on and writing about the idea long bees or plants—will also be sprayed and destroyed, so all that remains is the before Thomas Edison’s invention.” industries’ oxygen. This example may seem surreal, but it is closer to the truth I do not see that as an appropriate than you may imagine. analogy for our time.

Recently, I was contacted by someone from an institution that was originally A second request to obtain the established to help farmers. This individual wanted to buy some of the landrace information the institution’s grant pepper seed I have in my collection, ostensibly for a demonstration garden. I have was supposed to provide to help us been conserving and saving this seed for more than 10 years, using organic methods conserve the northern New Mexico to improve and stabilize the seed bank. This specific variety of pepper has been landrace peppers and assist farmers grown in one field since Abraham Lincoln was in office. This seed is so rare that yielded this answer from its lawyer: it contains genetically diverse information that hybrids or recently bred peppers “Until published, this is considered do not have. This genetic information is invaluable because, if anything changes proprietary research not subject in the environment, the peppers, through many years of hard-won evolution, have to disclosure. This is to protect... © Seth Roffman the memory to withstand stress—such as drought conditions, disease, or low copyright and claim of ownership to fertility—and still produce high yields. this written material.” Information on this study published in this institution’s bulletin may yet become publicly available in the coming months, but the So it was curious to me that this person was asking me to donate this rare seed and institution was under no obligation to answer the questions I was asking about congratulating me for maintaining seed banks. Why was this person attempting to its publicly funded research. collect our seed? After a few weeks of research, I discovered that some previously published conservation work I had done on northern New Mexico landrace peppers Rather than continuing to engage in pointless arguments, become marginalized with area farmers was now being researched as well by this institution. There is no by government institutions and have doors slammed in my face, I went in law against using others’ published ideas. If you are continuing their work, that is another direction. perfectly acceptable. But important ethical issues must be considered. A program started a couple of years ago, called the Open Source Seed Initiative When I read this institution’s publicly funded study, I realized the information it (OSSI, http://osseeds.org), is an effort to free seed of patents. OSSI has created was supposed to publish and all the lofty commitments it made to assist a cooperative of plant breeders who have pledged that their seed-breeding work stakeholders had not been done in the few years after the grant had closed, except and varieties be made available exclusively under the OSSI Pledge: “You have the for a few lectures. Most of its effort was concentrated on ranking the seed banks freedom to use these OSSI-pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you and presenting this information to plant breeders, both inside and outside of the pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or United States. This institution’s newsletter included a lot of self-congratulation, other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their highlighting its efforts to “save” the landrace peppers. There was no bulletin, no derivatives.” The pledge warrants this commitment to keep seed free, follows the information, no workshops, no boards created with farmers as specified in its seed with any distribution and includes new varieties bred from it. OSSI then grant to conserve this specific seed material. Ranking seed by traits is basically proactively conserves “any exchange of plant germplasm for breeding purposes an inventory to understand the outstanding qualities that they may possess. For and guarantees the rights of farmers and gardeners to save and replant seed.” example, the seed may have genetic information on how to manufacture large What an experience this was for me! I lost trust in institutions that were formed to quantities of antioxidants or a disease resistance that other seeds may no longer help me as a farmer. But I was also encouraged when I realized that a whole new possess because their genes have been manipulated too much. With current, philosophy and initiatives exist out there to decentralize seed. The best organic plant cutting-edge quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, scientists can locate exactly breeders and geneticists in the country are trying to counter someone exclusively where traits are located within germplasm. owning our seed. Varieties that I have collected and conserved are going to be submitted to OSSI. The Cañoncito Field 7 landrace pepper has already been There is a very real possibility of not having access accepted into the program. I’m hopeful that this will deter others wanting to covet to viable seed to grow enough food to meet the seed and will support the current rebirth of farmer-led research in agriculture and needs of our expanding population. plant breeding not funded by biotech. Why is this important? If I wanted to find out if a specific seed bank was valuable, As I told the individual who wanted the seed for an institutional “demonstration I would want to understand how it is unique. If I could pull out these qualities garden,” this seed does not belong to them, and they are not entitled to it. It belongs and patent them, then no one could use these traits without paying me—similar to the landrace pepper farmers who nurtured it generation after generation and to my example about not allowing people to breathe if they don’t pay. It is that simple. cared for it all these years; it belongs to people, not institutions. As Gary Nabhan so simply put it, “Institutions do not save seed. Humans with hearts do.” I will If you are doing almost exactly the same research as someone else, you would continue to protect this seed as if it were my own flesh and blood. And I will keep want to know about them. But this person/institution asking me for the seed did breathing my own oxygen. i not want to work with us; they just wanted our seed. Incidentally, their grant was L. Acuña Sandoval is a seed conservationist and organic farmer awarded while mine was still actively collecting data. based in Dixon, New Mexico. She also supports families that use As soon as unprotected seed crosses another’s threshold, especially if potentially northern New Mexico acequias in Cañoncito by donating seed historically grown that is conserved in seed banks, including corn, funded by a biotech company, they own the seed, free and clear. So I decided I was peppers, melons and other locally adapted varieties. not going to sell the seed to an institution with this many unknowns of where the seed would end up. I then fought a losing battle just trying to access the information Reference information: that was generated from this institution’s publicly funded grant. The battle finally https://msu.edu/~howardp/seedindustry.html ended, but not before one of its lawyers told me, after I questioned the similar ideas Howard, Philip H. 2009. Visualizing Consolidation in the Global contained in both grants, “We might not have the light bulb if researchers were Seed Industry: 1996–2008. Sustainability, 1(4), 1266-1287. not free to build upon the ideas of others, since British researchers began working

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16 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Promoting Food Sovereignty Through Seed Saving Josh Jasso

y interest in seed saving is relatively new compared to my interest in growing food, which may seem counterintuitive. How can you grow food without seed? Why haven’t I been interested or been practicing Mseed saving and seed conservation throughout my years of growing food? Maybe it’s reflective of my previously transient lifestyle—growing for a season here, working on a farm for a season there, but never spending the required time in a place to appreciate the adaptiveness of a crop to an area. Now, as I find myself doing work that I feel matters, and having settled in an area that requires a certain hardiness or adaptiveness of plants to grow well, I am realizing the importance of saving seed to promote the health and adaptability of food grown in the . © Seth Roffman “I want the schools to eat and take pride in A seed exchange in Las Vegas, New Mexico what they grow and, eventually, share seeds from the crops that do well in their gardens the equipment, the various ways of threshing and realizing the scale at which I can with the other schools—creating both a implement these practices in my work with La Semilla Food Center. The work La Semilla is doing at the schools in El Paso del Norte region is sense of pride and of community.” expanding. As our program grows, it makes sense to me to begin to utilize Native Seed/SEARCH, a nonprofit seed-conservation organization, biannually the accumulating garden space and teacher/student work-power to add more holds an introductory course on seed saving at its conservation center in Tucson, dimensions to the program. Next year, we will have functional gardens at roughly . The course covers seed-saving traditions and the modern seed industry, 20 schools. Although we already discuss and promote local, regional or culturally as well as botany, flowering and pollination, seed biology and germination, basic relevant foods and the seed-to-table cycle in our curriculum, the idea of saving seeds genetics, planning your garden for quality seed production, wet and dry seed that are adapted to our environment and make sense ecologically and culturally processing methods and simple seed storage. I attended this course, as well as an can only reinforce these notions to the students. I plan on using what I learned at additional, day-long workshop that offered a more in-depth look at creating and the workshop to introduce seed saving and, eventually, a functional seed library. maintaining a seed library or seed bank. Seed saving can be a tricky prospect, especially for some The workshop was introductory and drew a diverse crowd of gardeners, educators, crops. But with a bit of experimentation and practice, I nonprofit workers, community workers and organizers, and environmentalists with think that this is a project the schools could take on and varying degrees of experience. For some, the sections of the workshop covering sexual get interested in, especially as they begin to look for ways reproduction of plants, pollination, parts of a seed, genus types, and genetics may have to sustain their farm-to-school and garden programs. i just been a review, but the hands-on portions that involved the wet and dry processing Josh Jasso has a B.A. in anthropology from Vassar College. He is a of seed was clearly exciting to all. To create a space in which 20 to 30 adults are all first-year service member at La Semilla Food Center in Anthony, engaged and enthused in the simple but sometimes tedious threshing and removing New Mexico. Farm to Table and UNM’s Community Engagement chaff from seed is no easy task. The education team at Native Seed/SEARCH can Center serve as FoodCorps New Mexico’s host sites. www. be proud of that. It was through these actions that I learned the most—experiencing farmtotablenm.org/programs/foodcorps-americorps/

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www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 17 Deep Seeds and First Foods continued from page 8 seed and cookery. It also involves our family parent line of Culebra maíz religious heritage and spirituality, as de concho and was collected during evidenced by continuing observance the 2010 harvest at Almunyah of the Feast Day of San Isidro across de las Dos Acequias Farm, in northern New Mexico and southern Viejo San Acacio. Comparing Colorado, when chicos are still this mutation with Beadle’s 1979 traditionally served along with other diagram suggests that the occurrence bioregional foods. depicted in here is an example of the regression/mutation of a local The maíz de concho varieties sown landrace to an intermediate wild by acequia farmers bear living stage. This is substantive evidence evidence of genetic affinity with wild of the legitimacy of center-of-origin ancestral forms. During the 2010 landrace status for Costilla County harvest cycle of maíz de concho maize varieties like the Culebra- at Almunyah de las Dos Acequias, Gallegos maíz de concho because the home of The Acequia Institute, this can occur only in landrace, we sowed a seventh generation inbred parent lines with close wild of Gallegos heirloom white flint Figure 2 ancestors. from the same parent line studied by Bertrand-García. We found UNESCO policy seeks to protect the “intangible” cultural heritage of humanity two stalks produced the tunicate including the conservation of food, foodways and farming practices as unified florescence instead of whole cob wholes. Acequia farmers, including Native Americans and Chicanas/os, are alignment of maize kernels. among those who integrate farming practices like permaculture, soil biodynamics, seed saving and exchange and plant breeding with culinary and gastronomical Two images: First is a diagram traditions comprising our heritage cuisine. Protecting acequia water and land depicted in Figure 1 from the rights; conserving the genomic integrity of the diverse seed stocks of native study by Noble Laureate geneticist corn and other crops; respecting the artisan knowledge of culinary recipes and George W. Beadle (1979) on “The ethnobotany handed down over generations; remaining committed to mindful Ancestry of Corn.” In Beadle’s Figure 1 farming through indigenous regenerative practices—all are critical to the diagram, (a) and (b) are designated resilience and flourishing of a unique heritage cuisine based on the cultural and “teocintle”; (c) is designated as a “tunicate,” that is, a mutation in which individual ecological integrity of the homelands. Such protection has never been more kernels remain aligned in separate single- or double-file formation, instead of urgent than in the era of GE corn like the “transgenic” and “gene-edited” events clustered on a cob; (d) is designated as a “primitive” ear; and (e) is designated as being imposed willy-nilly across indigenous, cultural, ecological landscapes by “modern” maize. settler colonial farmers buying into invasive, risky and harmful technologies sold Protection has never been more urgent than in by Monsanto, Syngenta and their accomplices. i Devon G. Peña, Ph.D., is founder and president the era of GE corn like the “transgenic” events of The Acequia Institute, a nonprofit research and education foundation dedicated to the being imposed willy-nilly across indigenous, protection and preservation of the acequia way cultural, ecological landscapes. of life. He is also professor of anthropology and American ethnic studies at the University of Second is a photograph of a tunicate florescence that we keyed as an example of a Washington. His next book is Mexican-Origin tendency in our own maíz de concho to revert back to wild ancestral forms. These Foods, Foodways, and Social Movements: A occurrences are indicative of the close genomic affinity the local inbred landrace Decolonial Reader, forthcoming from the Univ. varieties have with wild and intermediary relatives. The photograph in Figure of Press in October 2016. 2 shows the tunicate white flint mutation from our accession of the Gallegos

