New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty Op-Ed: Cuts in SNAP Would Hurt the Most Vulnerable

NM Center on Law and Poverty Collage

There is a strong chance that the Farm Bill might come to the floor of the House this week.  And that bill is likely to contain the $21 billion in cuts to SNAP approved by the House Agriculture Committee.  According to The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP), this is a strong concern for our state, since cuts in food-stamp benefits could affect the most vulnerable members of our population.  Our two largest newspapers have weighed in on the SNAP debate, with the New Mexican (Santa Fe) offering strong support for the program, and the Albuquerque Journal advocating for cuts. 

Other voices have come forward,, including NMCLP executive director Kim Posich, who published an Op-Ed in  the Albuquerque Journal on Monday, June 17.  Here are a few excerpts:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – formerly known as the food stamp program – provides food assistance to over 450,000 low-income New Mexicans. The assistance is in the form of a small monthly stipend put on an EBT card that families can use in their local grocery to help put food on the table.

When added up, the stipends amount to over $ 650 million federal dollars going directly into New Mexican grocery stores every year.

Those who argue for cutting the nutrition program may not know all the facts. The great majority of recipients of SNAP food assistance are children, the disabled and the elderly. Recipients who don’t fit into one of these categories are mostly working adults who toil in low-paying jobs.

The relatively few adults who receive food assistance but aren’t working are special cases, such as pregnant women or a small number of people living in areas of very high unemployment.

These are all people who need help.

Here is the full piece entitled Cutting Food Money Profound Mistake.  (If you are not a subscriber to the newspaper online or via delivery, you can still see the article by answering a couple of questions related to advertisers).

Arguing Against Albuquerque Journal's Editorial on SNAP

On Saturday, we posted excerpts from a great editorial from The New Mexican (Santa Fe) urging support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  The New Mexican's editorial was published on June 13, nine days after the state's other major newspaper, The Albuquerque Journal, expressed the opposite opinion.  In its June 4 editorial, The Journal argued that the expansion of SNAP was intended as a temporary measure to respond to the recent economic recession.

According to the Journal editorial, "the recession ended three years ago this month, and though the economy has been recuperating the number of people now receiving food stamps has not declined. In fact, participation in SNAP has increased more than 70 percent in the last five years and is expected to continue rising at least until 2015."

Really? One cannot truly make the argument  that New Mexico is out of the recession. On May 16, the Economic Policy Institute wrote "According to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (2013), Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in January 2013 show that over-the-year job growth (comparing January 2013 with January 2012) of 0.4 percent (3,500 jobs) placed New Mexico fourth from the bottom among all states. To return to prerecession unemployment rates, New Mexico would have to create 2,500 new jobs each month over the next three years (author’s analysis of Current Employment Statistics and Local Area Unemployment Statistics)." Read full article

Regarding the question of whether the U.S. is out of a recession, it is true that our country as a whole has regained the household wealth present before the economic turndown.  But the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis points out that"most families have recovered much less than the average amount.  Read More.

The Journal's editorial was also published a week before Feeding America released its Map the Meal Gap study for 2013, which showed that New Mexico ranked as the most food insecure state for children in the United States.  (More details to come)

The Journal editorial also misses the mark with its argument that the expansion is creating dependency. Expansion of the benefit was never intended to be permanent. Nobody is suggesting the program should be done away with or taken away from the neediest. But Congress should move to trim back spending before the expanded benefits evolve from a temporary safety net into a permanent entitlement," said the newspaper  Here is the Full Editorial (If you are not a subscriber, you can see the full piece by simply answering a few questions related to advertisers)

A study from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service shows that 3 out of 4 SNAP participants leave the program within 2 years, and half receive benefits for 10 months or fewer.  Additionally, the program was created to respond to need, and it's obvious that the need exists.

The Journal's editorial elicited outrage among many readers.  I don't know whether the Journal received any letters in support of its editorial, but the newspaper chose to publish four letters on Sunday, June 16, that criticized its stance.  Here are some excerpts from these letters:

Letter 1
Does the phrase “jobless recovery” sound familiar? It refers to our current economic situation, where employment lags behind the measure of overall activity. Another way of putting it is that the benefits of the recovery are going to the top income levels and not making their way down to the workers. In the best of recoveries, job growth tends to be the last thing to improve; this time it is slower than usual. Add to this the news in your paper that New Mexico wages are below the average U.S. levels, and you can see why this is the wrong time and the wrong place to advocate making it harder for people to get food stamps.

Letter 2
The food stamp program will continue to expand as long as the wealthiest 2 percent contrive to push more of the middle class into poverty for the greed of short-term gain. It’s short term because eventually not enough people will be able to purchase goods and services. At that stage your concern will no longer be about food stamps. Perhaps “let them eat cake” might be a clue.
 
Letter 3
Federal guidelines for poverty haven’t changed since the 1960s while food costs have risen significantly. The costs for child care, housing, insurances, transportation and taxes have also all increased creating a monumental division between what people have to spend and the cost of living. The real benefits of food stamps are to children who can’t learn, grow or look to a healthy future without good nutrition. According to the Children’s Defense Fund report of January 2012, approximately 175,000 children in New Mexico qualify for SNAP. That is 40 percent of SNAP payout in our state. Please don’t think these children have lazy parents because 32 percent are from families with at least one working member according to the N.M. Association of Food Banks.

