La Montanita Coop and Los Poblanos Organics – A Promising Future in Sustainable, Carbon-neutral Local and Regional Food Supply “Food-Shed”

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. Up until the 1940s there was substantial self-reliance of towns and villages upon local farmers for their food needs. Post-World War II development of regional and national roads led to widespread truck farming and a network of grocery store chains. A booming economy, can-do attitude and agricultural subsidies combined to mask the added costs in fuel to deliver the goods. It has only gotten worse since then.

The 1940 average farm produced 2.3 calories for every calories of fossil fuel used. ( Richard Manning in his essay “The Oil We Eat” {Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature, published by http://www.watershedmedia.org.) By 1974 that ratio had had dropped to 1:1. In the 1990s global food markets and expedited shipment of food across distances like 3000 to 5000 mile has become commonplace. Research from Ann Arbor Center for Sustainable Systems (University of Michigan) shows that today it takes closer to 7-10 calories of energy for each calorie of food produced and distributed. (http://www.sustainabletable.org). Another measure of this is 400 gallons of fuel are burned per North American family per year for food delivery. Deal-savvy consumers don’t realize that the convenience of year-round kiwis or mangoes bear a huge, embedded carbon cost. Luckily in Albuquerque there are responsible local residents who are making a difference providing access to locally grown food. The La Montanita’s Co-op Trade Regional Food-Shed basic goals are to increase the quantity, diversity, and availability of local foods while providing support for producers and value for customers.

At the July 2010 Sierra Club N’ Beer gathering, La Montanita Co-op employee Robin Seydel presented promising new trends and opportunities for providing food responsibly, locally and without loss of quality. See http://www.lamontanita.coop/

Beginning in 2004, the La Montanita Co-op Board voted to create the Co-op Trade Initiative: a regional food-shed production and distribution system. The term and concept “food-shed” is derived from the more familiar word “watershed.” This required an initial investment of $150,000 to lease a warehouse and trucks, install necessary equipment and pay staff. Through the Food-Shed warehouse, known as the Cooperative Distribution Center (CDC), the project also provides distribution services for regional/local products to other retail businesses within the food-shed area. It seeks to reduce food-miles with consolidating trucking routes and pick-up of product with delivery of farm supplies including animal feed and egg cartons and produce packing boxes.

The Co-op Trade Initiative collaborates with the New Mexico Food-Shed Alliance, The New Mexico Agricultural Task Force of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments, The University of New Mexico Sustainability Studies Program and others in an effort to push regional food-shed and sustainability forward into mainstream consciousness.

A second presentation at the gathering was given by Farmer Monte from local produce distributor Los Poblanos Organics. (LPO, see http://lospoblanosorganics.com/.) LPO farms 36 acres along the beautiful Rio Grande River Valley in Albuquerque and 30 more acres in the Los Padillas area of the South Valley. They offer three ways to receive their produce: the “Harvest Box Program”, their grocery delivery service, “LPO Delivery” and finally through produce booths at several area Farmers' Markets.

So please support your local growers market, local-food based grocery and cooperative markets and if you can, grow your own fresh vegetables and fruit. Find your nearest Grower’s Market (New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association)http://www.farmersmarketsnm.org/Farmers_Markets/Market_Locations/index.html

Thanks to Robin Seydel of La Montanita Co-op for her help in researching this story.