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By the New Mexico Food and Seed Sovereignty Alliance

he 11th Annual Owingeh Ta Seed Exchange, “Remedios de la Tierra/Medicines of the Earth,” was a healing and festive gathering of family, seeds, prayer, music and unity among land-based people Tof New Mexico. On April 9, we came together at the Nambé Pueblo Wellness Center as seed savers, farmers, friends and allies. Sharing seeds and land-based strategies will help us survive. The event was organized by the New Mexico Food and Seed Sovereignty Alliance (NMFSSA), a collaboration of traditional farmers from acequia communities, pueblos and tribes, who share the goals of protecting heirloom seeds, increasing cultivation of native crops and developing strategies that will help them survive and thrive as caretakers of the land, water and seeds. The NMFSSA was formed by the New Mexico Acequia Association, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, Traditional Native American Farmers Association, Tewa Women United and other pueblo and acequia farmers and leaders. In 2006, these organizations drafted a Seed Sovereignty Declaration recognizing the importance of protecting their ancestral and spiritual connections to maize and other heirloom crops from genetic engineering (GE). To read the declaration, visit www.lasacequias.org/food-and-agriculture/ seed-alliance/seed-declaration.

It has been 11 years since these groups started the gathering, which has successfully brought together hundreds of farmers and seed savers each year. With drought becoming common, the groups know that it is more important than ever to plant, save and exchange the native seeds that have adapted to the region’s climate. For the past four years, the gathering has rotated locations to give local communities the opportunity to host. This year, Nambé Pueblo co-hosted the gathering with the NMFSSA.

The gathering was a day full of blessings, starting with a ceremony in which farmers were recognized by their name, their seed variety and © Seth Roffman the name of their village or pueblo. Los Hermanos Penitentes, from Top (l-r): Seeds grown in Chimayó; making several local moradas, opened the ceremony with special alabados seed balls; corn and other seeds grown at Santa Clara Pueblo; Monica Vigil talks (songs of worship) to San Ysidro and Santa Inez del Campo (patron about Nambé Pueblo’s agriculture and saints of farmers) and prayers for the recently departed. Dancers wellness programs; awardees Raymond from Santa Clara Pueblo finished the ceremony with the Rain and Lila Naranjo and family; Nambé Gov. Dance, calling on the help of the natural world to bless the seeds Phillip Pérez welcomes the attendees; with a season of abundance and enough water. The ceremony was followed by elders look at one of the exhibits a seed exchange of native and heirloom seeds from villages near and far. The NMFSSA awarded Raymond and Lila Naranjo the Anciano Se:daa Lifeways One hundred and seventeen seed bundles were made for the Peace and Dignity Award for their outstanding contributions and commitment to teaching their Runners (www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com), who, in May, will journey from family, community and others about the sacredness of seeds and cultural lifeways. to Panama in honor of the sacredness of seeds. The bundles, which the runners will tie onto their staffs for the duration of their run, were made using The event included presentations on plant medicines, food as medicine and the seeds that had been blessed during the ceremony. Nambé Pueblo Agriculture and Wellness program. Taos Real Food (Margaret García) provided a delicious, local lunch, and musicians David García and Jeremias We are honored and thankful for this gathering and want to give great thanks Martínez led attendees in singing and dancing. to those who made the journey to celebrate the sacredness of our seeds, our land-based traditions and culture. i

20 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Preserving Indigenous Seeds and Food Crops Emigdio Ballón

s an indigenous Boliviano of known, especially among indigenous Quechua descent, I grew up groups. And there is an international learning about my traditional effort by agronomists and ethnobotanists Aseeds, foods and medicines, thanks to the to protect the knowledge of my mother and grandparents. indigenous crops that At a very young age, I learned to appreciate remain by making the importance of our seeds, which have been their names known planted, cultivated and saved for centuries. It and cataloging them. was the indigenous tribes who, by the time It is essential to keep of the Conquest, had brought these plants these seeds under the to their highest state of development and, watchful eye of the in many cases, had spread them throughout people and to protect other indigenous communities. the biodiversity of each community’s The Quechua are descendants of the ecosystem. The Incan people. They spent years developing loss of agricultural ancient technologies for irrigation and biodiversity has growing systems. Machu Picchu and drastically reduced Ollantaytambo are perfect examples of the capability of this. Using natural resources, the lay of present and future the land, simple principles of physics generations to and shear human strength, they built an face unpredictable intricate irrigation system that, to this day, environmental still functions. On terraced gardens up changes and to 14,000 feet in altitude, our ancestors accommodate experimented to determine which crops human needs. grow best at various altitudes, weather conditions and water availability. Thanks A handful of dedicated to the Incan people, we now have more indigenous researchers have than 12,000 genotypes of potatoes and struggled for decades to several thousand genotypes of beans and promote the traditional food corn. This history inspired me to pursue crops to people in countries my educational degrees in plant genetics. of their origin in the face of deeply ingrained prejudices Indigenous heritage includes not only seeds in favor of European foods. and food crops but also traditional planting These efforts have sparked and storage techniques. For example, the interest outside of those Hopi Tribe in Arizona grows corn, beans countries. Some of these and other crops on dry land, the same way seeds have shown promise Avanu (water serpent) protects Tesuque Pueblo Farms’ that the Quechua in southern Bolivia grow seed bank. Solar panels power geothermal air-heated in exploratory trials. For quinoa on dry land. greenhouses; a germination test; Frank Moquino of example, cultivation of Acoma Pueblo speaks at a seed growers gathering. quinoa has been going on Emigdo Ballon (l) and Gailey Morgan; Tesuque Pueblo It is essential to control in the United States with blue corn; seed exchange at the growers gathering the genetic erosion of some success. Amaranth, a grain of the Aztecs that was burned and its We are struggling in New Mexico indigenous seeds. use forbidden by the Spanish conquistadors, to protect chile and blue corn against There are thousands of indigenous is today considered a “superfood.” this threat. Organizations such as the © Seth Roffman communities throughout our Mother Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Activism has also helped strengthen and Earth fighting the good fight to protect Institute (4bridges.org) have formed protect community-based seed systems. their inherent rights to grow their traditional the Northern New Mexico Coalition To assist efforts such as these, community Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabe seeds and practice their traditions. The Against GMOs to counter efforts to move initiatives that need funding include (Objibwe) who lives on the White Earth primary purpose of this article is to stress seeds from indigenous communities to be projects to collect local seeds, the exchange Reservation in , struggled for the importance of these overlooked crops genetically engineered and patented by of seeds among indigenous communities years to protect her tribe’s sacred wild so that the seeds and foods of these corporations. I have witnessed this struggle and the creation of local seed libraries. It is that “tastes like a lake.” Her group’s effort communities are not forgotten or destroyed in many communities such as the Quechua, essential to control the genetic erosion of won the fight against GMOs (genetically by genetic engineering. Aymara, Aztec, Mayan, Hopi, the Pueblos indigenous seeds. i modified organisms). Hawaiians recently and the Iroquois Confederation (Mohawk, These crops are not truly lost; indeed, in won their struggle to keep their traditional Emigdio Ballón is the Pueblo of Tesuque’s Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and agricultural resources director. many areas of the world, many are well poy from being genetically engineered. Tuscarora nations). www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 21 Fresh Aire continued from page 9 were usually termed as such from The next year, a research plot was seed suppliers that recognized their created to compare the production uniqueness, but what does “heirloom” say of my Taos fava bean seeds that about its relationship to the land? And survived through the drought to the what information does the term hold for Vadito parent-generation that had no its biological proximity to a landrace? experience with Taos or the drought. The plot experienced another year of Now that I have farmed the same drought, with irrigation again ceasing crops on the same land for the past 13 at the middle of June. The small sample years, I can reflect on the experience of plants was still able to survive, of having both good (incredible) and 15 plants from each of the two and bad (devastating) years for the generations yielded interesting results: production of different crops. Most the Taos generation experienced a 21 of my crops come from other areas percent increase in yield relative to the of the region, from the eastern and Vadito generation, with 80 percent western slopes of the northern and of that increase directed toward an central Sangre de Cristo mountain increase in seed production. Overall, range to the river valleys below. the Taos generation was able to allocate All of these seeds could originally almost 30 percent of its biomass to be considered landraces, but I was Table 1 seed production, whereas the Vadito interested in knowing the effect of diminished yields, and other times I’m In honor of their origin, I call this generation fell under 20 percent. planting seed on a new piece of land rewarded with surprisingly abundant introductory generation “Vadito.” The (See Table 1.) with new cultivation techniques. yields. Through this experience, I crop was established and almost to How long would it take for the plant began to feel as if I am a participant flower in early June when irrigation To further investigate the dynamics of to feel “comfortable,” “secure” and in the process of creating a landrace became an impossibility. Rains never adaptation, a research plot was planted “confident” on a new piece of land? Is and to wonder about the interplay came, and the plants slowly shriveled with lentils. Some lentils were obtained between genetics, practice and fate and turned black under the hot July from a seed exchange, the owner of in a landrace’s development. As I sun. I remembered that sometimes which told me they were originally from started to conceptualize these dynamics a farmer has to experience loss and Lebanon. I called this original seed “Leb” lentils. I planted Leb with sufficient water during a good irrigation year, got I began to wonder about the interplay good yields and saved seeds from the between genetics, practice and fate in a descendent generation, now called Taos lentils. The following year, I planted landrace’s development. some seeds from the original Leb seed occurring in my seeds and fields, I was submit to nature; it is part of the deal. stock interspaced with Taos seeds. This “blessed” with an extreme drought But as I was clearing the field in the was the same drought with no water Young fava bean plants event that gave me the means to test fall, I noticed a few plants had produced available past mid-June, with the crops it even fair to characterize the seed in my ideas and measure interest. seed. In a plot that should have yielded having to rely on minimal management, this way, or are these feelings I need over 30 pounds of beans, I harvested a genetic tolerance to drought, experience One year, I planted a plot of habas, or to develop as a farmer? I looked for little over an ounce. The survivors of and luck to survive. The crops struggled fava beans, from the village of Vadito. a means to answer these questions. this drought I called “Taos.” on, but the lentil plants of the Taos generation were taller, produced flowers I farm a piece of land that is irrigated and even produced some legumes in from a local river through a gravity-fed, the face of drought, where the Leb earthen-lined acequia system. It has generation produced no flowers or been my only source of irrigation, and legumes. Interestingly, as illustrated in I look to every winter with hopes of the last measurement of the study, six deep snows to feed the river system as Leb plants persisted until the killing long as possible over the summer. On frost without ever producing flowers or several occasions, drought has created seed, whereas the Taos plants had already the experience of diminishing waters produced seed or whose flowering that creep toward but never reach our process was terminated by lack of water thirsty crops. In these years, the water or fortitude. (See Table 2.) source is completely dry by July, and I can only hope for intermittent rain The results of these investigations are and monsoons to carry us through the preliminary and the sample sizes small, remainder of the season. but the implications for resiliency in yields, drought and generation times When the acequia goes dry, I employ are interesting nonetheless. I now have a variety of techniques to help my greater interest and more questions as crops survive to the next rain. My I continue the study. The implications efforts sometimes result in drastically Table 2 continued on page 24