We live in a state with many working poor people. SNAP provides only 2.3 weeks of nutrition for these families. What do parents do so children can eat for the other 1.7 weeks of the month? Adults go without food, without medicine, without health insurance, or reduce their work time to pay for child care, transportation, housing. None of these “solutions” produce a better life for their families or our economy. Wouldn’t perpetual corporate subsidies be a better handout to consider for cuts?

Letter 4
The Journal says to trim back before this level of the program becomes an entitlement. Would that be before a hungry 5-year-old thinks he is entitled to not be hungry? Or before a pregnant mother and her child learn how comforting it is to get adequate nutrition every day? Maybe what the Journal really wants is to replace entitlement with “expectation”: the 5-year old expecting to be hungry each day, and the pregnant woman expecting that from now on, life will always be difficult for her and her — unborn — child.

Here is the link to the Letters to the Editor Page for Sunday, June 16,

On Father's Day, We Celebrate Pope Francis' Prophetic Role

One of the Jesuit values (at Loyola University New Orleans)

On this Father's Day, I was simply going to post a quote from Pope Francis urging the faithful to rethink our economic values and place a priority on changing a system that promotes the types of inequalities that are causing suffering around the world.  But as I was looking for the best quote, I came across several options, so I decided to make this into a full blog post.

In his short tenure as the Bishop of Rome,  Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio has fully embraced the name he chose when he was elected as pope.  Francis of Assissi was a strong advocate for simplicity and caring for the poor, and Pope Francis has fully used his prophetic role as head of the Vatican to advance these values. By biblical definition, a prophet is not a person who predicts the future, but one who speaks out about the ills of society, such as injustice, oppression and the pursuit of a luxurious lifestyle at the expense of the poor. (Sound familiar?)

“A savage capitalism has taught the logic of profit at any cost, of giving in order to get, of exploitation without thinking of people... and we see the results in the crisis we are experiencing,” the pope said in comments tothe men and women coming to the 'Gift of Maria' food kitchen, located at the walls of the Vatican in May.

A few days later,  Francis told members of a charitable foundation in Rome that unemployment was “spreading like wildfire in large areas of the West and ... alarmingly extending the boundaries of poverty.” He continued, “there is no worse material poverty, I would like to emphasize, than that which deprives someone of earning their living, deprives them of the dignity of work. By now this 'something wrong' is not just affecting the southern regions of the world, but the entire planet.”

Francis has called for “a global rethinking of the entire system, seeking ways to reform and correct it in a manner consistent with fundamental human rights.”

The pope's statements have caused some uncomfortable moments for those who promote a libertarian vision of capitalism, where the market is allowed without any interference whatsoever to dictate the direction of our global economy.  One blogger claims that "capitalism permits the massive multiplication of wealth for all of society." But he misses the point.  Francis is not calling for an end to capitalism, but rather for society to place limits on the abuses of capitalism.

And as some observers  point out,  the criticism is not aimed just at the U.S., Europe and Japan, but also at some newly wealthy countries. "In a fast-changing economic world, Russia has become a case study in gangster capitalism, while the Chinese Communist Party has hatched a privileged overlord culture as the larger population is teeming with grassroots capitalism," said the The Global Post.  "Neither of these models, nor the casino culture of Wall Street banks in which the Federal Reserve Bank guarantees the house on major losses, shows any interest in human scale, nor an ethical responsibility of creating jobs for the domestic economy."

And while Pope Francis has spoken out frequently about this social ill, his comments are in line with some of the values of his predecessors.  "Rhetoric of this kind echoes John Paul II and Benedict’s encyclicals that criticized the consumerist culture of western capitalism alongside the command economy of Marxism,"said the Global Post.

And even some of the publications whose primary readers are those who embrace capitalism acknowledge that the intention of Pope Francis' statements.  "The former Cardinal placed a strong emphasis on the distribution of wealth, not the creation of it. Spiritually he places emphasis on identification with the poor and the spiritual benefits of living a life of poverty,"  said Forbes  magazine. "Pope Francis has condemned 'ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to States, which are themselves charged with providing for the common good.”

So on Father's Day, I salute Pope Francis for embracing his role as prophet.  

Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial Urges Support for SNAP

The New Mexican, the daily newspaper in our state capital, posted a great editorial about protecting SNAP and supporting Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham's participation in the SNAP challenge. Here is a big part of the editorial, followed by a link:

Our View: Food programs need support

Sure it’s a stunt, but this one comes at the right time. Twenty-six members of Congress are living off a food stamp budget for a week — that’s $4.50 a day for food — to bring attention to proposed House Republican cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat from Albuquerque, is taking the challenge, and we can’t wait to hear more about her experience; on her first day, she ate a can of tuna and an apple for lunch. (You can follow the week on Twitter at #SNAPchallenge.)

This matters to New Mexicans. We just found out this week that our state ranks first in the country for child hunger and second for adult hunger. One out of three children in our state doesn’t always have enough to eat, according to the hunger relief group, Feeding America. Twenty percent of adults don’t always know where they will get their next meal. Having SNAP available is essential to keeping people fed. Such benefits should be expanded, not cut, especially when people are still struggling.

