June Potluck for Community Homesteaders
Home Grown New Mexico
South Valley in ABQ
Last week of the month
Call 473-1403 or homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com with questions

Santa Fe
Saturday, June 1 at 9am-11am
Pollinator Gardening Class- FREE
Home Grown New Mexico and Farm to Table
Earth Care Community Garden (Country Club and Jaguar)
homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com or 473-1403

Saturday, June 8 from 10am-4pm and Saturday, June 22 from 10am-1pm
All-Grain Brewing Class

Home Grown New Mexico
• Duskin Jasper will show two processes in brewing beer
•Cost will be involved for the class and beer and guests can register online at homegrownnewmexico.org
For more information: 505-473-1403/homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

Sunday, June 16th from 10am-12pm FREE
Organic Pest Control
Home Grown New Mexico and guests can register online at homegrownnewmexico.org
Frenchy’s Community Garden (Osage and Agua Fria parking lot and walk to the garden)
•With Jannine Cabossel
For more information: 505-473-1403/homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

Home Grown New Mexico Monthly Potluck
Tuesday, June 25th at 6:30pm
Whole Foods on St. Francis (in community room on Cordova)
Speaker is Cydney Martin to discuss food preservation classes and her role as the Santa Fe county Home Economist
For more information: 505-473-1403/homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com
–
Amy Hetager
Home Grown New Mexico
homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com
505-473-1403

Visit homegrownnewmexico.org

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RW: “Visitors want to experience a city, a culture, in an authentic way. The key distinction we’ve made in terms of creative tourism is that you can experience it hands-on. Since the International Creative Cities Conference in 2008 where we presented 50 different creative tourism experiences, we’ve focused, in Santa Fe, on building the infrastructure. By that I mean identifying additional artists who are willing to interact with tourists. We’re now up to over 300 on our website. We have offered training so they’re better able to sit down with someone to explain their artform. We have also offered artists business sessions. From July 2010 to date, artists marketing their workshops through santafecreativetourism.org have reported a total of $25,000 in workshop fees collected. The actual fees collected may be a little higher due to the natural reluctance of some people to report their earnings.

Demonstrations featuring local artists are another feature of the program. Last year and this year we’re in one of the hotels. We have artists seated in the lobby, and visitors come out, meet the artists and participate in a workshop. The hotels are advertising it through their network of people who are already coming. You can go online and look at the Bishop’s Lodge example. At the Inn at Loretto this spring there are 15 or 20 participating artists.

A key principle is building on what you have and not reinventing the wheel. We have this rich cultural heritage, the historical heritage in Santa Fe, and we have artists that need help in developing their own economic base. I think it’s a natural to focus on helping the artists who are here connect with the outside economy. That’s the way that I tie it to sustainability. It’s much more sustainable for most artists to work out of their home or they have a small gallery where they share a space. It doesn’t have the impact on the environment that other businesses might have. So I think that’s really a natural – as is tourism. As you know, I am an extreme advocate for tourism. I think it is as green as it can be that people come, people leave. We have everything that we need. We do need to market it better. And personally I believe that the key is the international market. Just raising the consciousness about the potential of international work has to be done. And there’s a leadership role for Santa Fe to take in that as well as the State of New Mexico. Whether that’s going to happen, I don’t know. But that’s basically what I work on much of my time now.”

GFT: Why do you think there is so much potential for Chinese tourists to come to NM?

RW: “When I was in China in December, I left realizing that however financially resource poor we are here in this country, it is not a problem other places in the world, and we’re very myopic. I’m not saying let’s get rid of our strategy of Texas and the drive market, but if we can have .001% of a burgeoning Chinese market…they’re growing at 10% a year, in comparison to our being flat or negative in the U.S. One could make an argument that international tourism is much more sustainable than national tourism at this point in America, even with changes that will occur at times in other countries, just because of the pure numbers. If they get a 5% drop, they’re still so far ahead of us in terms of the potential. International tourists spend more money. The Chinese tourists spend an average (I was told in Shanghai) of $6,000 per trip. A U.S. visitor spends an average of $611 per trip and $991 per trip for cultural and heritage travelers. A huge difference.

When I met with the international director of tourism in Shanghai, he pointed out that they have 1 million outbound tourists a year. They’re interested in history, they’re interested in geography, they’re interested in shopping. Their primary targets are first within Asia; then they go to Europe and then to the U.S. The director in Shanghai fascinated me because for 30 minutes he really spoke with what I would call the meta message of “We travel.” He was trying to debunk the myths that a) they don’t travel, and b) they don’t have money to travel. Chinese do buy art. It is one of the most burgeoning art markets in the world now. And I saw some amazing art.