22 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Reflections on Seed Sovereignty By Students from Santa Fe Indian School’s Agriscience Class after a Field Trip to Tesuque Pueblo Farms

Dominic Nieto: In my pueblo of Santo Domingo we face threats of cross-pollination. We do not know if the farmers in Peña Blanca, a small town between Santo Domingo and Cochiti pueblos, are using genetically modified seeds. That is what I am concerned about because most of the farmers in Santo Domingo are not well educated on GMOs.

Seed sovereignty is very important to us Pueblos because we use many of these seeds or crops in traditional ceremonies or dances and we do not want to lose the seeds we have had for centuries that were passed down to us by our ancestors. Eldon Crespin: When you save your heirloom seeds you are protecting the integrity of the seed. By preserving the integrity of the seed you are saving thousands of years of history.

There are different styles of farming that we use now, as opposed to the style our ancestors used, which was waffle-beds. We now use the box-style, which varies in size. The box-style of farming is a modification of the waffle-bed farming. Drucilla Aguilar: Agriscience students at the Santa Fe Indian School. The class is taught by Anthony I know for a fact that in my family, my father has been saving seeds from long ago Dorame of Tesuque Pueblo. when he was a child. Now today my little brothers are doing the same to save our heirloom seeds that were here long before we were. Where I come from, which Many people think that seed sovereignty is a game and think it’s easy to plant. is Santo Domingo, we have been saving corn seeds for many years because of our It’s really not that easy. You have to put in work and actually pick up a shovel and Pueblo plants. If we don’t save our seeds, what will this world come to? Our future plant stuff. We have to care for our seeds just like our ancestors have been doing generations won’t be able to know what a real grown corn plant tastes like or how for many years. So with that, pick up a shovel and grow some plants. Let’s be real they even planted the seed. farmers now! When I was a child, I used to go with my father to the field to irrigate or plant seeds. Bethany M. Romero: But today’s generation, everyone is stuck on electronics and we are not realizing that My great-grandfather…he rarely had money. To him, his money was his crops…If we are losing our ways of life as Pueblo people. Everything has changed with just Monsanto ever got ahold of the seeds that have been in our family for year after going to the supermarket to buy our crops. It should be the other way, for us to be year, that would be a slap in the face to my great-grandfather and to his father, farming our own crops and be involved with our future, to make a better change. and so on because they worked diligently. We don’t want the industrial agriculture to take away what we can do ourselves. Throughout the year we have songs and dances that we participate in to pray for Joseph Aguilar: rain and a good harvest, and that is also why it is very important to save seeds; Nowadays, Western farmers are getting lazy and just using these pesticides that it is a tradition for many Pueblo people here, as well as other American Indian harm your plants. groups across the U.S.

As a Pueblo person (Santo Domingo), we have been saving seeds for many years Seeds are like children to many of us, and if we do not take care of them, what because that’s what we’ve been living on, our Pueblo plants. As our generation will become of them, and what will that make us? goes on, if we were to not have the Pueblo seeds we used back then, we wouldn’t Tyrell Westika: know what Pueblo corn, squash and melon taste like. So it’s up to us Pueblo kids if we want to step up and take action in our fields to start planting and saving The importance of seed sovereignty is that we as a people are entitled to the safety these seeds. of our traditional way of life through food. We protect the seeds the best we can from the outside world because even though the other seeds that are out there nowadays have their merit many are in fact genetically modified seeds from crops that are used for mass producing and have traits that are made to handle many pesticides.

Many Pueblos used pottery, mainly in the form of seed pots. Through this, the seeds are safe from moisture. From these seed pots we have a time capsule, a window into the past, and hopefully a window into a future where there are still many heirloom crops, so we can continue the traditions and instill the principles of the past into the future kids and generations to come. We need to sometimes step back and see what has been working for many years and strive for sustainability and to continue what we know as a people and to never forget. Frank Pacheco Emigdio Ballon taught our agriscience class a lot about seeds…He said that in

© Seth Roffman every culture in North, South and , you find corn. That shows Santa Fe Indian School Agriscience students’ presentation at the Traditional Agriculture that the cultures in the are all connected in some way…In the Pueblo & Sustainable Living Conference at Tesuque Pueblo. L-R: Marley DryWater, Damian culture, we sing songs to the seed so they can grow and continue to have a good Aguilar, Frank Pacheco, Rayann Analla, Eldon Crespin crop when it comes time to harvest. i

www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 23 Fresh Aire continued from page 22 point to the importance of having locally ourselves will be more fruitful in the adapted varieties of seeds for greatest long term than continuing to allow food survival and food-production potential corporations to produce the food and during adverse agricultural production ideas that supposedly sustain us. I hope conditions. Adaptation to drought this article serves as food for thought in appears to be a trait that can be identified your journey to reconnect with nature and developed through seed selection through seed-saving agriculture. i SupportingLocal Business in Southern New Mexico using extreme environmental pressure Miguel Santistevan is an educator, researcher to identify the members of the seed and farmer. He maintains a small farm with www.locallascruces.com population with exceptional resilience. his wife and family in Taos, New Mexico. For I believe that an investment in more information about 221 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, NM • 575-323-1575 opportunities to reconnect with seed Santistevan and his and agriculture and establish localized, nonprofit organization, resilient varieties will alleviate some AIRE (Agriculture concerns about food security in the face of Implementation Research & climate change and a growing population. Education), visit An investment in our communities and www.growfarmers.org

Ken Greene continued from page 11 Is it true PNM recycles old refrigerators? looking for companies that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge, which states that the companies will not knowingly sell GMO varieties. But to take it a step What about freezers? farther, look for companies that sell only OP or heirloom varieties—with few or no hybrids included. Greene also clarified the differences between hybrid, Do you pick it up for free? GMO, OP and heirloom seeds. And he encouraged local farmers to begin thinking about growing seed as a way to expand their sales, and to create more food and farm security in our region.

For those who are interested in seed saving or learning how to save seed, Seed Savers Exchange is a good resource online and includes a forum you can join to ask questions. Several good books are available on the market, as well, such as Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed to Seed. i Kristen Davenport is a former journalist and current farmer who operates Boxcar Farm with her husband and their two kids. They grow garlic for seed , as well as many veggies and herbs for Have a question about our Refrigerator Recycling Program? the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. Talk to us.

PNM will recycle your old, working refrigerator or freezer and pay you $50. We’ll pick it up for free, keeping materials like metal, glass and plastic out of the landfill – and greenhouse gasses out of the environment. Learn more at PNM.com/answers.

24 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com The Land is the Source of our Identidad, Survival, Health, Strength and Happiness Article and photos by Alejandro López

f the popular outcry of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 was “Give us land, pursuits, industries such or be done with us!” perhaps the cry of the Nuevo Méxicano people of 2016 as Los Alamos National ought to be “The land is the source of our identitad, survival, health, strength Laboratory and huge andI happiness. Let us reclaim her!” mining and timber operations diverted the Undoubtedly, when New Mexico’s land is cultivated, it is capable of generating workforce away from life, health and an economy. For centuries, this land—though perhaps spartan in farms. outward appearance—allowed its inhabitants to be both self-sufficient and healthy. Its people depended almost exclusively on the sustenance that surged from its With the collapse of the soil, a soil consecrated across generations by the offerings and ceremonial dances agricultural way of life that of its native Pueblo peoples, as well as by the prayers and supplications of the gave a certain meaning, humble, hard-working Mexicano people, who, after centuries of toil, conflict and beauty and coherence to amalgamation, also became heirs to the sacred and beloved tierra. life, huge numbers of people from rural communities Because of this history, even today there is an abundance of arable plots of land relocated to New Mexico’s throughout northern New Mexico. Although most are modest in size and lie larger cities, where today fallow, they still constitute an important available resource for recovery of the they live out the frenzy health, vitality, economy and cultural viability of the region. This is also possible of the cash economy and because of a tightly woven network of rivers, and acequias that ensures urban sprawl. the region’s fairly reliable water supply that is fundamental to growing food. Recent changes indicate Despite the pulverizing effects of the forces of materialism, drugs, alcohol and that it may be a positive imprisonment, as well as a continuous exodus of talented native people, it is thing for northern conceivable that northern New Mexico could develop the sort of workforce a New Mexico’s people resurgence of sustainable agriculture would require. Although difficult, many of to return to cultivating Rosa María Alcantar of Rocio Produce surveys a field those afflicted by these scourges could recover, particularly if they were to return the land, to whatever before planting. to the rhythms of nature, creatively engage the land and work among a robust extent possible. Those in community of healthy people. possession of land and the will to work it are now in a favorable position rather Reinforcements for this much-needed revolution of training and retraining people than at a disadvantage. The market has made an about-face. Large numbers of to reclaim the land are already here among us. They are la gente, who, in recent people, businesses and institutions are willing to pay a fair price for fresh, local times, have arrived en and organic produce. Restaurants, public schools, wealthy and medium-income masse from México people value the rich flavor of locally grown frutas y verduras and their higher and other parts of the nutritional value. Well-established farmers’ markets in many communities can world with the will to provide a tremendous boost to farmers and buyers. work la tierra and see it become productive. This Arable land throughout northern New Mexico is is already happening in many places. still an available resource for recovery of health, vitality, economy and cultural viability. After languishing for a long time, the centuries- Recent technological innovations have also contributed to the feasibility of small- old, traditional small- scale farming. These days, it is possible to grow broccoli, kale, cauliflower, spinach, scale agriculture of beets, turnips and other vegetables for eight or nine months out of the year if one northern New Mexico takes advantage of the heat- and water-conservation qualities of cold frames and finally met its demise greenhouses. Moreover, as of late, government programs are making it simpler and by the late 20th century cheaper to do so. Indeed, individuals in many communities are taking advantage for several reasons. of such programs. Chief among them Drip irrigation systems have dispensed with the need to use large quantities of were the low prices that water or to irrigate anything other than the plant itself. In addition to proven local agricultural products heirloom varieties, the availability of seeds from around the world for common fetched in regional and foods such as tomatoes, squash, melons, beans or wheat and access to plants such national markets. This as blackberries or kale, largely unknown in this area, has added to the interest was the fate of all Third and profitability of regional small-scale farming. World countries and regions. Reinforced The reclamation of land for growing food for local consumption and for the by modern education local market is bound to strengthen the economy, cultures and communities in a with its emphasis on multitude of interconnected ways. Reclaiming fallow land overrun with invasive An acequia-irrigated farm in Santa Cruz, near Española, in commercial, industrial species, though arduous, may also prove to be catalytic to forging strong and well- northern New Mexico and technological rounded youth and familias. continued on page 30 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 25 Free Solar Power!