But Congress wants to cut food stamps, with the House considering legislation that would dump another 2 million off the rolls through changes in the Farm Bill. The Senate version of the Farm Bill has less onerous cuts, but some Republicans want SNAP taken out of farm legislation entirely to make it easier to take food out of people’s mouths. “Unfortunately, the rapid growth of this program has only increased dependency on government and added to our federal deficit,” a group of 25 conservative GOP members led by Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., said in a letter to House leadership on Tuesday. “We believe the current, unwieldy format of the Farm Bill will hinder meaningful reforms to all portions of the legislation, harming American farmers in the process.”

Read full editorial

Lobby Day and the Aftermath of Lobby Day 2013

Constituent Coffee with Sen. Tom Udall

Rep. Lujan Grisham takes SNAP Challenge

There were four of us from New Mexico on Capitol Hill on Lobby Day, June 11: Ellen Buelow, Larry Buelow and Carlos Navarro from Albuquerque and Rev. Art Meyer from Farmington. But we weren't the only ones there.  The social justice committee at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Albuquerque was making calls to the offices of our New Mexico legislators on the same issues that we brought to Congress.

I won't go too much into detail about our appointments with aides (and will post the pictures at the bottom) because there was nothing extraordinary about these meetings. The aides were all gracious and attentive and reinforced the commitment of their bosses--Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich--to support safety-net programs, especially the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

We did have a piece of timely (and unfortunate) information to discuss with the legislative aides: The annual Map the Meal Gap 2013 study released on June 10 by Feeding America, indicated that New Mexico is ranked as the most food insecure state among children in the United States.  Roadrunner Food Bank has more information.

We also asked our legislators to support provisions in the Farm Bill to protect and improve food aid in ways that make the program more efficient. A third ask was to replace the sequestration with a balance plan that includes revenues and responsible cuts  (i.e. closing tax loopholes).

While our visits to Rayburn and Cannon (House)and Hart (Senate) were cordial, I would like to highlight some related developments that occurred and are occurring outside of Lobby Day and a few other impressions from Lobby Day.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the SNAP Challenge

Courtney Weaver met with us

We missed a personal visit with Rep. Lujan Grisham.  Her plane was late coming in from Albuquerque, so she was unable to get there in time for our 3:40 p.m. appointment.  We were slightly disappointed because she was the only legislator with whom we were scheduled to meet directly. But we did have a great meeting with legislative director Courtney Weaver, who informed us that Rep. Lujan Grisham was joining 26 other members of the House in the SNAP challenge.

Here is what the congresswoman said on Facebook: "For the next week, I will be living on the average SNAP, or food stamps, benefit for an individual - just $4.50 a day. The proposed $20.5 billion SNAP cuts in the House Farm Bill would be disastrous to the 1 in 5 New Mexicans who rely on food stamps for basic nutrition and economic security. Today, I went to the grocery store to buy all the food that I'll be able to eat in the next week. Stay tuned for updates on my SNAP Challenge." 

In her brief time in Congress, Rep. Lujan Grisham has made a mark.  As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, she voted against a Farm Bill that cuts $20.5 billion in SNAP benefits. Unfortunately, she was in the minority, and the committee approved the bill with the drastic cuts.  The full House was expected to vote on the measure on the week of June 17-21.

Constituent Coffee with Sen. Tom Udall

Sen. Udall's office on Lobby Day

On most Wednesday mornings, New Mexico's (now) senior senator offers an opportunity for constituents to mingle with him and with each other. Visitors were offered coffee, biscochitos and green-chile pistachos.  I was among about two dozen people (including several high school students) visiting the office that morning.  This was an opportunity to see one of my federal legislators personally.

While we were shaking hands during a pose for a picture, I took the opportunity to thank Sen.Udall personally for standing among the two dozen or so senators to support  the Gillibrand Amendment, an initiative introduced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to restore $4 billion in SNAP benefits that the Senate Agriculture Committee had cut in its version of the Farm Bill.  The full Senate approved the Farm Bill that included the $4 billion cuts in SNAP (primarily by limiting the ability of states to coordinate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) and SNAP benefits.  Read More from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

The amendment from Sen. Gillibrand would have kept the LIHEAP/SNAP relationship, replacing the cuts with limits on crop reinsurance reimbursements to providers.  The amendment failed by a vote of 70 to 26.

During remarks to the visitors, Sen. Udall took time to acknowledge all the groups that were represented there.  It was good to hear him mention Bread for the World.

Sen.  Martin Heinrich's E-Letter

Posing with Sen. Heinrich's staff

There were 26 senators who voted for the Gillibrand Amendment, and Sen. Heinrich was not on that list.  "Why?"we asked. His staff reassured us that the senator was very concerned about protecting safety net programs, and that the Senate wanted to be in the strongest position possible when having to fend off future efforts to gut safety-net programs, including an amendment by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma to block-grant nutrition programs.  Here is a link to other amendments that were introduced during Senate debate on the Farm Bill.

Our senators had different approaches on this issue (and we did not necessarily agree with this particular decision on the part of Sen. Heinrich).  But we fully understood his stance and appreciated his commitment to do everything he could to keep the integrity of SNAP and protect against broader efforts to gut safety-net programs.

At Rep. Ben Ray Lujan's office

An e-mail response from Sen. Heinrich to letters written as part of Bread for the World's Offering of Letters reinforced his commitment to protect SNAP.

In New Mexico, over 153,000 children lived in a household that experienced food insecurity in the last year. We must do more to ensure every child has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life. Food assistance programs enable low-income households to purchase enough healthy foods to meet their family's needs.

