Community in Crisis Looks to its Agricultural Roots

Renowned for its historic Native American pueblo, cultural ties to Spain, bohemian artists, and world-class ski resort, Taos is also one of the many communities in the U.S. facing food insecurity. But the region was once the breadbasket of northern New Mexico, and a grassroots movement is seeking to position it as a model for sustainable agriculture. With food insecurity in the U.S. higher than at any time in recent memory, revitalisation of community-based agriculture may not come a moment too soon. Beginning at least a thousand years ago, the Taos Pueblos developed a rich agrarian culture here. Spanish settlers came in the 1500s, mixing with Natives and bringing with them the Moorish community system of water sharing known here as the acequias. When the U.S. took over the territory after the Mexican American war in 1848, families of Spanish descent were granted land for communal use. The westward expansion brought many European Americans who took up ranching. During the countercultural movements of the 1960s more came, formed communes, and began to farm in the traditional ways later branded "organic". Challenges to sustainable agriculture are numerous. The high desert area has a short growing season. Decreased snow and rainfalls in recent years, combined with exponential growth in land values, pose serious threats...read more