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26 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Plants: Our Loyal Companions, Life-givers and Teachers Beata Tsosie-Peña

s preparation for seasonal When I observe plants growing, even together. A good place to abundance begins, and in the lower desert valley, I see that start is by observing which the need for adapting to a they are not growing alone, contrary plants are already growing Achanging climate continues, we must to the planting style together where you live consider the lessons humankind has Big Ag (industrial farming) would and learning the properties had access to since our beginnings, have us buy into. There is always a of those plants. It is also a lessons from the Plant People. When cluster of plants growing together in good idea to plant varieties in nature, observing the growing community. The metaphor and life that help resist and deter green beauty and diversity that we lessons for humanity are clear: We need destructive pests and are dependent on for our breath and each other to survive; the strengths of insects in close proximity nourishment, what are ways we can the individual contribute to the well- with those plants that emulate and learn from nature about being of our survival as a whole; and, need protection. how to grow food and medicine? as peoples, our diversity and ability to Growing “Fruit Tree respect and honor differences are part When I look out at the layers of Guilds” is also a good of our strength and resilience. plants—from the tallest tree to the way to experiment and smallest blade of grass—I can see Long ago, indigenous agriculture nurture holistic food the layers that exist in harmony and understood what science has confirmed production. Companion codependence. In our mountains, and is now widely known in the example planting requires looking the upper canopy is the foundation of Three Sisters gardens. Taller plants at the relationship of Chokecherry and (dormant) locust companion planting. and protector of our watershed that need extra nutrients (corn) are living systems as a whole, They are planted in a swale on a slope to harvest cycle, a producer of oxygen through best planted with nitrogen-fixing ones and the niches particular rainwater. The locust provides nitrogen fixing for soil photosynthesis, food and shelter for (beans) that can climb on the taller plants inhabit that serve enhancement. The chokecherry, which need nutrients, benefits by being planted in close proximity.B oth provide animal kin and, thanks to a mix of ones for support, while low-growing multiple functions that shade, organic mulch, and act as a windbreak. deciduous and evergreen species, a sprawlers (melons and squash) provide aren’t in competition and year-round provider of shelter and plant competition control and help hold are mutually beneficial. Nurture the plants and seeds that nutrients for plants below, while moisture as a living mulch. Not only already are adapted to growing in our These days, as we are exploring and nurturing healthy soils. does this planting combination help desert climate and environments. Learn continuing these traditions in our maintain soil nutrients and plant health their nutritional and medicinal values yards and fields, we need to nurture a but, also, eating these (non-GMO) so that our harvesting is balanced in Companion planting healthy relationship with water once foods in combination with each other a relationship between wildcrafting/ again. Sustainable practice in honoring and holistic food provides healthy, complete nutrition. It gathering, acequia agriculture and this gift means that, if we are already is interesting to note that this example of dry-land farming. Our resilience lies production using this resource in our gardens, let’s companion planting represents all three in these relationships, and our oldest It is possible for us to develop sustainable make sure we plant perennial foods and forms of pollination: cross pollination, teachers are all around us, loving us systems that not only provide food but medicines alongside our annuals, so our self-pollination and insect pollination. and offering what we need to continue also nurture the harmony that we were water is also contributing to the long- For the last, many add a fourth sister: existing in our shared home. i once in relationship with, sustainable term generational growth and health of bee balm, sunflowers, or other bee- systems that can help us find that our landscapes. Let’s make sure it is not Beata Tsosie-Peña works for Tewa Women friendly plants. balance once again. “Food forests” are wasted, that it is held to our fertile hearts United’s Environmental Health and Justice Program. She is a permaculture designer, seed saver, a sustainable solution to healthy land A lot of information and knowledge like a slow embrace held in our soils poet and mother and is currently helping grow management that also supports our are available as to which vegetables before it is returned to its living cycle. the Española Healing Foods Oasis demonstration ability to feed ourselves. and herbs grow best when planted garden. [email protected]

PRESCHOOL - HIGH SCHOOL We customize facials specifically for YOUR skin! New client special Buy one facial and get WHERE the second one at half price! LEARNING Must be used in two IS AN ART. consecutive months. Non transferable. O‚ er good through June. Seventh Ray Skin Care Serving Santa Fe since 1992 2019 Galisteo St. N8 • seventhrayskincare.com • 505.982.98.65 www.santafewaldorf.org 505.467.6431 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 27 Partners Join to Strengthen Local Food Supply Chains “Food LINC” to Boost Farm Sales, Grow Local Foods Sector Benjamin Bartley

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials have joined 15 national and regional philanthropic partners for a new initiative to bolster the supply chain for local food systems around 10 key U.S. cities. The project, dubbed “Food LINC,” will connect demand for local food in 10 urban areas with supply components from farmers and ranchers, strengthening Left: Preferred Produce greenhouse in Deming. Above: Anthony Youth Farm each region’s local food business sector and also increasing consumer access to healthy, local food. “Our investments in local food Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. infrastructure have the most success in “Food LINC aims to create market communities with strong coordination opportunities for the areas’ producers between producers, food purchasers and and create or sustain jobs along that local access to shared resources,” said U.S. supply chain. With the help from our USDA Officials Visit La Montañita Co-op and Release Food Hub Report United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director Terry Brunner, along with USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service administrator Sam Rikkers, from Washington, D.C., visited La Montañita Ed Ogaz of Seco Spice Cooperative in Albuquerque on April 21 to get some insight on how the co-op has partners, USDA can ‘supercharge’ our are formed. Value chains are different been so successful over the years and to shine a light on the efforts of food hubs through the release of the USDA’s “Running a Food Hub” report. resources to create lasting impacts for from traditional food-supply chains farmers, ranchers and rural communities in that there’s a shared mission and Brunner said, “The as a whole.” operational values among the partners National Grocers involved. It’s as much or more about Nearly $3 million in combined private and Association and National relationships as infrastructure. The goal is Restaurant Association federal funding will support coordination to enhance the growers’ financial returns. have identified local food by a host organization in each city. A as one of the top trends in full-time Food LINC coordinator will Under Food LINC, La Montañita’s Value their industries and La be embedded in each host organization Chain team will be working with diverse Montañita is part of that trend. Their efforts create for up to three years. The knowledge farm operations to find new markets new opportunities for gained through their experiences will help for locally grown products including producers while making the partnership determine next steps to pumpkins, apples, carrots, peeled garlic the cooperative more L-R: La Montañita Cooperative administrators Dennis link producers and entrepreneurs with and cucumbers, as well as working to sustainable.” Brunner Hanley, Robin Seydel, Steve Warshawer and Michelle families and institutional consumers to scale, brand and market value-added and Rikkers presented a Franklin accept the report and a certificate of appreciation develop more robust local and regional products such as chile ristras, yogurt, certificate of appreciation from Terry Brunner and Sam Rikkers of the USDA from the USDA to La food systems. The initiatives in each cheese and milled corn. Through producer Montañita for its 40 years of providing fresh, locally grown produce. The business region will be documented to share convenings, technical assistance and is the largest of its kind in New Mexico. best practices with other organizations enterprise development, La Montañita working to grow similar opportunities in staff are exploring the feasibility of “Running a Food Hub” highlights numerous best practices designed to help their communities nationwide. increasing local chicken, egg and buffalo businesses that distribute food to cooperatives and other markets be more production. They are also actively working sustainable. There are two main food hub businesses. The ‘Wholesale Food Hub’ New Mexico’s host organization is with the co-op’s network of growers to is more focused on retailers, as their customer base and does not rely on volunteer La Montañita Co-op. The Thornburg labor. The ‘Direct-to-Consumer Food Hub’ sells its groceries to the end consumer explore new products that producers are Foundation is the philanthropic partner. and is operated by a mix of full-time and volunteer labor. interested in adding to their business or Beginning in 2007, La Montañita items for which they know there is an established its cooperative distribution Brunner and Rikkers also presented a Value-Added Producer (VAP) grant unmet market demand. i certificate of obligation to Silverleaf Family Farms of Corrales, New Mexico. center and Regional Foodshed Initiative Silverleaf is receiving $44,068 to market its produce at additional farmers’ markets to expand purchases by the co-op’s stores Benjamin Bartley recently joined La around the state. USDA VAP grants are intended to support local and regional of sustainably grown products and to Montañita as a Value Chain specialist, food systems. They can be used to develop new products or additional uses from working on local food procurement. He was assist regional producers in accessing existing ones, and support marketing opportunities for veterans, members of previously the Food Access director at the socially disadvantaged groups, beginning farmers and ranchers, and operators of additional wholesale market channels. Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & small- and medium-sized family farms and ranches. The initiative is developing “value chains,” Agriculture in Washington, D.C. through which collaborative partnerships

28 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Investing in New Mexico Grown Nelsy Dominguez and Pam Roy

hanks to the efforts of teachers, school nutrition professionals, farmers, agriculture professionals, parents, students and nonprofit advocates, Farm to School programs throughout the nation are booming. Based on recently Treleased national data by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm to School activities have grown from a handful of schools in the late 1990s to 23.6 million students nationwide. A total of 42,587 schools across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., participate in farm-to-school activities such as serving local food in the cafeteria, holding taste tests, planting and caring for school gardens and taking students on field trips to farms and .

