Fish, Beef, and Veggies!

At the Mora National Fish Hatchery, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in the small town of Mora, we met Jeff Powell, a wildlife biologist in charge of running the operations at the state-of-the-art facility. While the hatchery can grow a number of different species, it is currently focused on growing endangered trout species. After the trout are grown, they are released into streams where fishers can catch them legally. It was an interesting concept!

The fish hatchery is intended to grow and bring much needed jobs to this rural community. Some of us wished a facility like this would be built back home to restore our fisheries.

A long drive and a day later, in the land of Taos, we visited the Taos County Economic Development Corporation. That is the home of the Taos Food Center run by the indomitable duo, Terri Bad Hand and Pati Mortenson. 

We were soon put to work in the organic garden, picking vegetables to be donated to a homeless shelter.

 

Of course it wasn't all work and no play. In fact, we feasted on a home-made Mexican meal prepared in the certified kitchen by a chef that has trained in one of the programs run at the food center.

 And we were treated to live music by a student, Ariel Bui, in the food safety course. She had the sweetest and most mesmerizing voice!

Finally, we saw what we were waiting for, the Mobile Matanza (slaughterhouse). Although we did not witness a live slaughter, we got to see inside of it (it's super clean!) and talk to the employees who process the meats for pick up by customers.  The Mobile Matanza does, as its name suggests, move to different locations to provide slaughterhouse services. It's a great concept!  (Again, something Hawai`i could use!)

Canon Bonito, a Beautiful Canyon it is!

Prepared for a long journey, we embarked north in our two packed to the rim vans to the town of Wagon Mound to meet our guides, Kirk and Tamara Gadzia of the Quivira Coalition and rancher Mike Reardon. Interestingly, we noted that the rock formations of the region (including the "wagon mound") was made of basalt, just like in Hawai`i!

Quivira Coalition is a non-profit organization that works to improve the health of lands and restore natural systems. At Canon Bonito, a ranch owned by Mike Reardon, the process of restoration is gradually taking place. Over the past 15 years, steps have been taking to re-route the water to restore creeks and allow more than a 100 species of groundcover plants and trees to take root again.

Here is Mike, a visionary rancher who is in it for the long-term, a perspective that is important to have when involved in restoration. He still ranches but in a non-conventional way.

Kirk described how fire, a natural process in this region, is necessary for restoration to take place.  Without it, trees can become too crowded and grow to be unhealthy and vulnerable to big, uncontrollable fires that are detrimental.

The trees behind Tamara have come up naturally along a creek. This creates shade and a corridor for wildlife.

 

Tamara showed us "before and after" photos of the restoration process just by moving rocks around. They were impressive!  Education and outreach is a big part of their work.

Once the habitat comes back, then more animals will follow. Elk are beginning to return. As are the people who appreciate biodiversity and the health of our natural systems.

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!