 Despite the overwhelming need for these programs in our current economic state, some members of Congress have made repeated attempts to cut these critical anti-hunger programs. I understand the importance that food assistance programs have for New Mexico families, please rest assured that I will continue working for programs that fight hunger.

A Drop-In Visit to Rep. Steve Pearce's Office
Since none of us was a constituent of Rep. Pearce, we did not have an appointment with his office.  So we decided to drop by to leave the same packet that we brought on all other visits.  Larry Buelow, one of the members of our delegation, said he knew someone who had worked for Rep. Pearce's office a long time ago and then left.  He wanted to know if the staff knew of his whereabouts.  When we asked about him, the receptionist said we just missed him by a few minutes! So this staffer was back (providing us for an opportunity to follow up on the packet, which we left for the aide who deals with nutrition programs for Rep. Pearce).

Local Visits
The reception and worship at the end of our long day on Capitol Hill do not mark the end of Lobby Day. We have to contact the congressional aides to thank them for meeting with us and to follow up on commitments and questions they posed during our meetings.  In New Mexico, we hope to follow up with visits to the local offices.  Stay tuned for more information. 

Farewell to Peacecraft, Our Fair Trade Store in Albuquerque

Picture from 2013 World Fair Trade Celebration

Farewell to Peacecraft. Albuquerque's original fair-trade store is closing its doors for good on Saturday, June 15, and that is a very sad development for our community. For nearly a quarter of a century, Peacecraft provided a place in Albuquerque's Nob Hill neighborhood for local residents to buy crafts, clothing, chocolates, coffee and other fair trade products.

Invitation to 2010 fundraiser

Peacecraft was more than just a store.  It offered the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for projects around the world. You might also remember Peacecraft for its bikes for Kenya fundraiser, the Feast for Change, the Fair Trade Trunk show, its 20th birthday celebration and its annual commemorations of World Fair Trade Day.  Some of these events were also linked to fundraisers for the organization at Scalo's and Brasserie La Provence.  But meals, silent auctions and speeches were not the only method by which Peacecraft raised money to keep its operations going.  There was also yoga, a palm-reading session, and a sale of donated jewelry.

The loss of Peacecraft leaves a huge void in our community, not only because some of the crafts makers, textile producers and coffee growers in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are losing an outlet to sell their goods, but also because folks in Albuquerque no longer have a place to acquire their products directly.  There are options online, of course, including Ten Thousand Villages, Partners for Just Trade  and the Global Exchange stores. And there is more than one outlet selling fair-trade coffee, including La Montanita Coop, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  And some churches like Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Albuquerque are promoting fair trade through special events like Just Market.

Before we say goodbye to Peacecraft for good, you are invited to a farewell party for our fair-trade store on Saturday, June 22, at Peacecraft, 3215 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, 7:00-10:00 p.m.   The party also celebrates the expansion of Maple Street Dance (which had been subleasing the back of the store) and also serves as a farewell gathering for Jim Neustel, Peacecraft's outgoing director.  You can join the party on Facebook.  "All are welcome whether you are part of the Peacecraft community, Maple Street, Nob Hill or friend," said Neustel. "Bring what you want to drink. There will be some snacks, but feel free to bring something to share. Please pass this along to others so no one gets left out."

Thanks for the memories, Peacecraft.  You will be missed here in Albuquerque and around the world.

Care Action Network Invites You to a Screening of Girl Rising on June 22 and June 23

How about dinner and a movie?  Or better yet, how about dinner, a movie, and a fundraiser for CARE?  The New Mexico chapter of the CARE Action Network (CAN), invites you to a local screening of the documentary Girl Rising on Saturday, June 22, at 123 Broadway Blvd. SE, at 6:30 p.m.  This fundraiser for CARE, which includes dinner and drinks, will only cost you $30.

But CARE not only needs your money, but your awareness about the Millennium Development Goals, particularly Goal 2 (Achieve Universal Primary Education) and Goal 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women).  So if you are unable to go to the Saturday fundraising dinner, you are urged to attend a free screening at the same location on Sunday, June 23, at 2:00 p.m.  

For more information contact Keith West-Harrison, CAN volunteer coordinator in New Mexico,  keithwestharrison@me.com

Check out this trailer of the movie, followed by more information about this wonderful documentary.



10×10 has partnered with CARE to build a global movement promoting girls' education centered on the feature film, Girl Rising.

Girl Rising spotlights the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change a girl – and the world. Many millions of girls face barriers to education that boys do not. We can help break those barriers by bringing global attention to the enormous benefits of educating girls. Your community is a great place to start.

The film spotlights unforgettable girls like Sokha, an orphan who rises from the dumps of Cambodia to become a star student and an accomplished dancer; Suma, who composes music to help her endure forced servitude in Nepal and today crusades to free others; and Ruksana, an Indian "pavement-dweller" whose father sacrifices his own basic needs for his daughter's dreams. Each girl is paired with a renowned writer from her native country. Edwidge Danticat, Sooni Taraporevala Aminatta Forna and others tell the girls' stories, each in it's style, and all with profound resonance.

These girls are each unique, but the obstacles they faced are ubiquitous. Like the 66 million girls around the world who dream of going to school, what Sokha, Suma, Ruksana and the rest want most is to be students: to learn. And now, And now, by sharing their personal journeys, they have become teachers. Watch Girl Rising, and you will see: One girl with courage is a revolution.

