Designing a New Agrarian Settlement
Last week, I worked with
members of our 12-mile long irrigation ditch, inspecting a concrete
siphon that moves water along a cliff. Large falling rocks have
weakened the structure and we were assessing for repairs before we
reopen the ditch in May.
After the inspection, I walked a 3-mile section of the ditch checking for obstructions from trees knocked down by the recent storms. Along the way, I ran into Oscar, David and Nick, all small farmers in their 60’s, born and raised in the area. They were taking measurements for the repair of a Desague (relief gate). Nick turned to me and said: “that’s it, after we’re gone, there’s nobody to do this. The young people are all gone. They all want to be in the city getting big salaries. You can’t make money farming anymore.”
This summarizes where small family agriculture has gone in our region, and why so many rural communities have fallen into disrepair, with old folks still holding on to land but getting too old to farm. Growing hay and raising a few cattle is all they can do. A lot of hay grown in New Mexico is shipped to dairy farms in Texas. According to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture 98% of New Mexico’s cattle are sent out of state for processing and 97% of our agricultural products leave the state, but the state in turn imports more than $4 billion in food products annually.
Mil Abrazos' interest, and that of many people in New Mexico, is to reclaim farmland for local food production, revitalize rural communities, inspire and support young people to return to the land and develop a resilient food system.
For those of you interested in how to participate in the next steps of the Mil Abrazos project, take a look at the topics that will be explored to design this project. MASTER PLAN DESIGN FOR A NEW AGRARIAN SETTLEMENT.
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