They have no clue where NM is, much less Santa Fe. As you know, once people come here and learn about our city, we don’t have any trouble getting them to return. People in China don’t make their choices based on going to the Internet. So many of us do that now, you know, you pick out your hotel… They don’t do that. More and more they’re going to these agents. Why would an agent come to NM if they don’t even know it exists?

It’s so important to make those personal connections. The Shanghai director of tourism has a person who heads the galleries and the contemporary art there. They want to come here this summer to try to develop collaboration with our artists and our museums. That would never have happened if I had not gone there. It would not have happened if I just sent an e-mail letter introducing the city of Santa Fe. Is that sustainable even though you had to fly there? You may get one or two people but the key is to get them to come here and experience what we have. I also met officials with the Hong Kong Trade Development Center. As a result of those meetings, I expect there will be a Chinese delegation coming over here in the next 6 months.

Santa Fe is an international leader recognized as the city that started the creative tourism movement as part of UNESCO. When I went to China, because of the success of that conference we did, the day that I arrived they asked me to be the honorary co-chair of their conference. They are very protocol oriented. This was a big deal. The Creative Cities Network right now is 27 cities worldwide. We haven’t even started to tap into the potential of that network. UNESCO’s goal is to have another 20 cities in the next 2 years. In Japan there are 3, in China there are 2. I would focus on the connections that we already have because in China you don’t just go up to a federal building, walk in and talk to the director. You have to have connections. Because of the Creative Cities Network (and actually Garrett Thonburg’s company helped us meet people in Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Trade Development Center opened the door for us.”

GFT: What is the business you’re developing? You have started a company?

RW: “It’s a fledgling company. I haven’t had time to really work on it. It’s a group of us who are committed to the idea of expanding the idea of creative tourism internationally. I only have one job so far, in Jonesboro, Tennessee. They want to be the storytelling capital of the world. It’s a town of 4,000. And so I’m going to go work with them and look at their strategic plan and help them figure out how they can use creative tourism concepts. I used to be a consultant before I became a builder, before I became a full-time city councilor.

Anything I do in Santa Fe that’s related to creative tourism, it’s not part of my company. I’m giving a speech to the NM Department of Tourism. I’m not charging for that. The distinction is anything outside of the state and anything outside of the U.S. other than going to Creative Cities meetings where I’m representing the city. The legal basis is very clear. The conflict of interest is an issue when you represent a client before the city of Santa Fe. I’m not representing Jonesboro, Tennessee or any other thing that I can develop internationally. It was a very unfair diatribe given all I’ve done for the city.

I don’t know of many people who can live on $14,000 a year. And so I’ve had to come up with… naturally want to do something that I’m interested in. That’s why I’m doing it. It’s not the money. Maybe I’ll make $1,000 this year but I didn’t do it for that reason. …I’ve been fortunate in my life. I’ve never worked for money, per se. …I can build a house and I’d have enough money but I never get the money with the work that I’m working on, my real work. And so when you get criticized, it really hurts.

Some years ago when the UNESCO people came for the Folk Art Market, this woman stood up, spoke beautifully about her experience here, and said, ‘I never knew Santa Fe existed.’ That’s when I kind of got my clarion call. I took her to my house. We had lunch. I had her back over the next day and we talked about the possibilities of the Creative Cities Program. Again, the personal connection. None of that was for my benefit. That was for the benefit of the city. I’d love to have a network of 20 people here to make those connections.

I have tried to spend my energies for the city focused on developing new income, and tourism is a potentially quick way. You don’t have to build buildings; you don’t have to find that new infrastructure. We have it.”

Susan Guyette and Seth Roffman conducted this interview.

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Southwestern offers Masters’ Degrees in Counseling and Art Therapy/Counseling, as well as a Community Education Program and Counseling Center, which offers sliding-scale services to northern New Mexico residents. Advanced Counseling and Art Therapy skills are developed in a context of the students’ evolving understanding of self, self-in-relation and spiritual growth. Intensive clinical training allows students to assist clients in moving toward greater self-awareness, empowerment and life satisfaction.

Southwestern College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the American Art Therapy Association. Graduates hold leadership positions and professional licenses all over the country.

For more information, call 471.5756, e-mail info@swc.edu or visit www.swc.edu.

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Students provide bodywork treatments to all populations in Santa Fe at low-cost in the student clinic and at externships within the community. NMAHA’s Harmony Integrated Bodywork Center, located just off the campus’ back courtyard, is a professional, affordable bodywork center offering one-hour client-specific sessions with licensed therapists.

The New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts is located at 501 Franklin Avenue in Santa Fe. Call 505.982.6271, e-mail: rec@nmhealingarts.org or visit their web site: www.nmhealingarts.org.

