Governor signs law to give homegrown chiles a boost

Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill Monday to strengthen the New Mexico Chile Advertising Act. Stores and restaurants selling chile grown elsewhere but carrying names such as Hatch or Chimayo would have to add a label stating that they were not grown in New Mexico. The measure doesn’t go beyond existing legislation, which allows state inspectors to stop the sale of misleadingly-labeled chiles, but it makes clear that New Mexico is serious about protecting its most envied brand, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rudy Martinez, D-Bayard, told the Las Cruces Sun-News...more