A Wayside Sacrament

Hot Lips Sage

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. 

Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

New Mexico Congressional Delegation Supports Initiatives that Benefit State's Farmers

While most of our attention is rightfully focused on what impact the budget reductions proposed in the 2013 Farm Bill will have on safety-net nutrition programs, there are a number of other issues related to this wide-ranging food-policy legislation that are also important.  Many of these issues deal with conservation, growers markets, and support for small farmers.  These issues have an impact on every one of the 50 states.  

So what is the impact on New Mexico? The New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council  has put together a great summary on legislative activities on the part of our elected officials from New Mexico in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives regarding this issues. The summary is posted below.  
 

By Clark de Schweinitz, Pam Roy, and Kathleen Gonzalez

Senator Martin Heinrich has co-sponsored amendment S.954 Food and Agriculture Market Development, Entrepreneurship, and Education introduced by Senator Brown (D-OH) that includes several great provisions:

Fixing the Community Food Project Competitive Grant Program language and increasing funding from $5 million to $10 million per year in mandatory funds

• Increasing the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program mandatory funding to $23.1 million in 2014 and $25.6 million for fiscal years 2015-18
• Increasing funding for Value Added Producer Grants from $12.5 million to $20 million per year
• Increasing funding for Farmers' Market and Local Food Promotion Grants from $20 million to $30 million; and loans for local food enterprises

If you are from outside New Mexico, please contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor this amendment.

In addition, Senator Heinrich is co-sponsoring amendments SA.1008 Food and Agriculture Market Development, Entrepreneurship and Education, and SA.1055 Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program and Veteran Producer Training.

Senator Tom Udall has taken the lead on numerous very important initiatives that would benefit New Mexico farmers and ranchers including co-sponsoring of amendments SA.1055 Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program and Veteran Producer Training and SA.1049 Irrigation Efficiency and Water Conservation. He is also working with Senator Whitehead on SA.1058 Conservation Payments for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

Congresswoman Michelle Lujan-Grisham has been working tirelessly to learn about the needs of New Mexico's agriculture community. She put her skills to good use on the House Agriculture Committee by co-sponsoring the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act and the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2013. She also took the lead on the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers amendment which did not pass the Agriculture Committee last week. Lujan-Grisham is also providing an important voice for the SNAP Education Program.

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan also co-sponsored the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act and continues to support many of our Farm Bill priorities.

For more information here are links to two summaries of of these and other Farm Bill amendments.. The first outlines amendments that match NMFAPC Priorities, the second lists amendments targeted by the Rural Coalition.
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In the meantime, Congress has started a week-long recess. It's not yet certain when the Senate will take up the Farm Bill again, though it could be as early as the week of June 3. Alternatively senators could wait until after they work on immigration reform, although our colleagues at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) say it seems increasingly likely that the the Senate will stay on the Farm Bill.

Which of the 75 Growers Markets in New Mexico Will You Attend This Summer? Let's Start with Cuba

Imagine buying your radishes and carrots and some apples and berries at a market located at St. Francis of Assisi Park.  A park with that name should bring you good karma, huh?  Where is this park located?  It's in Cuba, New Mexico (not to be confused with the island nation about 90 miles from Key West, Florida).  If you live in our state, chances are you know the approximate location of  the village of Cuba, which is a small community of about 740 residents, just north of Santa Fe and Los Alamos.

The Cuba Farmers Market (CFM) is one of about 75 sites in New Mexico where growers sell locally grown fresh produce. The  means New Mexicans from Raton to Farmington to Silver City to  Santa Fe to Albuquerque to Las Cruces to Portales (and points in between) have access to fresh fruits and vegetables during the late spring, summer, and early fall. Some of the markets in the southern end of the state are open through the late fall.  The Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market sells fruits and vegetables (in season,of course) year round. And at the University of New Mexico,, the Lobo Growers Market offers produce for sale every Wednesday during the fall semester. Most of the markets are open on Saturdays and use a park or a public space, although Santa Fe has a permanent site  making it a convenient place to gather for a rally).

The offerings in mid-May included radishes

Promoting Nutrition in Cuba
So with all these growers markets around, why am highlighting the one in Cuba? Three reasons:

1. I have never written a post about Cuba, located at the northern end of the Jemez Mountains.

2. A nutritionist friend of mine who does some of her fieldwork in Cuba mentioned the growers market is an important part of her work.

3. They have a Facebook page.

I could have easily highlighted any of the other 70-plus markets, but it's Cuba's turn.  And I am not the first to write about this market.  The Albuquerque based weekly newspaper The Alibi published a great article in 2011. 

As growers markets go, the CFM is among the youngest.  The  market started in 2010 as part of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Cuba project, funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant and administered by the University of New Mexico. The project’s goal is to improve the area’s public health through increased access to healthy food and exercise.

The produce sold at the market, which is open every Saturday from 9:00 a.m until Noon from May 18 through the end of October, is grown within a 40-mile radius of Cuba, and offerings change weekly along with the seasons. So, i f you live in or near Cuba, this is the place to be on Saturday mornings. "It is a great place to shop for and learn about fresh fruits and vegetables, get great tips and recipes straight from your grower and meet up with friends old and new," say organizers.