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Tomas Enos

Whereas, our ability to utilize herbal medicines has been carried on for generations, and the knowledge to use plants for healing has been passed on successfully from our ancestors so may we pass it on to the next generation;

Whereas, our ancestors through the millennia formed a relationship with plants for the purposes of healing our families and communities, thereby insuring our survival;

Whereas, the development of distinct traditions of herbal medicine practices throughout the world has resulted in the most widespread medical system accessible to all people regardless of culture, class or economic status;

Whereas, thousands of plant medicines have been developed and utilized successfully worldwide for the benefit of community health, and those medicines are a reflection of sharing of cultural knowledge and practices;

Whereas, the utilization of plants for healing is a basic right for everyone and is a demonstration of the diversity of our cultural relationships with the air, soil, water, and seeds, as well as a reflection of agricultural practices and spiritual practices;

Whereas, the connection between plants and people as native to a specific area makes them vitally interdependent for community health and essential to protect for future generations;

Whereas, the continuation of our connection to the land in which we live for securing plant medicines is essential for ecosystem health and biodiversity as well as communal, familial, individual, and spiritual wellbeing;

Whereas, wild harvesting and cultivating herbal medicines are two essential aspects of community health;

Whereas, the over-harvesting of certain wild or native plant species has resulted in a loss of biodiversity and a resulting impoverishment of the Earth, human, animal, and plant communities;

Whereas, the access to plants for medicine has been negatively affected by the purely economical interests of corporations risking ecosystem health and human health while damaging cultural, ceremonial, and spiritual wellbeing;

Whereas, certain corporations throughout the world now participate in international commerce of herbal plants and medicines thereby indirectly participating in ecosystem and cultural erosion;

Whereas, many indigenous cultures of the world maintain intellectual property rights to the utilization of certain plants for medicine and ceremony and are harmed by purely economical and unsustainable practices;

Whereas, herbal medicine practitioners and ceremonial leaders have served to protect plants for human health and are the originators of the knowledge that now serves a wide spectrum of people including profit-serving businesses;

Therefore let it be resolved that:

The traditional cultures and herbalists and their sustainable land practices that have supported the evolution of herbal medicine seek to continue the ways of plant medicine practice as given to us.

Herbalists, land stewards and ceremonial leaders seek to perpetuate herbal traditions they hold to the next generation including protecting, wild harvesting, growing and using plant medicines for health and wellness.

Herbalists will work with individuals, businesses, tribes, communities and governments to protect our natural environment and for the ability to gather medicine for human health.

Herbalists will work to protect our plant medicines from unsustainable harvesting, unsustainable agricultural practices, environmental contamination, greed, private ownership and misuse.

Herbalists will work with each other to create documentable and sustainable practices to ensure the viability of plants for medicine and the practice of herbal medicine.

Herbalists will work together with farmers, land stewards and communities to create programs for the revitalization of herbal medicine traditions, practices and environmental well-being.

Herbalist Tomas Enos, owner of El Milagro Herbs in Santa Fe, has wildcrafted, cultivated, and processed herbs since 1990 with the purpose of offering optimal healing to people and animals. With his partner Janet Snowden, Enos offers classes and consultation services. Their new downtown location is on Paseo de Peralta next to the Kakawa Chocolate House. Call 820-6321 or e-mail: drenos@milagroherbs.com.

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In the 1990s, Thomas Banyacya, a Hopi Indian elder, issued a “call for native peoples in the West to come together to share their original spiritual instructions, teachings and prophecies.” Banyacya, whose life was devoted to a spiritual mission of saving the planet by spreading Hopi prophecy, died in 1999 at the age of 89.

According to a Hopi religious tradition, the Great Spirit Maasau’u, Guardian of the Earth, assigned them the duty of preserving the natural balance of the world and entrusted them with a series of prophecies warning of specific threats and providing guidance on how to avoid them. The prophecies remained a secret oral tradition until 1948, when Hopi religious leaders were alarmed by reports of the atomic bomb’s mushroom cloud, which they saw as the destructive ”gourd of ashes” foretold in the prophecies. Four messengers were appointed to reveal and interpret the prophecies to the outside world. Banyacya was their interpreter and spokesman.

In 1977, a group of traditional elders from indigenous nations around the world issued a “Basic Call to Consciousness,” papers which were presented to non-governmental organizations of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland giving the perspectives of indigenous people. Their position was as follows:

• Human beings are abusing Mother Earth, as well as each other.

• The natural world, along with the indigenous peoples’ ways of life, is being destroyed.

• These problems point to humankind’s spiritual poverty.

