Boosting Rural New Mexico
Farmer co-ops key element in effort to help Hispanics and Pueblo Indians build sustainable communities
By Kristen Kelleher
Information Specialist
USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Northern New
Mexicans remain deeply linked to the dramatic landscapes and histories of their
lands. Amid the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and in the path of the Rio
Grande lie communities with firm ties to the cultures of ancient Native
Americans and 16th-century Spanish settlers, both of which highly valued
agriculture.
Even so, the influences of modem life
and competing economic development now challenge the rural health of the area.
The pull of such boom-or-bust industries as mining and tourism lured a
generation of people away from their land and agrarian way of life. As in other
areas, the newer industries have proven to be less stable and lucrative for many
local inhabitants.
Now, through a strong partnership of
northern New Mexico producers, community development leaders and agricultural
professionals, a promising mix of small-scale farming and value-added
enterprises is emerging and reconnecting the community to its agricultural
resources.
"This year, we expect to bring
in $100,000 of agricultural income to this part of New Mexico, where there was
essentially none a year ago," says Craig Mapel, a marketing specialist from
the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA).
Team leverages SARE funds
Mapel leads a project funded by
USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to revive agricultural production in the region. He and
a team from the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service and
the Taos County Economic Development Center are leveraging SARE funds with other public and private assistance to
make a significant change in the quality of rural life for Hispanics, Native
Pueblo Indians and other families on limited incomes.
Mapel's six-figure estimate refers to the market value of a
recent harvest of organic wheat made by a farmer cooperative in Costilla, N.M.
It's the inaugural crop for the growers after a generation of local people
stopped farming. The farmer cooperative has also served as the impetus for
members' spouses to work together to build a greenhouse in which they grow
plants and flowers for sale to local residents.
"The cooperative has become much more than just a small
grains project," explains Rey Torres of the Taos County Cooperative
Extension Service.
The small grain production project in Costilla is one of
three hands-on efforts to re-teach Hispanic and Native Pueblo farmer
cooperatives how to grow and market products to boost their annual incomes and
improve their quality of life.
Other initiatives to enhance sustainable agriculture in the
region include a community garden project and food processing and marketing
assistance at the Taos County Economic Development Center, both of which intend
to jumpstart value-added agribusinesses.
"This revitalization project got started because the
local people came to us and asked for help to make it happen," adds Torres.
"It's been successful because we've combined the grassroots desires and
interests of the community with a leadership team that emphasizes the strengths
of its players."
The technical expertise of Cooperative Extension linked with
the marketing know-how of NMDA and the community activism of development center
directors Terrie Bad Hand and Pati Martinson have combined to create diverse,
de-centralized "incubators" for long-term economic success in the
region, says Torres.
Farming adds stability
Lonnie Roybal, a Costilla landowner and first-time wheat
grower, says farming is the only thing he and his neighbors can rely on.
His friend and cooperator Juan Montes agrees. "We're
after a strong sustainable community that's not dependent on tourism or other
up-and-down economies," he says.
Del Jimenez, extension agent for the grains project, expects far-reaching
effects from the agricultural production efforts. "This work benefits more than just a few small
towns. The organic wheat produced by the growers fuels niche markets for local
mills and bakers, and launches a state product of organic flour that can be
labeled as made and milled in New Mexico."
Chili peppers are an essential ingredient for many of the
southwestern dishes created in a commercial kitchen operated by the Taos County
Development Center to help create small food processing and marketing businesses
that add value to local crops.
Photos by Jeff Craven
In another part of northern New Mexico, in the commercial
kitchen at the Taos County Economic Development Center, "High Desert
Delights" pastry chef Leslie Pedlar has fashioned a business out of baking
brownies, cakes, cookies and other sweets for local restaurants and shops.
"I probably would have quit by now if this kitchen was
not available. It's very difficult to find a restaurant kitchen that will
accommodate a small operation like mine," says Pedlar.
The kitchen is part of a gleaming,
up-to-code food processing
center housed at the Taos County Economic Development Center. Pedlar says
combining reasonably priced, accessible work space with the legal and financial
services offered at the business park is a great way to give small enterprises
like hers a fighting chance to succeed.
The dynamic team behind the development center business park
are co-directors Bad Hand and Martinson. They carved out a strategy for
community action in Taos County by investigating the desires and strengths of
its citizens.
"You have to go to the people," says Bad Hand.
"In this area, we learned that agriculture could be a seed of change
because of its link to the people's heritages."
Looking to the future, Bad Hand and Martinson say they aim to
get the development center's commercial kitchen functioning 24 hours a day with
locally produced goods. They also plan to have its companion community garden
act as a catalyst for more food business opportunities for limited-income
people, as well as an entry point for healthy eating and nutrition education.
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Crops flourish in the Taos County Economic Development Center community garden, created to improve local food production. |
Co-op to buy mill
On the wheat production front, Torres says the farmers had to
learn how to work together just as they needed to renew their agricultural
skills. After seven years of assistance and advice from outside sources, the
cooperative members are about to take a big step. They will mill their own flour
for sale to restaurants and bakeries. The farmers want to capitalize on the
consumer trend of shopping local to support rural America.
"Because of the changing face of rural America, people
realize that, unless you support the local economy - farmers, producers and
processors - your community is not going to survive," Torres says.
"This is not just about supporting an industry, though. It's about
supporting a lifestyle.
"A few years ago," he adds, "these producers
would have just marketed their wheat on the open market. Now these same
producers have moved on to something unique - their own mill. We know the
stamina is there. The will is there. Moving to this critical point has given
these cooperative members great hopes for their futures."
First funded by Congress in 1988,
USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education the
SARE program helps increase knowledge about - and helps farmers and ranchers
adopt - practices that are economically viable, environmentally sound, and
socially responsible. To learn more about how to apply for a SARE grant, access
SARE research findings or obtain SARE books and informational bulletins, contact
Valerie Berton, (301) 405-3186; vberton@wam.umd.edu or visit wwwsare.org. 
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