For more than a decade, New Mexico organizations and agencies have made a concerted effort to develop the New Mexico Grown Fresh Fruits and Vegetables NM A nthony, Center, Courtesy La S emilla Food for School Meals initiative to create opportunities for farmers to diversify their markets. For schools, this means being able to buy locally while meeting federal Policy Council and others look to address many of the operational challenges inherent school-meal rules and enhancing the diets of schoolchildren while promoting in developing a complex initiative involving many partners. Some of the most perplexing healthy lifestyles and academic achievement. challenges relate to the need to invest in New Mexico’s small- to mid-scale farmers, the procurement process for New Mexico Grown foods and their distribution to schools.

Fresh local fruit and vegetables in schools benefit To ensure that the New Mexico Grown program is a win-win for farmers and children, farmers and the regional economy. Plus, schoolchildren, nearly 50 participants joined Farm to Table and the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council for a one-day strategic session aimed at developing the our carbon footprint is decreased substantially. program in the coming years. Farmers, educators, school food-service administrators, Since 2007, the New Mexico Legislature has appropriated funding for the New agriculture agents, nonprofit advocates and public officials discussed ways to coordinate Mexico Grown Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for School Meals program, now called and align efforts. Together, they produced a vision, developed actionable strategies and NM Grown. Since then, interest in the program has increased. During the 2016 New mobilized committees to carry out and engage others in support for localizing school- Mexico Legislative Session, New Mexico Grown was appropriated $250,000—a food procurement. reduction from $364,300 the previous year. The funds, administered by the Public Investing in asset-based, community economic development is a way to strengthen Education Department, are made accessible to school food authorities (SFAs) toward and diversify regional economic activity—activity that is traditionally cultural—so the purchase of fresh local produce. The program was utilized by many of the 218 that communities can achieve self-determined wellness and improve their relationship SFAs and served 364,902 students in the 2015/2016 school year. In addition, the with fresh, high-quality food, especially those who are not usually able to experience New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) separately administers $85,000 such food daily. in support of purchasing local produce designated for a set of Albuquerque Public Schools. Between both allocations, New Mexico schools will have close to $335,000 To learn more, contact [email protected] or [email protected]. View to spend on New Mexico-grown fresh fruits and vegetables for school meals during the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census at https://farmtoschoolcensus.fns.usda.gov/ the 2016/2017 school year. and visit National Farm to School Network at http://www.farmtoschool.org/news- and-articles/census-says-farm-to-school-is-booming. i Farm to Table, in partnership with the NMDA, New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service, New Mexico School Nutrition Association, New Mexico Food and Agriculture Nelsy Domínguez is deputy director/COO, and Pam Roy is executive director, Farm to Table.

Mobile Farmers’ Market: SeedBroadcast Improving Health Equity The Mobile Farmers’ Market is a During 2016 and 2017, SeedBroadcast, collaborative initiative intended to a collaborative project, is partnering help improve health equity for low- with Native Seeds/SEARCH and income individuals and families in farmers across New Mexico to creatively document bioregional seeds Bernalillo County. The market on wheels supports local farmers and and climate-appropriate agriculture. provides Albuquerque’s International The project is guided by the belief that it is a human right to save seeds District and South Valley with healthy, and share their gifts, to grow food and affordable, organically grown fruits and vegetables, and educational resources on how to prepare them. The effort share its abundance, and to cultivate is part of the Healthy Here initiative that includes Presbyterian Healthcare and share grassroots wisdom. Services, Bernalillo County Community Health Council and 14 other community partners. It is made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control Through seasonal photo essays and interviews, SeedBroadcast is working with and Prevention. farmers to share their stories about growing food in a changing climate while cultivating ecological resiliency. The stories are published in the SeedBroadcast Between June 6 and Oct. 25, the Mobile Farmers’ Market will make stops at Blog (http://seedbroadcast.blogspot.com/) and in the SeedBroadcast agri-Culture various health clinics, middle schools and community centers on Mondays and Journal (www.seedbroadcast.org/SeedBroadcast/SeedBroadcast_agriCulture_ Tuesdays. The market accepts all forms of payment, includingWIC and Senior Journal.html). Farmers’ Market Checks, SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks (twice as much produce for the same price). For more information, contact Natalie Donnelly at For more information, visit www.seedbroadcast.org or 505.841.1357 or [email protected]. www.facebook.com/seedshare www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 29 Growing Health and Justice Travis McKenzie and Rodrigo Rodríguez pring is here, and that means it’s planting time. But this year we’re not just growing New Mexico by connecting farms and schools, engaging young people in changing the healthy organic food; we’re “Growing Health and Justice!” We are excited to food system, and educating and advocating for policies at local, state and federal levels. announce a partnership of Project Feed the Hood, Farm to Table New Mexico We hope to expand our efforts at Albuquerque Public Schools and form a partnership and Presbyterian Health Service’s Healthy Here initiative. Since its founding in 2009, S with a handful of pilot schools—elementary, middle and high schools—across the district. Project Feed the Hood, an initiative of the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), There is a specific focus on the Southeast Heights and South Valley areas. We will be has helped install dozens of school community gardens and has worked alongside working throughout the year to host gardening workshops and cooking and seed-saving hundreds of families, teachers and school staffers to transform our community’s role in classes. Project Feed the Hood will be hosting school assemblies, working in classrooms New Mexico’s food systems, especially school foods. Project Feed the Hood works to and after school to build gardens, grow, cook and eat food to help transform students educate, organize and empower communities to transform our food systems to reflect and build school food systems rooted in principles of justice, culture and health. Please the visions and values of our communities. join us. Learn more at http://www.bchealthcouncil.org. i New Mexico has The project’s Community Garden Spring Fiesta is May 7. (See calendar, pg. 38) rich and ancient Travis McKenzie is with Project Feed the Hood ([email protected]). Rodrigo Rodríguez is agricultural with the SouthWest Organizing Project ([email protected]). traditions, but in recent years Healthy Here is a collective impact initiative those traditions in Albuquerque/Bernalillo County committed to have taken a back reducing chronic disease in the Hispanic/Latino and seat to Big Ag. Native American populations in the International District and South Valley through environmental and New Mexico is systems changes that increase access to healthy food, currently home physical activity and self-management of chronic to one of the disease. Funded through the CDC’s Racial & Ethnic nation’s largest Dora Pacias mentors students from the South Valley Academy Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant to Presbyterian Healthcare dairy industries Services with coalition support from the Bernalillo County Community Health but also tops the nation in childhood hunger, with nearly one in three kids going hungry. Council. For more information, contact Leigh Caswell at [email protected] or Marsha McMurray-Avila at [email protected] Agricultural industries in the state make billions of dollars each year, but one in five New Mexicans is not getting enough to eat. New Mexico is also home to some of the largest Farm to Table, a partner in the Healthy Here initiative, is working to co-create herds in the United States and also has some of the largest “food deserts.” Food spaces for farm-to-school practitioners to learn from one another through deserts are often low-income census tracts where a substantial number of residents have gatherings, workshops and other trainings. FtT’s goals include supporting little access to a large grocery store. community partners within Albuquerque to develop and sustain diverse school- garden projects, increase knowledge and skills to support farm-to-school Project Feed the Hood is also working to revitalize traditional growing methods education, increase integration of local foods within Albuquerque schools and and lifeways and to reintroduce culturally significant foods by engaging with diverse advocate for public and institutional support of projects. For more information, communities and stakeholders. The project is addressing the root causes of hunger in contact Nelsy Domínguez at [email protected]

The Land is the Source continued from page 25 Preferring glitzy virtual reality and the hypnotic magnetism of round-the-clock When people of any age take communication and entertainment over ordinary reality, many young people are no on the challenge of planting longer able to perform basic tasks such as preparing a meal or executing a simple a garden, unless they are the carpentry project. In the electronic age, the average American has become even victims of circumstances more isolated from both el mundo and, ironically, otra gente. Because of this, it such as drought or flooding, is not uncommon to come across young people who lack a deep feeling toward they will be immensely other human beings, as well as all other life forms. rewarded, not only by the outpouring of an abundance Reinforcements for reclaiming the land are of produce at the end of the growing season but, also, at each stage of the plants’ development. Even if one already here among us. claims to understand the workings of science, these experiences will transport the Some who have studied this disturbing trend are convinced that the only way imagination—together with other human faculties—to the very heart and source of out of this dead-end situation is for young people to creatively reengage with life itself. On a given day, a corn plant may not yet have produced a tassel; then, on nature—our original teacher—together with a community of active people. Unlike the following day, one begins to appear, and, on the third day, it fully and gloriously the computer, nature is free of preconceived, finite programming. Instead, at every proclaims to all creation its magnificence and ability to pollinate. turn, nature can fully engage the body, mind and spirit with unfolding phenomena In time, acts of witnessing and participating in nature’s amazing workings become of infinite complexity. Interacting vigorously with nature, plants and animals, as the building blocks of the wisdom that we hope to attain—the one does on a farm, people come alive and respond to the things that need to be sort of wisdom many of our viejitos had. And so it is that done such as the preparation of soil, sowing of seeds, irrigation, weeding, thinning, by cultivating our beloved tierra we can be transformed into protection of plants from pests, mulching, harvesting, food processing and much happier, more caring, sensitive and aware human beings. ¿Qué more. Each of these processes can strengthen the body, sharpen the senses, inform más queremos? What more do we want? i the mind and inspire the spirit. When carried out in community, these activities foster sharing and cooperation, stimulate authentic communication and help Alejandro López, writer, photographer and educator, grew up farming. He has build solid relationships. spent many years helping restore his family’s 75-year-old farm in northern New Mexico. [email protected]

