My mother sat in full Norteña regalia, complete with squash blossom and newly acquired (from the Diné table) colored corn necklace. Passersby stopped to see why our table announced that we were celebrating 100 Years of New Mexico's Traditional Chile and why there was a banner with a flaming chile. Tabling at the NM Legislature is fun!
Close to 100 people signed up to win either a bag of NM Traditional Red Chile Pods or an íEl Tiempo! Nuevo México bumper sticker
Available at: http://www.zazzle.com/eltiemponm
And, in taking the time to sign-up, our guests were asked questions about their thoughts on GMO chile. NOT ONE PERSON WAS FOR GMO CHILE! Not even those who grew chile! Not even the Legislators who stopped by. So, why is NMSU conducting research and possibly developing GMO chile? Why did our legislators give NMSU the money to conduct the research and development?
Well, we're still not sure. So, as good investigators, Miguel Santistevan and I set out to talk to the NMSU Board of Regents about this matter. We attended the Board of Regents meeting in Santa Fe, on January 30th, at the Inn at Loretto. We spoke during the Public Comment portion of the meeting.
Javier Gonzales serves as the of the Chair of the State Democratic Party. And, he serves as an NMSU Regent. He was the only Regent who came up to us before the meeting and asked us what we had signed up to speak on during the Public Comment segment. He was engaging and listened intently, as he did when Miguel, Ehtan, Michael, and I spoke during that segment. He made me feel human and less nervous about opening a dialog with the Regents on the issue of GMO chile research and development (R & D). He cared.
I talked to the Regents about who I was, where my family was from, what made me want to stop the R & D of GMO chile. I asked them to start a relationship with me; to begin a dialog based on mutual respect as fellow New Mexicans who care about our culture, industry, and local economy. For the most part, I felt listened to. There were a few steely eyed Regents & staff members who I think believed that I was going to pull an "Occupy Mic Check" on them. But, I didn't. I wouldn't. At this point, I have more respect for the NMSU Regents than to do something like that.
My training in conflict resolution tells me that we can work this issue out in a civilized manner. Don't get me wrong, I've participated in many an in-your-face confrontations!!! Especially in regard to LANS' building of nuclear bomb triggers that will compromise the health and safety of workers from my community. But, I've always started by telling my story and worked into "speaking truth to power" without ranting.
Ok, true, I did rant at the Airforce when I went to the public comment meeting on their intent to conduct "low elevation fly-overs" in northern NM and southern CO. But, the military is a real sore spot for me. I'm a war wife. And, I'll never forgive the military for the PTSD-riddled man they sent home to me after Desert Storm! But, that's another story for another time.
Back to chile! Miguel presented the NMSU Board of Regents with a packet that contained a letter that the NM Acequia Association had mailed out regarding the proposed research and development of GMO chile. This letter was written in 2008 by all the members of the NM Seed Alliance and was addressed to key NM Legislators, Pueblo Leaders, and the NMSU Board of Regents. It asked the Regents to meet with the NM Seed Alliance leadership. That meeting never took place.
The packet also contained the Seed Sovereignty Declaration (link at the bottom of the page), the Joint Memorial that the legislature passed in 2008 based on the Declaration, and the movie, "GEnetic Chile: The Movie", by Chris Dudley. Miguel talked about his concern for small chile growers, as did I. He talked about why GMO chile isn't a viable option for the large scale chile producers. He talked about solving this issue together.
The other two individuals who spoke on this issue, Ethan Genauer, and a young man I know only as Michael, spoke passionately in favor of ending the R & D on GMO chile. Michael made comments supporting Traditional Chile and calling for the R & D of GMO chile to stop. Ethan read part of the Seed Sovereignty Declaration and called for a boycott on all of the members of the NM Chile Association (including Bueno Foods) because of their high level of involvement on the issue.
I came away from the meeting wondering what the true reaction of the Regents was. I hope to find out more by continuing the dialog we started at the NMSU Board of Regents Meeting in Santa Fe. I hope that they will see the seriousness of the threat GMO chile would pose to our Traditional Chile. And, I hope they will act to protect New Mexicans and New Mexican culture, as they are mandated to do by our State Constitution, The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and The Morrill Act (which established NMSU as a land-grant, agricultural institution of higher learning)! Aver . . .
NM Seed Alliance's Seed Sovereignty Declaration: http://www.lasacequias.org/programs/seed-alliance/seed-declaration/
Our Website: https://eltiemponm.org