Growers markets come in all sorts of sizes.  The ones in small communities like Cuba have only a handful of stalls. But others in the major metropolitan areas of Las Cruces, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe have a wide range of offerings from the area farmers.  Regardless of size, they all have one thing in common: they  all receive support from  the New Mexico Farmers Markets Association.  Each market (at least those that are held on Saturday or Sunday) strives to make your shopping an enjoyable experience by offering entertainment, a venue to socialize and perhaps a place to grab an authentic New Mexico breakfast burrito.  Oh, and did I mention the bright colors and the enticing smells that greet you at each stall?

The 'New' Version of the Musical Lazarus to Debut in Washington

"One has risen from the dead, and rich Christians confess this at their table, and yet poor Lazarus, in millions, continues to hunger and to perish from hunger at their door.  The point of this parable is not, as is often suspected, the consoling pipe-dream of heaven for poor Lazarus.  It is addressed exclusively to the rich man.  It is not meant to console the poor with the hope of recompense beyond the grave, but to warn the rich of damnation and to incite them to hear and act in the world."  -Helmut Gollwitzer, from The Rich Christians and Poor Lazarus

I have been involved in Bread for the World for more than 30 years, and some of my best memories include attending a handful of performances of Lazarus, a musical written by Joel Underwood.  Joel served at Bread in many capacities (including director of church relations), but his musical based on Luke 16: 19-31 is part of the strong legacy he is leaving for our grassroots anti-hunger movement.  Louise F. Carlson and Sam V. Nickels arranged his music for Lazarus.

My experiences of Lazarus, include two very different but powerful interpretations of the musical. On two separate occasions, I had the privilege of watching a Gospel version of the play performed by a very talented cast at Mount Carmel Church of God in Christ in Kansas City, Kan.  Marie Frasure, who was part of the leadership team for Bread in the Kansas City area during the 1980s and 1990s and a member of  Mount Carmel, was the one who convinced the church's musical director Paul Sims to take on this endeavor.

The other adaptation of Lazarus that I attended (also twice) was  in the Albuquerque area, at Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church.  This was a much smaller but equally compelling version.  Rev. Kay Huggins, a Bread member and pastor of the church at the time, was the one who brought the play to our community.  By the way, Rev. Huggins was the flute player in the musical ensemble that accompanied the performance.

There have been  many other versions of Lazarus performed around the country over the years, including a one-person show by Harriet Harlow Larsen (with accompaniment by Lou Ann Rice).

Dr. Bill Cummings

2013 Revival at National Gathering
And in 2013, a revival of Lazarus is scheduled at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 8. The revival version, entitled Lazarus the Musical, will kick off Bread for the World's National Gathering this year.

This revival version keeps the lyrics and the tunes of the songs intact, but noted musical director Dr. Bill Cummings modernized and added a contemporary touch to the arrangements. The 2013 musical and production team also includes Emmy Award-winning producer and composer Rickey Payton; Glenn Pearson, musical director; April Carter, stage manager; and Felicia Kessel Crawley, vocal director and co-producer.

There is good news and bad news about the Washington performance.  The Good News the show is sold out.  While many of those in attendance are Bread for the World members participating in the National Gathering, there are many others from the Washington-Baltimore metro area who will experience this story in words and music. The Bad News: The show is sold out. 

Want a Healthy Garden? You Can Mimic the Forest Ecosystem

A large percentage of the residents of New Mexico live in a desert  But in the midst of our deserts, particularly the high deserts, there are mountain ranges that rise to high elevations.  And these mountains have dense alpine forests.  These forests, according to author and environmentalist Dave Jacke, can teach us a lot about managing our gardens.

Jacke, the primary author of the books Edible Forest Gardens, is a strong advocate of ecosystem agriculture, which intends to create food-producing habitats that mimic natural ecosystem properties, principles, patterns, and processes.  Here is description:

"Healthy forests maintain, fertilize, and renew themselves by their very nature. Wouldn’t you like an abundant food-producing ecosystem like that growing in your neighborhood or back yard? Edible forest gardens mimic the structure and function of forest ecosystems through all their stages of development and grow food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizers, ‘farmaceuticals,’ and fun."
 
A forest-mimic garden allows us to meet our own needs and regenerate healthy ecosystems at the same time. But you don’t need a forest to grow a forest garden—it’s about gardening LIKE the forest, not necessarily gardening IN the forest—you can mimic other ecosystems too, including prairies, meadows, savannahs, and so on. We could call this ecosystem agriculture."

If you're intrigued by this concept, then you're in luck.  Jacke is the featured presenter at a workshop in Santa Fe next weekend entitled Gardening Like the Forest: The Deep Ecology of Ecosystem Agriculture.  The cost of attending a talk by Jacke on Friday, May 31, is only $10.

This talk introduces the vision of forest gardening with some scientific background, a few living examples, and a sampling of useful perennial edibles you can use in your gardens. We’ll dive deeply into forest ecology, drawing implications for both garden design and the design of human social systems that we can apply to neighborhoods everywhere.

If you want to delve deeper into related issues during workshops on Saturday and Sunday, there is a bigger fee (more info. below).

Here is the schedule of events, which will be held at Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Ave (here is a map)
 
Friday, May 31  Evening public talk and panel discussion with Dave Jacke
Saturday, June 1: Workshops (9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Sunday, June 2:  Workshops (9:30 am. to 4:30 p.m.)
(The workshops are entitled Local Food Systems, Sustainable Tourism, Regenerative Agriculture, Zero Waste, Aboriginal Living Skills, Permaculture Boot Camp, Women's Gardener, Farmer and Rancher Training, and Gardening Like the Forest).

