Pepper purists concerned about scientists’ last-ditch efforts to help NM’s famous chile crop

Mention New Mexican cuisine and mouths start watering. Giant breakfast burritos, plates of enchiladas, tacos and even cheeseburgers — all laced with green chile or drenched in red. New Mexico’s chile peppers have woven their way into the state’s cultural identity, and their distinct flavor has been adopted by palates as far away as Korea. But some are worried about the future of New Mexico’s signature crop. Labor costs, relentless plant diseases and competition from cheap imports have combined to put the chile industry in a steep decline. Scientists at New Mexico State University are helping through a series of efforts aimed at unlocking the genetic mysteries of red and green chile, but that has some pepper purists fired up. The thought of genetically engineering chile has galvanized a group of seed conservationists and others who are sympathetic to the national protests targeting corporate greed and economic inequality. Unlike the Occupy Wall Street movement, however, Occupy Green/Red Chile is on a simple, focused mission — to protect New Mexico’s chile seeds...more