Local Food and Ag Events in November

MRCOG Agriculture Collaborative Meeting: Successful Farming in the Cool Season--and a post mortem on the Warm Season. Speakers include: Joren Viers, Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Agent--capturing the cool season market.  How to take a vacation in June and still have plentiful gardens in the fall. Ron Walser, NMSU, Los Lunas Science Center--How to grow well in the fall/winter, what went right/wrong during the spring/summer--come with your questions and stories from the field.  The meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 12th from 9 am to 10:30 am at the MRCOG offices located at 809 Copper Ave NW. For more information, contact Ann Simon at (505) 724-3617 or at asimon@mrcog-nm.gov.

Other great upcoming events include: The Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Service's urban farming series, a great lecture at the Hubbell House with the Quivira Coalition's Courtney White, the last day for many farmers markets this season, and the last week of the corn maze at Rio Grande Community Farm.  See our recent blog article on upcoming events for more information.

Many New Mexicans have access only to small groceries or other venues that do not sell fresh produce.

NM Food Gap Task Force

We all know that diets high in fat and processed foods and low in fresh fruits and vegetables lead to diet-related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.   But, you might not know that here in New Mexico we are facing exceedingly high rates of these diseases in part because of poor access to healthy and affordable food.  New Mexico's high level of poverty and dispersed population combined with rising food and fuel costs create a severe "food gap." A significant portion of rural population must drive more than 10 miles to a high quality grocery store, some up to 70 miles one way, leaving those residents to rely on convenience stores or smaller independent stores, which often lack adequate refrigeration for fresh fruits and vegetables.  As fresh food prices have risen dramatically in recent years, even those that live nearer to full service grocery stores may not be able to afford healthy foods.

To address these issues, in 2007 the State Legislature passed a memorial asking Governor Richardson to appoint a task force that would investigate lack of food access in rural and underserved urban areas.  In early 2008 the Governor implemented the memorial, appointing the Food Gap Task Force headed by State Representative Brian Moore, a grocery store owner in Clayton, NM.  The Task Force is composed of a variety of state agencies, as well as representatives from the New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council.   Ann Simon represents the Mid-Region Council of Governments' Agriculture Collaborative on the Task Force. 

After several months of studying the issues, the Task Force is identifying key strategies to overcoming the barriers of food inaccessibility, some of which include:

• Investing in pilot projects that would help small-scale store owners obtain or improve the equipment and skills needed to sell fresh, healthy foods.
• Investing in pilot projects to develop or enhance food distribution services to rural stores and food service institutions (such as schools, senior centers and food pantries).
• Developing public-private collaborations around food distribution and access.
• Investigating mechanisms that incentivize and support small-scale store owners to sell healthy foods.
• Enhancing public food programs that help low-income people access fresh fruits and vegetables, such as the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program and the WIC fresh fruit and vegetable vouchers.
• Working with local farmers to get their produce into rural and underserved communities.    

Group activity at a recent meeting.

 Give Us Some Feedback

The MRCOG Agriculture Collaborative has hosted monthly meetings on a variety of exciting topics since 2003.  As we move into 2009, we have a great line up of topics in the queue such as:

• Local breweries and the production of local hops and grains
• Cultivating more community gardens in our region
• Alternative and water saving irrigation systems
• Agricultural land preservation in the MRCOG counties 
• Getting your produce into APS schools: The new procurement policy
• Profitable farming: Business planning and marketability
• A permanent farmers market for our region: Is this a good idea?

We are looking for input from our members on other topics for future meetings. Is there a topic we need to cover or revisit? Do you have an idea for a meeting? 

Please let us know at localfoodnm@mrcog-nm.gov.  You can also view some of our past meeting topics online.

Agriculture Collaborative member Ilana Blankman successfully defended her professional project for a masters degree in Community and Regional Planning at the University of New Mexico.  The title of her research was Fresh, Fair, Local: An Evaluation of La Montanita Coop's Food-Shed Project.

La Montanita Coop recently launched an innovative initiative to provide transportation and distribution services to local and regional farmers, ranchers and food processors. Through her project Ilana conducted a process evaluation of the Food-Shed Project and provided recommendations for project improvements based on interviews with La Montanita staff, vendors, buyers and agricultural experts.

Low calorie and packed with nutrients, spinach is an easy addition to any meal.

Crop of the Month: Spinach

Spinach is doing great this time of year, and with a simple row cover or other method of season extension, you can have spinach throughout the winter as well.

Some quick spinach facts:

• Spinach is thought to have originated in ancient Persia (Iran).
• The United States is one of the largest commercial producers of spinach.
• Spinach is high in iron, calcium, and vitamins A, C, E, and K.
  
• 1 cup of raw spinach has only 7 calories.
  

Here are some great recipes to try this week:

• Cooked Fresh Spinach, from Simply Recipes
• Spinach Artichoke Dip, from SpinachRecipes.org
• Hot Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing, from Cooks.com

Mid-Region Council of Governments
Agriculture Collaborative
809 Copper Avenue, NW Albuquerque, NM 87102
Please contact us at localfoodnm@mrcog-nm.gov