Newsletter

Nourishing Body and Soul

The local Quinoa is simmering in the pot next to a pot of frijoles, the fresh (picked today) onion, mustard greens, swiss chard, kale and spinach is diced and awaiting the skillet. Last years frozen green chile is chopped on the cutting board next to the diced garlic, ready to enhance the stir-fry. I am addicted to real food, local food, food that I will share with family and friends. This evening the food supply comes mainly from my garden with a few items from last years Downtown Growers' Market. We have much to be thankful for and much that needs work. Throughout the season we hope to address some of the pertinent issues we face today including some of the reasons we have to be thankful.

Growers and Farmers Markets provide a marvelous way to celebrate food. You spend time perusing the produce stands selecting the evening meal or a weeks worth of meals. You actually speak with the humans who grew the food. The produce was harvested within the last 12 hours, which means it is the freshest, most nutritious food one can buy excepting your own backyard vegetables. Then you get to spend some good time in the kitchen preparing that splendid meal to be enjoyed by family or friends.

Unfortunately the pleasures of eating have become lost in the quagmire of modern technology. The industrial food system continues to put price and volume before health and quality. Food and the celebration of food have been put on hold. Does anyone know who grew the food in your supermarket or where those growers live? For all we know it could be replicated in the back room. Was there any loving care put into the preparation of that packaged item on the shelf? Machines now prepare most of our food, making sure to add artificial and "natural" flavors. Even the seeds that give us our cotton, corn and soybeans are developed in the labs of Cargill and Monsanto, grown in fields everywhere, their pollen drifting on the wind, creating a monoculture of genetically engineered patented weeds. The very idea of putting a patent on life is revolting and bespeaks of a total lack of responsibility. What can we do as residents of this incredible planet to slow down this monster of corporate greed?

I believe strongly in the self-sufficiency and sustainability of local economies. But local economies cannot be healthy if they are not in harmony with local ecosystems.

There are a multitude of challenges facing the farming community in this valley, and this state. Water scarcity, weather, plant diseases, bug infestations, financial difficulties, affordable land, unruly weeds are just a few of the problems facing the farmer. Farmland is disappearing rapidly, long established farmers are leaving the land, and new farmers are scarce. How do we grow this local farmer seed-bank?

Part of our job as a local community is searching for answers to this question. The Growers and Farmers' Markets are one way to encourage your local farmer. The six Albuquerque area Growers' Markets bring in well over $500,000 to the local economy. The markets flourish thanks to a communal effort: the interdependence between the farmer and the customer. As in any art (and farming is definitely an art), we love (most of the time, anyway) what we do: from creating a lush soil, sowing the seeds, nurturing the plants throughout the season, harvesting, to relishing the succulent gift of food. The farmer, who has established a relationship with the Growers' Market customer, knows their fruits and vegetables will be fully appreciated. The customer knows of the love and labor that the farmer gave to producing this food.