“Today, seemingly little has changed,” said Jose Lucero, a long time associate of Banyacya’s, from Santa Clara Pueblo. Lucero, a native agricultural advocate and educator, is a member of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth. He is currently organizing “Recall to Basic Consciousness,” a gathering to celebrate traditional knowledge in honor of Thomas Banyacya’s request.

The event is to bring together traditional elders from across the country to share modern and ancient information in an attempt to strengthen “the spiritual significance” of all people, “thereby helping to insure a better future for Mother Earth and all of her children,” said Lucero. The gathering is by invitation only, and will take place in June in the Four Corners region. Lucero hopes to create an ongoing dialogue of indigenous caretakers. A global communiqué will be issued at the event’s conclusion.

To make this possible, Lucero is seeking financial support for the required food, lodging and travel of the elders. He is planning a fundraiser in Santa Fe in March, where a video will be shown, along with a discussion about traditional indigenous elders and their prophecies. For more information, Lucero may be contacted at 505.692.7337.

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Since the days of the Spanish explorer Onate, tourism has brought northern New Mexico more money than any other industry. But tourists are not our local economy’s most valuable resource. That would be water.

We often hear about how the people of the Rio Grande Valley survived through many dry spells over the centuries. Perhaps we don’t talk enough about how, during a drought, the 900-year-old Hokoman culture vanished from what is now southern Arizona. Without water, civilizations disappear.

New Mexico’s water supply is shrinking at an alarming rate. Sure, the Buckman Diversion project will buy Santa Fe some time, but we must look at our regional water supply much more creatively if we want a flourishing economy. Fortunately, by using a wide variety of techniques, methods, and systems, many concerned citizens and well-meaning groups are providing hope in the form of practical solutions to our water woes.

In my just-released book, Harvest the Rain: How to Enrich Your Life by Seeing Every Storm as a Resource, I reference over 100 people, organizations, and businesses based in northern New Mexico. Many of them are part of the growing water-harvesting industry; others are backyard gardeners, while others hold positions of power among those who make political decisions on the water front.

Upcoming  Events

Ecological landscaping, water harvesting, wastewater treatment, and watershed protection, all provide excellent green-collar jobs at all skill levels. Laborers, arborists, plumbers, engineers, educators, entrepreneurs, water-quality scientists, product manufacturers, and community organizers all have critical roles to play. Given the economic importance of both water and tourism, let’s look at three upcoming events that focus on regenerating local watersheds as they attracts tourist dollars to northern New Mexico.

For anyone with political-activist leanings, the highlight of the three events will probably be Oscar Olivera’s appearance at Northern New Mexico College on Saturday, November 6. Olivera, who will be speaking at the Traditional Agriculture and Sustainable Living Conference, and his group of Bolivian activists succeeded in forcing Bechtel, Inc. out his country. Back in the early part of this century, Bechtel tried to privatize the water system in Oliveras’s community, but when people began to realize that only the very rich would be able to afford Bechtel’s pricing structure, Olivera’s and his group rose up and turned the international conglomerate back. Although one “water warrior” was killed in the struggle, Olivera sets a hopeful example to local people everywhere: It is unacceptable for mega corporations to own entire communities by controlling the resources necessary for their survival.

Local organizer Emigdio Ballon expects excellent turnout even given a tough economy. “In previous years we’ve had 500 people come to our conference,” Ballon told me. “This year we have some incredible speakers, so we are very excited to see what happens.” The fifth annual conference on Friday, October 5, and Saturday, October 6, costs $75 per person—down 25% from last year’s price. Sponsored by the Native Earth Bio-Culture Council and Tesuque Pueblo, the conference culminates with a circle of Aztec dances, a seed exchange, and a native traditional ceremony. More information can be found at www.foodandseedconference.info.

For people wanting a smaller crowd and more hands-on experience with water harvesting, Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center will be the worth checking out on November 6. Located between Cerrillos and Madrid, New Mexico, Ampersand is hosting a workshop called “The Natural Kitchen” with Los Angeles-based author and sustainability coach Deborah Eden Tull. The cost is $50 to $65, sliding scale.

Sustainable agriculture, green menu planning, zero-waste meals to go, and solar cooking represent some of the topics to be covered, but water harvesters and water-harvester wannabees will be particularly inspired by the workshop’s setting. “Living off of rain catchment has attracted a lot of attention,” says Ampersand executive director Amanda Bramble. “People don’t believe that you can do it on 10 inches of rain per year, but we do. It’s not like we are living on a farm, but a little frugality can go a long way, especially when we divert a lot of our wastewater to the plants around the house.”

Ampersand offers a wide variety of classes, workshops, and tours throughout each spring and autumn. Bramble says the last stretch of road before you get to the center is too undependable to attempt to plan large events in the snowy and rainy seasons. Visit www.ampersandproject.com for a full list of upcoming events.

