Food/Agriculture

The growth of global food markets, agricultural subsidies and megastore retail chains has transformed the food New Mexicans consume today, and stands in stark contrast to providing food just 60 years ago. Along the river valleys of New Mexico there has been continuous agriculture in small pueblos and villages thanks in part to ingenious water-giving acequias. The Anazazi ancestors of today’s Puebloan Native Americans settled near year-round rivers around 1400 and in the 17th century Hispanic settlements also became established.

Learn how to reduce your Carbon footprint and volunteer to train others to do the same. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is offering an 11 week course on Climate Change and Sustainability. The dates are from September 22 - December 8, 2010 and the class will be held in Albuquerque, NM.

Course participants are provided 30 hours of training, and in turn they "pay back" the program through volunteer service.

web site for general description of New Mexico Climate Masters

June 9, 2010 – Santa Fe: New Mexico’s highest regulatory water quality authority, the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) is considering the State’s first industry specific groundwater discharge regulations as proposed by NMED, and the stronger regulations proposed by the Citizens Coalition of Caballo Concerned Citizens, the Rio Grande Chapter, Amigos Bravos and Food & Water Watch with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center’s legal support.

June 8, 2010 - Santa Fe: In an unexpected and dangerous reversal of Environment Department decisions, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) approved the discharge permit for the proposed 2,000 head ParaSol Dairy in Sierra County. The WQCC is the State’s highest administrative water quality authority.

Sarah is a second grader in Las Cruces who is concerned enough about the effects that climate change will have on the planet that she is taking action to do something about it. Her principal agreed to let her regularly broadcast her “Green Tip of the Week” to the school about the problem and how kids can help. We think grownups can help, too, so we are pleased to introduce Sarah’s Green Tips here:

One out of every three bites of food that we consume is due to the work of honeybees, serving as crucial pollinators. Yet our food supply may be severely impacted by the recently identified Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) syndrome that has annually wiped out more than 30% of all honeybees from 2005 to today!

Pollinator Protection Campaign: Saving Honeybees!

A sustainable food revolution needs to combine traditional local/regional self-reliance with new technologies and thinking. The main themes being: to expand regional sustainable production, integrate improvements in renewable energy technologies in food production and distribution, create regional/local distribution systems that increase access to markets for producers and access to products for consumers all the while reducing our carbon footprint. Another key concept in building the sustainability movement is to keep resources circulating in communities building vibrant local/regional economies for the food and financial security they provide.

Over the past three years, our family has consumed 38% less water than the prior owners of our house. During this same time period, the neighbor’s water consumption has been 9 times our water consumption in a house of similar size. Learn what you can do.

Judging by the strong turnout at our recent showing of "Food Inc."— and the numerous requests we received for more information —there is no topic generating more personal and national concern these days, and more impatience for solutions, than the dysfunctions of the American industrial food “system.”

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are made by inserting genes from another species into an organism’s DNA. Genetic modification is very different from the traditional practice of selective breeding to improve the qualities of plants or animals.