Tabling at the NM Legislature & Opening a Dialog with NMSU Board of Regents

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

Speaker Biographies - Traditional Chile Summit 2012

1st Annual New Mexico Traditional Chile Summit

For more info: www.ElTiempoNM.org

Speaker Biographies

Emcee

David F. García, MA, is from the community of El Guache, New Mexico. He is currently completing a PhD. Program in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. As a researcher investigating local knowledge systems in northern New Mexico and practices, his interests include: acequias, foodways, religion, spirituality, folkloristics, and cultural space, as they relate to sustainability and cultural survival of Indo-Hispano communities. He is specifically interested in how shifts in economic bases relate to transformations in the relationships that people have to the environment and local resources. He is currently the Community Education Coordinator for the New Mexico Acequia Association. In addition to the above duties he is also a multi-talented musician and performer of local Spanish music as a solo artist and also a member of the statewide recognized Blue Ventures.

Keynote Speaker

Miguel Santistevan: With a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Science degree in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, Miguel Santistevan is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Biology at the University of New Mexico. His research interests are in the traditional acequia-irrigated and dryland agricultural systems of the Upper Rio Grande and Sangre de Cristo mountains. Miguel is certified in Permaculture and ZERI Design and has been a High School science teacher in Pecos, Peñasco, and Taos school districts. He has directed youth-in-agriculture programs such as ePlaza of Hands Across Cultures and the Regional Development Corporation and the Sembrando Semillas youth-in-agriculture project of the New Mexico Acequia Association (NMAA). He has produced video and public radio programming (¡Que Vivan las Acequias!) with the NMAA and Cultural Energy, of which he is a Board Member. He maintains a conservation farm with his wife and daughter in Taos called Sol Feliz where many visitors have participated in educational presentations, tours, and hands-on workshops (www.solfelizfarm.org). Miguel coordinates a ‘Living Seed Library’ program through the Agriculture Implementation, Research, and Education non-profit corporation he is co-founding (www.growfarmers.org). Miguel has recently been elected Chairman of the Acequia Sur de Río de Don Fernando de Taos for the 2010-2011 growing season of which he is a parciante (irrigator) and past Mayordomo (ditch boss). He also serves as a Board Member for the Taos Valley Acequia Association. More information on Miguel can be found at www.unm.edu/~msanti.

Panel Speakers

Ralph Vigil II, is a 8th generation farmer from Pecos, NM, focusing on seed propagation and seed saving of heritage crops. Ralph owns Molino de La Isla Farm where he works with youth from his community, mentoring them on acequia culture, s eed saving, food processing, food justice issues and seed sovereignty. Ralph is also Chairman of the NM Acequia Commission.

Beata Tsosie-Peña, is from Santa Clara Pueblo and El Rito. She is a poet, certified in infant massage, education

and permaculture design. The realities of living next to a nuclear weapons complex has called her into environ-

mental health and justice work with the local non-profit organization, Tewa Women United. She believes in the

practice and preservation of land-based knowledge, spirituality, language, seeds, our Earth, and family. Her

intentions are for healing, wellness and sustainability for future generations.

Bianca Encinias, is the owner of El Chante: Casa de Cultura focusing on community controlled economic

development. El Chante is an art gallery and boutique promoting local and regional art, crafts, and culture.

She is also a member of the Los Jardines Institute, an intergenerational organization that promotes

learning and implementing environmental justice through agriculture and education.

Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, has a diverse background, beginning with a Masters in Project Management.

She has been working in the area of traditional agricultural revival for the last 12 years. She was honored to be a

member of the Native Delegation to Terra Madre 2006 and 2010, in Turin, Italy. Honored for her work in the

Mohawk community of Akwesasne, New York, Gray co-founded Kanenhi:io Ionkwaienthonhakie (We Are

Planting Good Seeds), which built a substantial community greenhouse, established a community farmers’

market on the reservation, and supports community gardens, and individual family farms. Gray is now living in

the South West, and is the Conference Coordinator for the Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living

Conference

Film Maker

Chris Dudley, is an award winning New Mexico documentary filmmaker who has worked under grants from PBS, P.O.V, Frontline World and KNME among others. His film Genetic Chile is currently screening around the world. His next film, Building John Henry, explores the rationality of the war machine and the rise of the burgeoning American police state. http://buildingjohnhenry.com/

http://buildingjohnhenry.com/