Less than a week after making the tough decision between the events described above, the Quivira Coalition’s 9^th annual conference will take place in Albuquerque from November 10 through 12. Titled “The Carbon Ranch: Using Food and Stewardship to Build Soil and Fight Climate Change,” the conference will attempt to weave a thread through a variety of important issues. “If we can sequester carbon in the soil, we can fight climate change by growing local food, improving the health of our local watersheds, and helping our local economies,” says Quivira’s executive director Courtney White,  “There’s no downside to increasing the soils capacity to hold water.”

White expects to have about 500 people in attendance at the two-and-a-half-day conference, which costs $125. One-third of the attendees are likely to be ranchers, he told me in a phone interview, and speakers are flying in from California, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, and Vermont—not to mention Australia. To sign up, check out www.quiviracoalition.org.

It is hard to put a dollar figure on the effect that water problems have on a local economy, but leave it to people from the City Different and the Land of Enchantment to make the best of a difficult situation. As a national leader in water-conscious policy, we do ourselves and our local economy right. There are solutions to our water woes and thanks to people like Emigdio Ballon, Amanda Bramble and Courtney White, we are likely to find them right here at home.

If you happen to be looking for more stories about the water harvesters in our community, please check out www.harvesttherain.com.

Nate Downey is the author of Harvest the Rain, a new book about water and sustainability (Sunstone Press 2010). He’s also the president of Santa Fe Permaculture, Inc., the ecological landscaping company he started in 1992. Contact Nate at 505.424.4444 or via his blog at www.backyarddigest.com.

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You’ve seen the stars around town, the trucks and trailers, the ubiquitous yellow signs with initials, and perhaps the billboards touting “the largest job creation program since the Manhattan Project.” The movie business is clearly here in New Mexico, but are you seeing that business on your bottom line? Since prioritizing motion picture and television as a target for economic development growth in the late 1990’s, NM has gone from a backwater in the movie business (albeit the original home of movies in the U.S.) to one of the biggest production centers outside of New York & Los Angeles. 12,000 jobs are tied to its success and movies have shot everywhere from Red River to Lordsburg. Hundreds of millions of dollars in construction has gone into studios and other infrastructures, and new facilities are planned in many areas of the state. Even a small budget picture can spend millions in a community and it’s not unusual for a single project to spend 7 figures in NM. Stories abound about regular looking guys walking into lumberyards and placing orders for millions of dollars in lumber or a single phone call that results in a six month, 250 car rental contract. A typical movie has 300 or more vendors on their list and a big project can easily surpass 600. This all sounds great but if you’re not one of the 600, how can you access this revenue stream? Let’s explore.

One common myth about the picture business is that it’s from Hollywood and those making the buying decisions are from out of state. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Movies are typically staffed by your friends and neighbors and possibly your existing customers. Even on a big project at least 60% of the crew is from NM and on many films it can exceed 90%. We’ve even seen 100% staffing recently. The local crew makes the decisions on where to buy building materials, house crew, purchase office supplies, and they recommend where to eat. It also means the wages are paid to New Mexicans and that money stays right here in the community. You have two bites of the apple – one to sell to the movie company and one to sell to the crew who live and work here year round. For those in the tourism business, there is also an opportunity to sell to the travelling crew, who, when they have time on their hands, also have a substantial per diem they can spend in your shop, restaurant or gallery.

The first rule in selling to a picture company is to stock what they need. The idea that they use the same lumber or office supplies or eat at the same time as your regular clientele is a misconception that prevents many businesses from working with this industry. For example, if you’re selling to a building contractor erecting a house to last 100 years, the materials will be significantly different than a construction coordinator building a set to last a few months. Obviously they don’t need plumbing or electrical supplies – 1×2 framing is much more popular than 2×4’s and it’s going to take a lot of paint to make that acceptable to the production designer and the director of photography. When it comes to “dressing” that set, it could be everything from urban contemporary through period Western. NM has shot everything from a Mars colony to a post-apocalyptic future U.S. to many, many westerns. Often the set dressers will rent rather than buy because of budget constraints and peculiarities of the project. Having antiques or at least good copies is obviously a premium for these types of shows but your junk could easily be a movie company’s treasure. Don’t assume that somebody won’t need it; make an attempt to market what you have. If you’re a service business, are you open hours that picture companies need you to be? I distinctly remember a situation where the maid service in a hotel in Arizona would not alter maid service time. Unfortunately the picture company was shooting nights and that would have involved the crew moving out in the middle of their precious sleep time. The hotel simply didn’t get it and this raised quite a ruckus, which eventually involved moving the crew in the middle of the day to a new hotel. Having the bar open when they get in late at night or the breakfast served when they leave early in the morning can be the difference between picking up a long-term commitment from the picture company or losing the business to a competitor. Knowledgeable and film friendly staff is always appreciated. One large company last year wanted to rent Priuses only, and there weren’t enough here in town. The rental car company insisted they had other fuel-efficient vehicles and refused to being in additional Prisuses from other locations. The picture company really wanted Priuses so they ended up bringing in over 50 for close to a year to supplement their existing order. This was money that could have been spent here but was lost. It was also a loss to the company, as the vehicles brought in were not subject to the rebate. The moral? If you don’t have it they can’t buy it. The solution? Work with the professionals here in the local communities that know what it is that they will need.