Admission to the talk on Friday is $10, and the registration fee for the Saturday and Sunday workshops is $175 each.  Click here to register.  A discounted rate of $300 is available for those who want to attend all three days

Dave Jacke has been a student of ecology and design since the 1970s, and has run his own ecological design firm—Dynamics Ecological Design—since 1984 (click here for a PDF of Dave’s resume). Dave is an engaging and passionate teacher of ecological design and permaculture, and a meticulous designer. He has consulted on, designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms, and communities in the many parts of the United States, as well as overseas, but mainly in the Northeast. A cofounder of Land Trust at Gap Mountain in Jaffrey, NH, he homesteaded there for a number of years. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Simon’s Rock College (1980) and a M.A. in Landscape Design from the Conway School of Landscape Design(1984). You may reach Dave by email at: davej@edibleforestgardens.com

Bugs, Hunger and Food (Part 4): Welcoming the Blue Orchard Bee (BOB)

(Editor's Note: This is the fourth and final segment of a series on the importance of insects in the fight against hunger  Part 1 and Part 2 examined the role of insects as sources of protein.  Parts 3 and 4 examine the very significant impact that insects have on food production.  In this piece, guest author Hank Bruce talks about the activities of bees in New Mexico and a project to introduce simple ways of beekeeping to young people in our state).

 By Hank Bruce

It all began when a friend of ours in Ojo Encino,  (on the Navajo Reservation), asked about some ways to attract pollinators to their fruit trees and gardens. We mention bees and some people reach for a spray can of poison, others think of the pictures of bee hives and the imported European honey bees. But they are under threat as a horrendous disease often called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) devastates the populations and our crops from apples in New York to almonds in California and a lot of commercial and family gardens and orchards between. This and the drought we are currently experiencing here in the southwest are creating shortage of bees.

When we plant our gardens, fruit trees and berries we are hoping to grow our own healthy fruit and vegetables. To be successful though, we need a few bugs to help us. What we really need are pollinators, including bees, some flies and moths, even bats and hummingbirds. but particularly bees. While everyone is thinking honey bees, we forget that New Mexico has over 500 species of native bees. But even their numbers are declining with the drought and pesticides. What this means is that when our fruit trees, berries, grapes and vegetables bloom, the flowers don’t get pollinated and the plants and trees don’t produce fruit. Making friends with bees is a good idea, and we can give them a helping hand. We discussed this problem with some of the students and teachers at the Ojo Encino day school and they spread the word to other schools. They decided to put out the welcome mat for a friendly native bee they call BOB, the Blue Orchard Bee. This can be a fun project that doesn’t take a lot of extra work and cost absolutely nothing.

Making Bees Welcome
Our native bees come in many sizes and shapes. Most of the honey bees were imported from Europe and need more care than the one designed by Mamma Nature to live here. Most of the native bees are solitary or “small town” bees rather than forming large hives or colonies with thousands of bees. For this school project we focused on BOB because she’s not aggressive but does work hard. Each BOB may visit over 60,000 flowers in its life span of about 3 months.

Home Sweet Home for this little blue bee isn’t a big complex condo apiary and their needs are simple.

1. Water - even desert bees like BOB get thirsty. One of the best ways to give them a drink is to put a small pan with stones in it on the ground near your garden or fruit trees, or some wild flowers. Then keep it filled with water when you are watering your plants or trees.

2. What’s for BOB’s dinner? These bees will need lots of flowers in bloom, both for them to eat and stored food for the baby bees while they are growing. This means both pollen and nectar, and that comes from the flowers on your trees, vegetables, rose bushes and New Mexico’s beautiful wild flowers. When we plant some flowering plants for the BOB everyone can enjoy the beauty. The native plants are a great idea because they are better able to handle the drought and an important role to play in the environment.

3. Planting a garden for BOB and BOB’s cousins. We have lots of trees blooming in the spring, but After they are done blooming BOB is still hungry. You can provide more snacks when you plant for the seasons.
Spring: choke cherries, sand plums, Willow, New Mexico Olive, scorpion weed, bladderpod, mustard and almost every other wild flower that blooms early in the spring.

Summer: Rocky Mountain beeplant, basil, blanketflower, clover, Mexican hat, Navajo tea, mint, rose and fernbush, sunflowers, globemallow, verbena,
Late summer - autumn: goldenrods, sunflowers, asters, rabbitbush, cosmos, daisies, sneezeweed
Plant where you want BOB to be. This means near the garden, fruit trees, water and nesting sites.

4. Mud - BOB’s like to play in the mud. They use the mud to make adobe walls between the spaces for each egg in the nests you are building for them. If you can provide a little mud near where your trees and plants are your BOB’s will be happy.

Nests for BOB’s kids

You can have fun making a home for BOB’s kids. And this can be a great family project. You will need a block of wood, a drill and some drill bits.

1. A piece of pine or fir wood about 6 to 8" thick is ideal. Do not use treated wood, cedar or redwood.
2. Drill holes like these in the block. The size can range from 3/32" to 5/8" and should be at least 5-6" deep.
3. You can make a back and roof like the one in this picture.
4. Some of the BOB experts say that singing the front of the nest box helps attract the bees.
5. Place your nest box on a wall where it is sheltered from strong wind or rain, near your fruit trees or garden.
Some students like to use pieces of logs, or scrap lumber and make the holes up to 8" deep.
  