30 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com 4

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32 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com SUPER SEEDS: What Is All the Excitement About? Japa K. Khalsa

hy is there such excitement about seeds as health food these days? inflammation, balances hormones and Chía seeds, soba seeds, flax seeds: Why are these little nutritional nourishes eyes, skin and hair. There are gems called superfoods? many ways to get this seed into your body: Sprinkle toasted sesame onto WSeeds carry the future plant’s potential energy in a concentrated form. Most seeds salads or in soups, blend it into spreads have high amounts of micronutrients and special, unique kinds of fats. All of the or milks or spread tahini on bread as enzymes, protein, fat and minerals needed to grow the plant are contained within a nut butter substitute. Tahini is the each tiny seed. Most importantly, though, for foodies, certain kinds of seeds, when delicious seed-spread from blended mixed in with food, can be incredibly delicious. Some special seeds that grow sesame seeds. You can make it yourself locally in New Mexico have unique healing properties. by blending sesame seeds and oil. It adds so much flavor to Middle Eastern Seeds, when mixed in with food, cooking and is a key ingredient in can be incredibly delicious. hummus. A key to good health is to constantly find ways to awaken our inner healing drive. Hummus Life is not easy. It takes effort to keep ourselves light, happy and in a self-care Hummus must certainly be the most healing mindset in the face of the unexpected curveballs and challenges that delicious, healthful dip on the planet! come our way. Plant foods like vegetables and seeds give us their consciousness Life without hummus would just when we eat them. Not only do we take the physical life force from them; their NOT be the same, and it’s so easy to inner vitality feeds us at the level of the spirit/body/mind connection. The special make. Just blend a can of garbanzo beans, a clove of garlic, the juice of one lemon energy of a plant’s seeds helps us stay flexible and awakens the internal energy of and a few heaping tablespoons of tahini. Blend in olive oil and maybe a little self-healing. water to the desired texture, and add some and pepper if you wish. Just five main ingredients, and yet it always tastes creamy and tangy. Add some basil or Good for chopped-up olives and serve on crackers or pita bread. Something Goatheads Seeds of Healing If you’ve spent time in your own A wonderful way to plant the internal seed of self-healing is to do a springtime backyard or barefoot on a hiking cleanse. Just add one healthful habit like a fresh juice in the morning or water trail, you may have encountered with lemon to kick-start your body’s internal detox systems. Support the health the dreaded goathead. A common of your immune system, lungs and liver to release congestion and stagnation and weed with thorny fruits, goatheads help you feel healthy and light for the summertime. You can try simple remedies, are the bane of anyone unfortunate like three days of broth and vegetables or my favorite, the “Cleanse of Santa Fe” enough to step on one. But (http://devahealth.com/the-cleanse/). This is a 10-day process of eating whole surprisingly, these irritating weeds foods, juicing and taking special supplements. The food during this cleanse is so are an excellent medicinal plant, nurturing that, even though you are cleansing and detoxing, you feel cared for so famous in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. They are used traditionally to that your body can heal itself. encourage fertility, potency and to prevent and soothe bladder or urinary tract Devas Seed Milk for the irritation. The best time to harvest them is right after the tiny white or yellow Cleanse of Santa Fe flowers bloom and a prickly pod has developed on the plant. Once dried, they • 2 cups of water can be an amazing tea that builds and restores energy to the body. They can also • 2–3 Tbsp of sesame seeds be bought as a premade tea, sometimes called horny goat weed or gokshura. An • A few dates, pits removed Albuquerque-based business, Banyan Botanicals, carries it in bulk. • A pinch of cinnamon or 1/8 tsp Gokshura Tea of Bring 1 tablespoon of gokshura to a boil in 2 cups of water; then, simmer uncovered • Juice and insides of one young for 30 to 45 minutes. Drink this tea daily. For a tastier treat and to support prostate coconut (optional) health, simmer the strained tea with goat milk, and then blend in some sesame Blend all of these ingredients and seeds and raw to taste (adapted from Dr. Nadkarni, India Materia Medica). heat the drink if preferred warm Piñón Nuts: A Jewel of Local New Mexico Foods Nurture yourself with simple foods, and The hard-shelled nut from the piñón tree grows encased inside pine cones and try putting more seeds into your mouth. Chew well and be healthy. i is a treasure trove of healing nutrients. Piñones supply amino acids, phosphorous Japa K. Khalsa, Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM), is co- and healthy fats. Join the farm-to-table movement, and be sure to always purchase author of Enlightened Bodies: Exploring Physical and Subtle locally harvested piñón nuts. Our New Mexico nut has a harder shell than other Human Anatomy (enlightenedbodies.com). She teaches a weekly varieties and a distinctive, crisp, rich flavor. Eating foods like this with plenty of yoga class for people with chronic pain at Sacred Kundalini, in monounsaturated (plant) fats can help satisfy the body and cut back on cravings Santa Fe. She completed her Master of Oriental Medicine degree for junk or processed foods. at the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, in Chicago. She combines traditional acupuncture with herbal and nutritional Sesame Seeds medicine, injection therapy and energy healing. Her work The sesame seed has long been touted as an elixir of life. These tiny gems are full with patients and students emphasizes optimal health and personal transformation through self-care and awareness of the of nutrients like copper, magnesium, calcium and healthy fats. Rich in fatty acids, interconnectedness of all life. www.drjapa.com the sesame seed also supports the cardiovascular system, boosts immunity, reduces www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 33 The Best Place 505- for Real Estate News and Commentary

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Río Grande Agricultural Land Trust Several entities are piloting the High Five Certification program. They include Earns National Recognition properties owned by the Historic District Improvement Co. (HDIC); CNM, Presbyterian; Hotel Andaluz; Hotel Parq Central; and Hartman & Majewski. The nonprofit Río Grande Agricultural Land Trust (RGALT, www.rgalt.org), an ABQ’s new interim executive director, Rick Rennie, asset manager for HDIC, organization dedicated to preserving working farms, wildlife habitat, open space expects to expand the program to other areas of Albuquerque. For more info, visit and scenic vistas, has achieved accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation www.2030districts.org/albuquerque. Commission, a mark of honor in land conservation, signifying the commission’s confidence that RGALT lands will be protected forever. Navajo Nation Breaks Ground The accreditation comes on the heels of another RGALT success: five conservation on First Utility-Scale Solar Farm easements that protect a total of 546 acres of habitat along the Río Grande in central On April 23, the Navajo Nation broke ground on its first utility-scale solar-energy New Mexico, benefiting migratory bird and other wildlife corridors and contributing production plant. Deenise Biscenti, public affairs director for theN avajo Tribal to scenic vistas and open space. Voluntary conservation easements on farms and Utility Authority (NTUA), says that the solar farm is the tribe’s first move in a long- ranches bind land and water together, ensuring their continued use as agricultural term strategy to establish a green economy. The Navajo Nation has not previously land and wildlife habitat. generated its own power. The Navajo Nation decided to build the solar farm itself rather than hire an outside company. “As a small organization with relatively few resources, RGALT’s accomplishments are on par with those of much larger land trusts,” said John Leeper, RGALT board The Kayenta Solar Facility, located on 300 acres of tribal land south of Monument treasurer. “It is my hope that the accreditation seal will give us the credibility to Valley, Arizona, will offer “some of the lowest consumer electric rates in the region,” reach a wider philanthropic circle to assist us in preserving the rich natural and a press release states. The $64 million, 27.5-megawatt (MW) project is being funded agricultural environment that makes our state such a great place to live,” said board partly through federal loans and tax credits. Salt River Project, a Tempe, Arizona- secretary, Bill . based utility, is partnering with NTUA in a power purchasing agreement.

Accredited land trusts across the country have permanently conserved more than 15 When completed by the end of 2016, the facility will be able to serve about 7,700 million acres of farms, forests and natural areas that are considered vital to healthy, homes in New Mexico, Arizona and . An estimated 18,000 Navajo homes are vibrant communities. still not connected to the grid.

Farms, Films, Food: A Santa Fe Celebration – May 11 Another project, the Paragon-Bisti solar ranch, on 10,000 acres in New Mexico, is Center for Contemporary Arts, Farmers’ Market Institute in the preconstruction phase, which includes recruiting solar developers, surveying and Street Food Institute Event Series and performing an environmental assessment. That project is on five sites that have been deemed suitable to host 2,100 MW of photovoltaic (PV) power. Three institutions are teaming up to offer a series of events designed to celebrate Santa Fe’s love of great food and cinema. Farms, Films, Food: A Santa Fe Celebration will Since 1998, through a rental program, the NTUA has installed 263 residential PV offer $5 meals from the Street Food Institute and other food trucks from 5-8 pm, free solar systems for Navajo families. NTUA has also begun offering solar-wind hybrid samples from a cooking demonstration of seasonal local foods by local chefs, gallery systems, financed at $75 per month toward the purchase price. The hybrid system tours and presentations from community partners, along with two free screenings. includes an 800-watt PV solar array, a 400-watt wind turbine and a battery for excess storage. The first event, on May 11, includes a demonstration at 6 pm by Chef Greg Menke from TheB eestro. The screenings start at 6:30, with Symphony of Soil by Deborah SFCC Plans to Develop ‘Micro-REEF’ Center Koons García, who will take questions from the audience by Skype. The Oscar- nominated The Boy and the World, an acclaimed animated feature from Brazil, will Santa Fe Community College, in partnership with a New Mexico company be shown at 6:45. called Ecoponex Systems, plans to build a small-scale, renewable-energy farming technology center, known as “Micro-REEF.” SFCC will host the center in association The other events in the series will take place on Aug. 31 and Nov. 2. All are free, with the biofuels lab in its Trades and Advanced Technology Center. The college will thanks to underwriting in part by the Simon Charitable Foundation. The events offer internships to students. are designed to create a context for prominent food and health issues facing New Mexicans and to facilitate dialogue on these issues. “We are offering these events as Ecoponex CEO Benjamin Brandt said that the college’s national reputation for our gift to the Santa Fe community, as a chance to eat together, learn together and programming in green technologies was part of the deciding factor in locating the watch some wonderful films together,” said Jason Silverman, Cinematheque director project there. at the Center for Contemporary Arts. “In this age of fast-food diets and corporate, market-tested storytelling, we feel incredibly fortunate to live in a city with real pride The Micro-REEF (Renewable Energy Efficient Farming) is expected to make enough in community and love of all things local, artisanal and independent.” vegetable and fish protein to feed more than 16,000 people. It will be fueled by solar energy and biogas from food and green waste. A local company, Reunity Resources, ABQ 2030 District’s New Program will provide some of those fuels. Water, carbon and nutrients will be recycled to to Improve Buildings help grow vegetables, herbs and fish that will be supplied to the college, schools, restaurants and grocery stores. Micro-algae will also be grown and supplied to Pevig, In 2015, Albuquerque was named a 2030 District, the 10th city to commit to becoming a joint-venture company in Mexico, that will produce omega-3 as a nutritional an urban sustainability leader by reducing buildings’ environmental impacts. supplement. Reducing energy and water consumption also saves money. So far, 27 property owners have voluntarily committed to high-performance buildings. Besides saving millions of gallons of water, compared to conventional agriculture, the Micro-REEF facility will reduce carbon emissions and eliminate organic waste “High Five Certification” is a new strategy that building owners will be asked to that now goes to a landfill. use to help the district achieve its goals. Property owners are asked to evaluate their buildings in energy, transportation, water, waste and economic development. The project will allow SFCC to partner with businesses that are developing and trying out new technologies. It is expected to create 14 jobs for those with degrees The 2030 District is hosted by the Downtown ABQ MainStreet Initiative. The such as SFCC offers. District’s advisory council includes Amy Coburn, director of the University of New Mexico’s planning, design and construction department; Doug Majewski of Ecoponex is still in the process of raising money for the $6.5 million project. The Hartman & Majewski Design Group; Darin Sand with Goodman Realty Group; school hopes to launch the initial phase of the project this summer. The state Board and representatives from Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Central New Mexico of Finance needs to approve the lease of the land to the company. State money will Community College, Sandia National Laboratories and Public Service Company not be requested for the project. of New Mexico, among others. www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 37 What's Going On! Events / Announcements

