A Farmers' Market, Coop, and Pueblo . . . in one day!

It was a treat to visit the well-known Santa Fe Farmers' Market. Many of us did our omiyage shopping there and wished we had more time and money to spend!

One of the unique treats was watching the process to roast fresh peppers. It's actually quite simple, but it certainly helps to have the right equipment. We met the charismatic Matt Romero who talked about his booming business and demonstrated the roasting process before our eyes.

We then drove a few minutes away to La Montanita Coop, which is much more than a grocery store. As membership director Robin Seydel explained, it's a community-owned and -building venture that supports local farmers and ranchers by buying their products as well as provides low interest loans to new ventures. With more than 20 years under its belt, the coop has developed a number of innovative practices that would be great to try in Hawai`i.

And after doing a bit more food shopping, we drove to Tesuque Pueblo to meet the staff and volunteers working hard to provide resources to the community and to build an underground seed bank to preserve important seeds from useful crops. Donna dove right into the work!

Some of the women took on the hard work of thrashing the wheat in a traditional way. They called it some sort of dancing. (Wish we had a video to show!)

Here's Matt trying something again . . . this time tobacco!

Another group worked on the seed bank made out of adobe. The project started earlier in the year and was getting close to completion by the time we got there. It felt really good to put our hands onto the cold adobe and make it smooth and solid. We all left part of ourselves there with good wishes for successful  harvests for generations to come.

 

Dreaming New Mexico

Our first meeting in New Mexico took place conveniently within walking distance from our hotel. Nestled next to the Santa Fe Farmers Market Association is a non-profit organization called Bioneers, which is leading a collaborative project called Dreaming New Mexico. Led by Kenny Ausubel, Dreaming New Mexico looks at the issue of sustainability in New Mexico from a holistic perspective and with the input of the community. We were fortunate to talk to Kenny as well as other members of the staff.

We also heard from Jeff Bader, Extension Specialist from New Mexico State University. He provided a very interesting overview of agriculture in the state. Agriculture is quite diverse and while there are some large agricultural businesses, most are small and considered "specialty crops," similar to Hawai`i.

We also heard from Pam Roy, who works closely with Jeff and Kenny.  Pam is a Co-Director of Farm to Table, a New Mexico based non-profit working on farm and ranch issues, Farm to School, farmers’ market development, and food and agriculture policy. She is also the director of the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council that works on state and federal policy advocating for food system issues including health, nutrition, hunger, and family size farm and ranch policies and programs. She inspired us with her clear thinking and action-oriented perspective.

We then took a drive out to visit a real farm!  We chose to visit Santa Cruz farm, which is run by Don Bustos whos has more than twenty years’ experience as a New Mexican farmer and operates a certified organic vegan farm in Espanola. Don was named New Mexico Farmer of the Year in 2006. Among many other duties, Don currently serves as the Program Director for the American Friends Service Committee – New Mexico, providing farmer to farmer training and working on farm policy.

They've set up a greenhouse system that uses solar energy for heating so that the farm can operate year-round. Otherwise the growing season is quite short.

Tomatoes are just one of the products grown at Santa Cruz Farm. Don and his crew determine the need and demand for produce and grow accordingly, getting the best price and delivering a quality product.

  

Matt just couldn't resist trying some of the fresh produce just picked off the vine!

Viva New Mexico!

An early morning departure from Washington, DC got us to Santa Fe, New Mexico just after lunch. We were all quite exhausted but ready to experience our first "free" day. Some of us chose to go hiking at the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy.

It was a gorgeous and peaceful day. We saw sights not seen in Hawai`i, such as evidence of beavers working hard to restore a wetland.

Koa was happy to see a preserve outside of Hawai`i managed by his employer. The humidity was next to zero but it was a pleasant hike and a great introduction to northern New Mexico.

 

Taking in the Sights and Tastes

Though our schedule was packed, we did have time to visit the museums, monuments, and good restaurants featuring locally grown and raised food. Awesome!

Hale Kea, the White House

Friday was to be our "free" day but we couldn't resist the chance to go to the White House. We had scheduled a tour of the White House Kitchen Garden as well as speak with a representative of the First Lady's Let's Move initiative.  Unfortunately, the rainy weather squelched our garden visit but we could see it from a distance.

It was a thrill just to be inside the Eisenhower building (east wing). Its architecture is beautiful and it has much history!

Meeting Our Delegation

Dressed in our Sunday best, we went back to Capitol Hill to meet all four of Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

It was very gracious of all of them to spend their precious time with us to talk about . . . the Farm Bill, the focus of our white paper. We also discussed the need for and challenges of getting young farmers into agriculture. It's a problem nation-wide, including Hawaii.

Here we are with Senator Akaka.

With Senator Inouye

With Representative Hirono

And with Representative Hanabusa

Mahalo nui loa to our very hard-working members of Congress and their top-notch staff. It's definitely not an easy time to work there now but they persevere.