It’s also important to emphasize that what you have is as locally sourced and sustainable as possible. The motion picture business is highly unionized and its members tend to be fully aware of the impact on the environment and their contribution to the sustainability of NM on their global responsibility. Two members of IATSE Local 480 recently published a guide to green filmmaking and it has a heavy influence on local sourcing and sustainability. Thankfully the days when movie sets were torn down and placed in a dumpster are long gone and from top to bottom there is an emphasis on responsible film making. Therefore green or at least recyclable products are sought out and picture companies are often willing to pay a premium to obtain them. This can be as simple as negotiating a rental deal rather than a straight purchase or arranging for pick up and correct disposal when the goods are no longer needed. Several local small businesses have sprung up over the last several years dealing with recycling and reusing materials with everything from organic composting to recycling entire sets becoming the norm. It’s also important to movie companies and especially the local crew that you are a socially responsible business paying not just a living wage but providing access to health care and other benefits to your employees. This can mean as much as the bottom line price to that large purchaser – if that is what you are doing make sure you tell them.

Finally, film technicians do not go shopping at the mall like your friends and neighbors. They are predisposed to spending their money locally but you need to tell them who you are and what you have. Many times there is not an opportunity for them to shop around so they will go to the company they have worked with before. If you are new to this business, you need to get your shingle out in front of these potential customers. Organizations such as the SF Alliance are useful in helping you gain that exposure. Good luck, and we’ll see you in the movies (or at least your stuff!).

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I thought it would be best to start this article as I do every Thursday with my introduction of Cook with the Chef culinary demonstrations at the Santa Fe Farmers Market: The Farm to Restaurant Project (F2R) showcases local chefs of independently owned restaurants who support regional food producers, whether they have direct relationships with farmers who deliver to their doors, or they come down to the farmers’ market, or they are part of the pilot distribution project.

In the current global food system where food is mass produced, sprayed with chemicals and transported hundreds of miles to get to your plate, I am proud to be involved in a project that counteracts this unhealthy mechanism and takes us back to a more community-based way of acquiring our food that respects the earth, the food and the people who grow and prepare it.

Like many others in our community, I make organic and locally grown food a priority in my diet; but when I go out to eat, I don’t want to have to throw those values out the window. Thankfully, as the coordinator of F2R, I know and trust that the project participants do, indeed, utilize local food in their dishes and stand behind their decisions.

According to Patrick Gharrity, Executive Chef of La Casa Sena, “Purchasing local food is important to me because it is evident our food chain is out of whack. I hope to reduce our carbon footprint and to support and boost the local economy.”

Marketing Campaign

Two facets make up the F2R project: the marketing campaign, which includes Cook with the Chef, and the pilot distribution project. The marketing highlights those restaurants and caterers that acquire local food. Each is required to fill out a simple questionnaire that is available to any independent enterprise that would like to join this promotional campaign.

Participation does not depend on the percentage of local food purchases or number of established relationships with producers, but rather, initiatives and commitment to continuous improvements in local purchases and consumer education. We ask about current relationships with food producers, how it’s working, plans to increase purchases, and what barriers they experience in purchasing local food.

Transparency and accountability are key factors to this project, so we ask restaurateurs for a list of growers and producers with whom they work, what they purchase, and how much of their food costs is spent on local food. While some report local food costs at more than 50 percent, (85 percent in the case of the Tree House Pastry Shop & Café) others are less, bringing the average to around 25 percent among all participants. One of our stellar local food establishments, Joe’s Restaurant, projects spending $60,000 on local food this year.

Actual marketing questions are next, inquiring as to a restaurant’s willingness to market their local dishes through the F2R project. Most proudly display the F2R poster in their window (or centered on the wall of their entrance like Amavi), place the logo on their menus, as La Casa Sena does, or on their website, as Flying Star does. Some even go so far as to display “farm cards” acknowledging the sources of their produce. The locally sourced products sign that Back Road Pizza features is right next to where orders are taken. Roland Richter, owner of Joe’s, has an entire newsletter dedicated to explaining his philosophy of why he sources locally, and copies of Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan are for sale. We hope to see more participation in this realm in the coming years, so that this co-branded campaign can come full circle for more public awareness.

