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.

The Politics of Agriculture

On Day 3, we heard more about the Farm Bill reauthorization and with each passing day, the story seemed to get even more interesting. With Congress' "Super Committee" in charge of making a new and vastly trimmed down budget, no one is quite sure what will come of various programs, including those related to agriculture. It's a nerve-wracking time, indeed. Speakers from the Senate Agriculture committee shared their insights with us as did those from the House Agriculture committee.

After our visits on Capitol Hill, we went to the National Farmers Union to hear from its President and Government Relations staff . . . about, again, the Farm Bill. It's the talk of the town!

And finally, a time to take off the formal wear, which we in Hawaii rarely get used to, and enjoy an evening relaxing over a festive seafood dinner. We bought the seafood from the fishermen's wharf. What a wonderful variety they offered!

USDA Headquarters

On Day 2 of our trip, we learned all about the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which supports a number of programs that help our work. We listened to a variety of speakers who specialized in areas from research to marketing.

In the evening, we were very fortunate to meet our sisters and brothers in agricultural leadership from Florida, the Wedgworth Leadership Institute. They happened to be in Washington, D.C. the same time we were. And luckily for us, we got to meet them at a mixer in a local restaurant. It was quite a networking experience!