May 26, 9 am start May 7, 8:30 am–4:30 pm May 10, 5:30–7 pm Santolina Master Plan Hearings NM’s Opioid and Trends in the Arts City/County Government Building, Overdose Epidemic & Cultural Sector 1 Civic Plaza NW Santa Fe Convention Center NM History Museum Auditorium County Planning Commission. 5/26: Land Conference for clinical and behavioral health 113 Lincoln use and zoning. 6/23: Environment and providers. Hosted by the SF Prevention Presentation by Robert L. Lynch, president/ Open Space; 7/21: Conclusion. Alliance. Info: 505.470.9072, SantaFePre CEO of Americans for the Arts. Free but tick- [email protected], Registration: ets must be obtained online. 505.955.6707 June 15, 10 am–2 pm https://southwestcare.ejoinmen.org/SOS Sen. Michael Padilla Job Fair May 11, 11:30 am–1 pm May 7, 9 am–3 pm Harrison Middle School Cultural Trends in Marketing 12th Annual Garden Fair ALBUQUERQUE 3912 Isleta SW SF Business Incubator, May 7, 10 am–2 pm th 4 annual. 505.977.6247 SF County Fairgrounds, 3229 Rodeo Rd. 3900 Paseo del Sol Community Garden Opening Speakers, clinics, demos, exhibits, plant sale, Fuel your small business. Lunch-n-Learn Daily 1410 Wellesley SE kids corner. Presented by SF Master Gar- from a panel of marketing experts. Free. Project Feed the Hood’s Spring Fiesta. Activities Our Land, Our Culture, Our Story deners. Free. Sfmga.org 505.474.6556, [email protected] for all ages. Planting, composting, seed work- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center th May 7, 10 am–12 pm May 11, 5–8:30 pm shops & distribution. Lunch provided. Speakers 2401 12 St. NW will address the importance of school and com- Historical overview of the Pueblo world Drip Irrigation Farms, Films, Food munity gardens. Projectfeedthehood.org and contemporary artwork and craftsman- Railyard Community Rm. CCA, 1050 Old Pecos Trail ship of each of the 19 pueblos; 866.855.7902, Presentation by Bob Wood, SF water con- Food trucks, food demos, 6:30 pm screening May 9–11 www.indianpueblo.org servation specialist, on design, types and of Symphony of the Soil and Boy and the World, Native American Economic Summit how to make the systems effective. Free. followed by Skype interview with filmmaker First Sundays Hotel ABQ at Old Town 505.316.3516, www.railyardpark.org Deborah Koons García 10th annual conference, panel discussions, NM Museum of Natural History May 7–8, 10 am–4 pm May 13, 6 pm small business awards, trade fair. American 1801 Mountain Road Indian Chamber of Commerce of NM. Info/ Museum admission is free to NM resi- Kindred Spirits Open House Wild & Free registration: 505.766.9545, www.nmnaec.com dents on the first Sunday of every month. Annual spring open house/party for senior El Dorado Community School 505.841.2800 dogs, horses and poultry. Educational talks and Performance explores endangered species, their May 10 demonstrations by wellness caregivers. Free. habitats and care for the Earth. Free. 505.231.5869 Small Business Week Through 2016 505.471.5366, www.kindredspirtsnm.org Awards Celebration Las Huertas Farming Training May 14, 8 am–3 pm May 7, 7 pm Santa Fe Green Festival Hotel ABQ at Old Town Bernalillo County Ext. Office How to Let Go of the World Info: 505.428.1624, 505.766.9545, adriene. 1510 Menaul NW El Museo at the SF Railyard [email protected], [email protected]. Intro to in Aridlands covers ba- CCA, 1050 Old Pecos Trail Green building design & home technology. Registration: www.nmnaec.com sics of farming in NM’s varied climate and - New film from the award-winning “Gasland” Electric plug-in vehicles, renewable energy tech- sons. Other classes offered include Growing director Josh Fox, who will be pres- nologies, green products & services, water con- May 10, 10–11 am Techniques, Summer Growing Season (farm ent. $20. Benefits New Energy Economy. servation & harvesting, exhibits for kids, organic Value-Added Procurer visits), Business management and planning. 505.989.7262, www.NewEnergyEconomy.org foods, fair-trade art. Presentations on all things Grant Workshop [email protected], http://riogrande green and sustainable. SF Green Chamber of farm.org/farmer-training-farm-incubator/ May 7, 7 pm Commerce: 505.428.9123, glenn@nmgreen USDA Rural Dev. State Office Lifesongs in Concert 6200 Jefferson NE chamberocom, santafegreenchamber.org Grant funds farmers/ranchers seeking to de- SANTA FE The Lensic May 1, 12–4 pm Opening The culmination of months of collaboration May 14, 9–10 am velop value-added products and market raw Community Cruise agricultural food commodities. Electronic ap- Lowriders, Hoppers and Hot Rods among elders, artists, community members, youth and people in hospice. $10/12 & under nd t to the laza plication deadline: June 24; Paper applications: istory useum incoln ve 2 S . P NM H M , 113 L A . free. Ticketssantafe.org, Info: 505.995.1860, July 1. 505.761.4952, [email protected] Car Culture of Northern NM. Exhibit’s Bike to Work Week is May 14-19. This is a www.aloveoflearning.org slow bike ride along old and new urban trails. May 14, 9 am–12 pm opening events include 2 pm lecture by Travis Ruiz. Through March 5, 2017. 505.476.5019, http://santafempo.org/bicycle-master-plan/ Backyard Farming Series May 8, 1–4 pm bike-to-work-week/ www.nmhistorymuseum.org Barrio de Analco Tour Gutiérrez-Hubbell House May 14, 10 am–10 pm sleta May 4 Start Meet at SF Properties 6029 I SW CommUNITY Day Recycled and Natural Building Materials in the Herbal Medicine Intensive 1000 Paseo de Peralta Garden and Complete Garden Design. Plan Six weeks of hands-on learning with local Historic SF Foundation’s walking tour of Santa Fe Plaza and design your home garden landscape guided plants. Taught by Tomás Enos and Stefan 4 properties. Park in PERA lot. $7-$12 Local entertainment, food truck vendors, non- by sustainability, permaculture and wise use of Link of the Milagro School of Herbal Medi- adv./$10-$15. Children under 16 free with profit and government agency exhibits. Applica- our limited natural resources. Info/registration: cine. Limited to 10 people. 505.820.6321. accompanying adult. 505.983.2567, tion deadline: May 6, noon. 505.955.2146, cmsan 505.314.0398, www.berncom.gov/openspace [email protected], [email protected], www.santafenm.gov May 4, 9–9:30 am www.historicsantafe.org/news.html May 19-20, 8:30 am–5 pm Bike to School Day Ride May 14, 10 am–12 pm Economic Town Hall May 8, 2 pm Citizens Climate Lobby SFCC Fitness Education Center Santa Fe Concert Band ABQ Marriott Pyramid Celebrate a new extension of SF’s “Grand Uni- La Montañita Co-op Community ederal ark lawn New Mexico First will hold a statewide town fiedT rails System” starting from 3 locations. F P Rm., 913 W. Alameda hall on NM’s economic security and vitality, www.sfcc.edu/news_and_events/bike_day Free annual concert. Working for climate change solutions that bridge the partisan divide like Carbon Fee/ to develop practical recommendations for May 8, 7 pm policymakers. $100. (Participants and - May 4, 9–11 am Dividend, which gives back to households. City of Dreamers servers) Registration: www.nmfirst.org Managing Communication Assets [email protected] he ensic ommunity oundation T L May 21, 5 pm SF C F Student-produced short films. Littleglobe’s May 14, 10 am–12 pm NDI Annual ABQ Gala 501 Halona St. culminating event from a year’s work with Native Bee Walk and Bee House Tour An overview of storage solutions and best Hiland Theater, 4800 Central SE student, families and residents of SFs South- Railyard Community Rm. practices for file management with Me- side. Plus live music performance. Tickets: National Dance Institute gala. 505.340.0208, diaDesk staff. For nonprofit organizations. Free. 505.316.3596, www.railyardpark.org www.ndi-nm.org/galas 505.988.1234, Ticketssantafe.org Sliding scale: $50/$35/$20. https://www. May 14, 11 am–5 pm May 24, 6–7:30 pm santafecf.org/registration? May 10, 9 am 1st Annual Yogathon Water Quality Control NM Solar Energy Assn ABQ Meeting May 6, 4–6 pm Opening ailyard ark Commission Meeting R P REI, 1550 Mercantile NE The Ecozoic Era: Plant/Seed/Soil Kundalini yoga, music, dance, food, educa- State Capitol, Rm. 309 tional activities, children’s class. 7–8:30 pm: Learn how to transition to a more sustainable State Capitol Public meeting. concert by DJ Liquid Bloom at the Railyard lifestyle. Meets bimonthly on the fourth Tues- Art, ideas, seed exchange, refreshments. Performance Center. $25. Fundraiser for Com- day of May, July, Sept. and Nov. j.desjardins@ [email protected] hotmail.com, www.NMSolar.org munity Meditation Garden at Yoga Santa Fe. 432.270.3431, purestpotentialfundraiser.com