Pilot Distribution

The F2R pilot distribution was launched in July of this year, and we are now working with 15 restaurants and 15 producers who have agreed to a “value-chain,” standing order process to help establish this project. A value-chain is a kind of flow chart highlighting relationships, accountability, sustainability and trust, that tracks food from farm to restaurant. Its goal is not the lowest price or fastest convenience but the most embedded value for the food. (The low price/efficiency chain is usually known as a “supply chain.”)

This is being achieved through meetings, feedback, trial and error, satisfied customers, planning and more meetings . . .and a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Yes, the USDA has acknowledged little old Santa Fe with the Santa Fe Alliance spearheading this project, and awarded us $98,000 to get it off the ground. This grant is called the Farmers Market Promotion Program, however, we are the only entity doing a project like this. Most other grant recipients throughout the country are just trying to launch their own farmers’ markets.

Working with the La Montanita Co-op distribution truck, we make deliveries twice a week to 15 restaurants all around Santa Fe; from high-end places like 315 Restaurant & Wine Bar and Andiamo! to sandwich and pizza joints like Louie’s Corner Café and Back Road Pizza.

We’ve had three solid months of the Santa Fe F2R distribution system with sales reaching a little more than $10,000 at the peak of the season. Unfortunately, this is not enough volume to cover the distribution costs at our current margins, so we will be cutting some transportation costs and going back to a series of stakeholder meetings. This first season was really a “pilot run,” a chance to test a new system, and most importantly, to learn from it. We really look forward to these meetings, as the future of the project will depend on the participation of both restaurants and producers. As Kim Muller, executive chef of Real Food Nation says: “I think the (pilot distribution) program has great potential. I’m sure there will be kinks to work out and some restaurants may be more forgiving than others, but hopefully everyone will remember the “big picture” and realize that this is such an important project to get going and it can be a great model for others to build on.”

In the months and years ahead we will refine the marketing and distribution of the Farm to Restaurant project and garner new and more involved participation from local restaurants. I, for one, am really glad we have project like this in Santa Fe, that not only will be a model for other communities, but will at the very least provide me a list of trusted restaurants that provide healthy food that comes from my very own community.

Kathleen Chambers is the Project Coordinator of the Santa Fe Alliance’s Farm to Restaurant project and party planner of Santa Fe Green Drinks, a monthly community social event for the environmentally concerned. She also is the Marketing Consultant for SIERRA magazine, the national publication of the Sierra Club. For more information, e-mail programs@santafealliance.com

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Sustainable economy-building strengthens the foundation of a culture by working with, rather than against, the values of a community. New Mexico still retains many of the economic strengths stemming from diversity, now lost in most regions of the U.S.  Discovering ways of moving forward with economic development while retaining the cultural preciousness and uniqueness of local cultures depends upon understanding the important interplay between culture and traditional economies.

Eco-cultural sustainability requires listening to indigenous methodologies, and describing the framework for economies that work from within those cultures, rather than instituting an outsider point of view. This re-integration is not introducing something new: it’s just restoring wisdom, bringing back some of the values and underlying economic support systems of 70 years ago.

Instead of discovering new approaches, economy-building is more likely to succeed in a culturally-diverse region by restoring traditional economic forms and supporting small-scale, linked enterprises. Getting clear on the difference between economic development (a term often erroneously interchanged with business development) and the bigger picture of a total economic system is an important starting place. When these terms are interchanged, the small, entrepreneurial business tends to be forgotten.

In traditional and rural societies, economies tend to be holistically interwoven with kinship, religious, educational and political systems. In other words, when the cultural connection is met, economy building is likely to be meaningful and continued over time.

VALUE-BASED APPROACHES

The time has arrived to learn from traditional cultures and respect traditional paradigms for business development. By respecting local traditional business strengths, forms and styles, development can increase a good “cultural fit.” We might start by asking, “what happened to the formerly strong, culturally-based economic forms?”

When assistance programs (policy usually begins at the federal level) began asserting the notion that economic development must be measured in terms of full-time jobs and tax revenues, the strengths of traditional economies began to erode. Rural and tribal communities were often told that they did not have a viable economy and needed to change. In reality, the small-scale (generally extended) family managed enterprises tied to the land had a lifespan of several generations, in contrast to the mainstream American business failure rate of over 50%.

