As part of this project, we interviewed people across the state and leveraged the research of dozens of informed grassroots organizations. Throughout this website, we highlight their work.
Biocultural Crops and Traditional Farming – Biocultural Crops and Traditional Farming: A ten minute video that introduces the biocultural crops and traditional farming of New Mexico with excerpts from the interviews below: Larry Littlebird, Greg Cajete, Peter Pino, Edwin Torribio, Lois Ellen Frank, Miguel Santistevan, Arturo Sandoval, and Alvin Warren. (10 min 36 sec)
Lois Ellen Frank is a chef and author. Food in indigenous culture is associated with traditional practices like songs, prayers and planting methods. Lois talks about the benefits of traditional and local food and why it is important when buying non-local food to make sure that food is sustainable and supports the people in that community.
Miguel Santistevan, an ethnobotanist, farmer and seed saving activist from Taos who has developed a long-term collaboration with nature, talks about the adaptation of heritage crops, traditional dry-land farming systems, gathering wild plants, water strategies, and the significance of farming his grandmother’s land.