But the favorite for the younger students is the Coffee Can Nursery. This is easy and provides opportunities to work together. It’s simply paper straws in a coffee can. This is what they did.

1.Start with a coffee can. Be creative and paint it and decorate it.

2. Now take some craft paper or recycled newspaper from home. Cut this paper into 5" x 5" squares. Roll the paper around a pencil and secure with a small piece of tape. These tubes should be between 1/4" and 5/8" in diameter. You will need enough tubes to fill the coffee can.

3. Secure the can to a wall or sheltered place near your fruit trees, berry plants or garden. It should be protected from strong wind or rain.

4. Put the tubes in the can and watch for BOB’s to visit and lay their eggs. Mama BOB will place some pollen and nectar in the tube, lay an egg, gather some mud to seal a space just big enough for a baby BOB. Then place more food, lay another egg and make another mud door. She will do this until the tube you made for her is filled with eggs, each in it’s own little space.

5. The baby BOB’s eggs will hatch in a couple weeks and eat the food Mama left for them. They they will form a cocoon and when they emerge they will visit the flowers on your plants plants, lay more eggs and the cycle continues.This is an example of a BOB nest made by students. On the right is a BOB nest made commercially for sale in garden centers, but, don’t you think it’s more fun to make your own. You can also use pieces of bamboo, reeds, cattail stems, and other materials for nests. Be creative and have fun inviting BOB to your garden.

(The author is a writer, horticultural therapist, advocate of sustainable gardening, anti-hunger activist, teacher and speaker from Rio Rancho, New Mexico.  Check out his Web Site, Horticultural Therapy with Hank Bruce)

A Quote from Pope Francis about Hunger

Image in Palomas, Mexico

Today, and it breaks my heart to say it, finding a homeless person who has died of cold, is not news. Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don't have food — that's not news. This is grave. We can't rest easy while things are this way.

-Pope Francis, in unscripted comments answering questions at a huge international gathering of Catholic associations in St. Peter's Square.

(via Sojourners Daily Verse and Voice for May 20)

Bugs, Hunger and Food (Part 3): A Useful Role in the Food Production Process

A couple of days ago, we posted about a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that looked at the role of insects in the food chain, including as a source of protein.  That was Part 1 of our series about the topic. In Part 2, we posted a video of  BBC TV host Stefan Gates at the stall that sells insects at the market in Bangkok.  

But insects are more than just food.  They play an important role in plant growth and in the food-production process.  Here is what the FAO report said about this topic:

Apatelodes Caterpillar via Wikimedia Commons (author Arbuck)

Insects deliver a host of ecological services fundamental to the survival of humankind. For instance, insects play an important role in plant reproduction . An estimated 100 000 pollinator species have been identified and almost all of these (98 percent) are insects (Ingram, Nabhan and Buchmann, 1996). Over 90 percent of the 250 000 flowering plant species depend on pollinators. This is also true for three-quarters of the 100 crop species that generate most of the world’s food (Ingram, Nabhan and Buchmann, 1996). Domesticated bees alone pollinate an estimated 15 percent of these species. The importance of this ecological service for agriculture and nature more generally is undisputed.

Insects play an equally vital role in waste biodegradation . Beetle larvae, flies, ants and termites clean up dead plant matter, breaking down organic matter until it is fit to be consumed by fungi and bacteria. In this way, the minerals and nutrients of dead organisms become readily available in the soil for uptake by plants. Animal carcasses, for example, are consumed by fly maggots and beetle larvae. Dung beetles – of which there are about 4 000 known species – also play a significant role in decomposing manure. They can colonize a dung heap within 24 hours, preventing flies from developing on them. If the dung remains on the soil surface, about 80 percent of the nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere; the presence of dung beetles, however, means carbon and minerals are recycled back to the soil, where they further decompose as humus for plant

A View From Squash Blossom Farms in Taos
In his blog .Around the World in Eighty Years,
New Mexico writer and photographer Jim O'Donnell wrote about his conversations with Ty and Gael Minton, owners of Squash Blossom Farms in Taos, New Mexico, about the role of insects in the pollination of plants.

Here are a few paragraphs from the piece entitled, "Community Supported Agriculture – Taos’ Squash Blossom Farms"

Near the greenhouse, Ty Minton found a big, fat fuzzy caterpillar and he wasn’t sure what, exactly, it was.

“I was so excited,” he said. “I ran inside, grabbed the iPad and raced back out here before it was gone. I spent quite awhile poring over pictures online, trying to match it up with the thing that was there in front of me.”

That’s a man truly in touch with the power of the pollinator.

“I couldn’t figure it out,” he said. “It had to be a friend though.”

That fact is that nearly 90 percent of all plant species need the help of animals to act as pollinators. About 75 percent of the crops grown world-wide for human consumption likewise depend on plant pollinators to propagate.

According to O'Donnell,  about one-fourth of the food we put in our mouth would not exist without pollinators. "The contribution pollinators make to our food resources and the economy is massive. It has been calculated that insect-pollinated foods were worth about $40 billion to the American economy in the year 2000," he said. 

This is a great article.  And here is the link to the full piece in his blog.  Or you can read the same article in The Taos News.