Job-related programs, often defined federally and trickling down to the state level, measure employment in the short-term timeframe. Instead of employment lasting 6 months, in actuality a subsidy to industry, employment needs to be considered in terms of a generation or longer.

The business plan aimed primarily at profit, produced to secure a bank loan, failed to take into account cultural values and strengths of internal cooperation within cultures. In local traditional cultures, multiple income streams (from more than one source) offer more long-term security. Barter offers lower capital-intensive resources, and networks of community cooperation provide the most effective form of marketing – word of mouth.

How do we shift to culturally relevant business networks? These are some of the elements needed for sustainability:

• Value-based enterprise concepts as a foundation for the business concept ( each business decides culturally and individually important values to reinforce),

• Culturally-based business plans,
• A clear definition of community benefits,
• Consumer education strategies to educate the market,
• Respect and care for the environment addressed in the concept,
• Linking to form a network as part of a benefit,
• Low capital investment,
• Culturally-based training, building upon local strengths, and
• Rather than luring or introducing new large businesses, ask what more can be done to encourage locally owned, green businesses to thrive.

The exciting potential for linked, small-scale enterprises is now underway, as reflected by the articles in this issue. The current movement toward small-scale, locally owned enterprise needs culturally-based training, marketing assistance, working capital, and culturally-informed technical assistance to succeed and grow. Participation of all cultures in New Mexico will bring strength through diverse, culturally-based solutions.

Green choices reflect the re-integration of cultural values relating to ecosystems, extended family cooperation, generosity friendliness, community and local economy. Supporting entrepreneurial business development creates long-term, sustainable employment. Green and local are a good cultural fit.

SUSTAINABILITY MEASURES

A fundamental question is “How, specifically, do we achieve sustainability?” The word will otherwise become merely a buzzword. Answer: “Stand the corporate business paradigm  (profit, then find customers) upside down.” If people rather than profit are the foundation of a new paradigm, values and culture must be central.

Success is often defined from a different cultural viewpoint in rural communities than in the urban setting. For business development that is sustainable, benefits to a culture or a community must be considered along with financial advantages.

Often at the crux of resource allocation is the perception that the generation of tax revenues and entrepreneurial activity often isn’t perceived as the greatest means of generating tax dollars. This is a short term view. Seen in the longer-term; sustainable sense, entrepreneurial activity creates products and resources, plus, it generates a more interesting and stable economy for the community and for visitors.

Sustainability criteria can include:

• Meeting basic needs (housing, food, medical care, energy),
• Retaining the cultural traditions of culturally diverse communities,
• Targeting a means of distributing profits or reinvestment in community as well as individuals,
• Creating long-lasting, family-based enterprises,
• Networking for sharing business knowledge,
• Encouraging low energy consumption,
• Retaining land for agriculture, habitat and wilderness, and
• Supporting economic forms, such as multiple income streams for families, community and family gardens, as well as barter systems.

The more specific the measures for these criteria, for each enterprise, the more likely a sustainable outcome. Continuing the dialogue on sustainability measures that include all local cultures and values is central to building a unique, culturally-based economy for our region.

These are a few strategies to mesh enterprise development with local values:

• Increased sales opportunities are needed for locally-made products. There exists an important business niche for “locally-made” stores. Vending, a traditional New Mexico economic form of doing business gradually pushed out of roadside areas over the past 25 years, needs more opportunity.

• Constantly recommend locally-owned and green businesses rather than succumbing to high cost Big Business marketing. Word-of-mouth is the most effective way of marketing.

• Develop the simplest means of consumer education for your business, such as product information, details about locally-owned, or recipes. Use the most inexpensive means. Make copies and give them to customers.

• Think through the corporate training often taught and question whether this training reflects local and cultural values. Adapt where necessary.

• Develop customer service to reflect local traditions.

• Support authenticity in businesses by purchasing locally-made goods.

• Develop local networks with mentoring programs for sharing training, information and linking for effective and inexpensive marketing.

• Give feedback to businesses. Request locally made and green items, and increase awareness in others. As a consumer, you are the market. Not many people make requests at stores – your voice counts more than you may realize.

Such an approach may not bring the immediate, measurable tax base, but it will add some resiliency in times of financial instability. We need to continually rethink measures of success to create a more sustainable economic framework. Simple, community-based solutions are the most effective.

A new economy is coming. Now is the time to restore precious time-honored solutions. Recognizing and respecting the strengths of local, traditional economies will benefit all locally and create a strong national model as well.

Susan Guyette, Ph.D. is Métis (Micmac Indian and Acadian French) and a planner specializing in cultural centers, cultural tourism and native foods. She is the author of Planning for Balanced Development: A Guide for Native American and Rural Communities. E-mail: santafeplanning.com.

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