38 Green Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com May 15 and 22 May 28, 7–11:30 pm Conversations. 5/8: Inez Russell Gomez, May 13–15, 8 am–10 pm Intro to Apiculture Culture vol3 Editorial Editor of the SF New Mexican; Hot Springs Festival Plants of the SW, Agua Fría Warehouse 21 5/22: Simon Brackley, SF Chamber of Com- Truth or Consequences Beekeeping in NM part 2. $65. Multicultural event for all ages featuring po- merce; 5/29: Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino on the Focused on Healthy Lifestyles, Alternative 505.901.2102, www.ziaqueenbees.com/zia ets, dancers, live painters, live music. Sweet behavioral health crisis and health care Medicine and Sustainable Living. Speakers, [email protected], $5-$10 suggested politics. www.journeysantafe.com workshops. Handmade and natural prod- May 18, 6–7:30 pm donation. Through Dec. 30 ucts. Music. www.hotspringsfestival.com/ NM Solar Energy Assn. (See ad, page 2) June 3, Aug. 5, 10 am–1 pm A New Century: The Life and menergy arkway r A , 1202 P D . Free Legal Clinics Legacy of Lloyd New May 14, 9 am–4 pm Sustainable Everything Advocates (NM- SEA Chapter) meets third Weds. each First Judicial Court Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Heritage Day month. [email protected] 225 Montezuma Ave. 710 Camino Lejo Casa San Ysidro, Old Church Rd. For low-income New Mexicans. First Friday Fashion designs, art, photos and archival docu- Corrales, NM May 20, 5:30 pm every other month. Attorneys provide free le- ments. 505.476.1269, indianartsandculture.org Sandoval County Master Gardeners will The Legacy of Lloyd Kiva New gal advice on civil matters only (no family law, help children plant as they learn about the and IAIA no criminal law) on a first-come, first-served TAOS agricultural heritage of the village. Dem- NM Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace basis limited to the first 25 people. Bring rel- May 7 onstrations by traditional artisans. Free. Finding a Contemporary Voice. Works by evant paperwork for attorney to review. NM Bee Family Classes 505.259.0203, [email protected] Legal Aid’s Volunteer Attorney Program. Institute of American Indian Arts faculty Taos, NM May 14, 9 am–4 pm and alumni. Free public reception. 505.814.5033, [email protected] First Saturday of each month through Sept. Placitas Garden Tour June 4, 1–5 pm www.lettucegrowfarm.com May 21, 8 am–12 pm lacitas Reuseapalooza P , NM World Bicycle Relief May 14 and 28, 10 am–2 pm Six beautiful gardens highlight sustainable ailyard ark SpinDoc, 628 Old Las Vegas Hwy. R P Intro to Apiculture landscape maintenance. Presented by the Pop-up carnival of games and activities cre- Indoor cycling fundraiser. WBR give bikes ierra rala arm l rado Sandoval County Master Gardeners and ated from reused materials. A day of fun- T D F , E P , NM the Placitas Community Library. $10. Maps to people in underdeveloped nations. $10/ Beekeeping in NM. $65. 505.901.2102, ziaqueen filled resourcefuless. 505.695.1005, Juliana@ available. [email protected], hr. suggested donation. 505.603.6112, [email protected], www.ziaqueenbees.com/zia [email protected], www.spindoc.com reunityresources.com www.placitasgardentour.com July 11–14 June 11–12 May 16–18 May 21, 10 am–12 pm Integrative Medicine SAnta Fe National Forest 2016 AgriFuture Educational Inst. Garden Pest Management Professionals Symposium Endurance Ride Las Cruces, NM Railyard Park Community Room agebrush nn Benefits nonprofit Listening Horse Thera- S I Conference open to anyone interested in be- (behind Site SF) 7th Biennial symposium on integrative Integrated Pest Management program direc- peutic Riding Program, which serves ing part of the future of agriculture. Tours of most disabled participants free of charge. health featuring many distinguished speak- food & agricultural companies, educational tor Victor Lucero will discuss common NM ers and local practitioners. Presented by the pests, and how to protect your garden and trees. $110/$90/$50. 505.670.3577, laurie@listen speakers, networking opportunities. www. inghorse.org, www.listeninghorse.org UNM School of Medicine’s Section of Inte- nmda.nmsu.edu Free. 505.316.3596, www.railyardpark.org grative Medicine, Continuing Medical Edu- May 21, 10 am–1 pm July 24–31 cation & Professional Development, Ari- May 20–22 2016 UNM Summer Writers’ Conf. zona Center for Integrative Medicine and Ecological Restoration Project Legal Clinic for Artists/Creatives Gaples Institute for Integrative Cardiology. Drury Plaza Hotel Near Las Vegas, NM SF Business Incubator, 3900 Paseo del Sol th 505.272.3942, http://som.unm.edu/cme Get answers from legal professionals. 18 annual gathering. Formerly held in Taos. Join the ABQ Wildlife Federation for a 505.474.6556, [email protected]. Register Named as one of the top ten writers’ conferences Third Weds. Monthly weekend in the Río Mora National Wildlife by May 13: https://www.wesst.org/training- in the U.S. Weeklong and weekend workshops Taos Entrepreneurial Network Refuge. Volunteers will build erosion-con- in fiction, poetry, nonfiction and more. Key- trol structures to improve wildlife habitat. event/legal-clinic-for-artists-and-creatives-2/ aos ounty ourthouse note reading by Sandra Cisneros. 505.277.5572, T C C [email protected], http:// May 22, 10 am–4 pm https://unmwritersconf.unm.edu Mural Room, Taos Plaza abq.nmwildlife.org/ Networking, presentations and discussion. Free. Lowrider Day Through July May 20–22 Santa Fe Plaza Community Workshop Series HERE & THERE Chaco Canyon Journey 10 am procession of cars from Ft. Marcy to ailyard ark ommunity oom May 4, 11, 18 at 10 am the Plaza. Displays, demos and awards. Free. R P C R Led by a Pueblo family and Earth Walks, this behind Site SF Green Hour Hikes 2-night camping experience will explore the May 23, 6 pm Learn relevant gardening techniques from Los Alamos Nature Center history, mystery and stories of this World Heri- Petroglyphs a team of experts. All ages welcome. Free. Los Alamos, NM tage site. Info/cost: [email protected] 505.316.3596, [email protected], www. Kid-centered hikes. Free. Losalamosnature.org Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta railyardpark.org/programs/ May 21 RSVP Deadline SW Seminars lecture series. Jornada Re- May 6, 10 am–3 pm Tree and Shrub Planting search Institute associate Joan E. Price will 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 5:30–7 pm Río Arriba County Health Fair Valles Caldera Preserve, NM present her findings with a PowerPoint pre- Design Lab for Sustainable Río Arriba Health Commons Help restore damaged landscape and fragile sentation on the Mimbres style Three Rivers Neighborhoods Petroglyph Site. $12. 505.466.2775 Española, NM wildlife habitat along the Jaramillo Creek on Higher Education Center Annual health fair. Congressman Ben Ray Luján June 4, 9:30 am–4 pm. Snacks and tools pro- May 24 1950 Siringo Rd., Rm. 139 will dialogue on ending gun violence. Morn- vided. [email protected] Business Marketing Intensive Affordable living in SF? ing Jazzercise, youth tumbling demo, Wellness Join in to design and build mixed-use Santa Cooking with Kids, farmers’ market, food booths, May 24, 31: Abiquiú SF Higher Education Center Fe infill.T opics examples: Flexible 350 micro- spoken word poetry, break dance and more. 240 May 26, June 2: Alcalde iringo d 1950 S R . units, clusters with shared facilities, cooperative students will attend. [email protected] Beekeeping Series 9–11 am: Measure Your Marketing Cam- ownership. Info/RSVP: http://bit.ly/1ibd3LN Presented by the Río Arriba County Exten- paign ($25); 1–3 pm: 60 Ways to Grow May 7, 10 am–5 pm Your Contact List ($25). $40 for both. Pre- sion and NMSU Alcalde Sustainable Agri- Saturdays, 8 am–1 pm Zuni MainStreet Festival culture Science Center. sented by Lynne Markus. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Zuni Pueblo, NM SF Small Business Development Center. June 19–25 505.428.1343, [email protected] 1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe) 4th annual celebration of traditional arts, Northern NM farmers & ranchers offer cuisine, dance. Activities for all ages. Nom- Earth-Honoring Faith: May 28, 10 am–4 pm fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veg- inal entrance fee. 505.782.7238, http:// Climate Justice High Desert Gardening gies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked zunipueblomainstreet.org Ghost Ranch Conference Center goods, body care products and much more. Learn timing for starting seeds indoor and sur- May 7, 2–4 pm Promotes interfaith efforts on common earth www.santafefarmersmarket.com issues. 505.685.1019, [email protected] viving spring winds, pests and sun. Soil prepa- Mural Dedication ration, staged plantings, intercropping, Per- Saturdays, Sundays Weds., 6–8 pm maculture strategies. Ampersandproject.org Dixon Cooperative Market, Dixon, NM El Museo Winter Market Mural will be dedicated to Estévan Arellano. Gallup Solar Community Meetings May 28–29 El Museo Cultural Enrique LaMadrid and Levi Romero will 113 E. Logan Ave., Gallup, NM Native Treasures 555 Camino de la Familia speak. Music by David García. The nonprofit Gallup Solar hosts educa- Handmade crafts, jewelry, collectibles and SF Convention Center May 8, 10 am–5 pm tional presentations and potential solutions antiques. Sat: 9 am-4 pm; Sun: 8 am-3 pm. for all things solar. Questions, ideas and Indian Arts Festival. Museum-quality work. Lavender Farm Over 200 artists. 5/27, 5:30–7:30: Pre-show cel- Elmuseoculturalwintermarket.org expertise are welcome. 505.728.9246, gallup urple dobe avender arm [email protected], www.gallupsolar.org ebration ($125), 5/28, 9–10 am: Early birds ($25), Sundays, 11 am P A L F , Hwy. 84, Abiquiú, NM 10 am–5 pm: General admission ($10), 5/29, 10 Journey Santa Fe Conversations am–5 pm: free. http://nativetreasures.org Mother’s Day event. Food, deserts. 505.685.0082, Collected Works Books, 202 Galisteo www.purpleadobelavenderfarm.com www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • May 2016 39 Farmers and Ranchers Would you like to have some free money to help you plan or develop a value added product or market your produce locally? The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is now taking applications for the Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG). The VAPG will pay for (among other things): business plans; feasibility studies; marketing plans; packaging (bottles, labels); marketing costs, including inexpensive sales racks, advertising, website creation and maintenance; and sales costs to pay someone to sell your produce at local farmers’ markets. So, if you’re interested in free money to expand your ag- business products, contact: USDA Rural Development in Albuquerque at: 505-761-4952

Green40 Fire Times • May 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com