Raíces Sagradas Farm held its grand opening Saturday in Albuquerque's South Valley at 1925 Citation Street, bringing greenhouses, workforce training and a renewed push for local food production to a neighborhood that has long depended on agriculture. The event ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to lacosechanm.org, which describes the project as an in-development organic, regenerative urban demonstration farm.
The community-led farm has a focus on food independence, Indigenous agriculture and climate resilience, as reported by krqe.com. Agri-Cultura Network President Richard Moore told the station the goal is straightforward: “We are helping to provide a network that is working with the people and providing quality produce for our people in the neighborhoods.” KOB 4 reports that Agri-Cultura Network leaders said the project aims to grow food and support agriculture education throughout the South Valley.
From Illegal Dump Site to Working Farm
Per KOB 4's reporting, Helga Garza said the dream for the farm began back in 2007, when the location was an illegal dump site. Nearly two decades later, that same ground has become a community farm, according to the station's account. Garza said the project addresses community needs and helps sustain the South Valley's agricultural knowledge and production as it passes between generations, KOB 4 reported.
Neighbors in the area want to preserve that farming tradition and pass it along to younger generations, per the same KOB 4 report. JoseLuis Ortiz y Muniz, who has a 10-year-old daughter, said a space like this farm helps develop the next generation of farmers. He added that teaching his daughter about fresh food and healthier eating benefits his whole family, the station noted.
Greenhouses and Workforce Training
Raíces Sagradas plans to fully operate two greenhouses for year-round produce production, according to lacosechanm.org. KOB 4's reporting similarly describes the farm as including two greenhouses built for both year-round growing and future farmer education. The krqe.com report adds that the farm will double as a hands-on workforce training space, allowing seasoned growers to inspire new generations of farmers.
Shannon Jacques said young people have lost some of their excitement about farm-to-table work and backyard gardening, according to KOB 4. She also said agriculture needs more engineers going forward, including those focused on water and hydrology, the station reported. KOB 4 noted that New Mexico is losing its farmer community and family farm heritage more broadly — a concern the project's organizers are directly trying to address.
A Network of 73 Farmers
Project organizers are working with 73 small-scale farmers and ranchers to improve access to fresh, locally grown food, per KOB 4's reporting. Agri-Cultura Network describes itself on its own site as a collective of 73 small-scale farmers and ranchers from 14 different New Mexico counties, serving 21 schools, nine senior centers, retail businesses and hospitals throughout the state, according to agri-cultura.org.
The farm is designed to produce local food and model community-based responses to the climate challenges affecting food production, lacosechanm.org states. Families can use SNAP benefits to buy organic produce at the farm, KOB 4 reported. More broadly, New Mexico's Double Up Food Bucks program matches SNAP-EBT dollars spent on New Mexico-grown fruits and vegetables, according to doubleupnm.org, which notes that anyone receiving SNAP benefits is automatically eligible without needing to sign up. At participating farmers' markets, customers receive $2 in Double Up Food Bucks for every $2 of SNAP benefits they spend, the site states; the New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association launched the program back in 2010 using federal stimulus funding from the New Mexico Human Services Department.
A Shrinking Farming Landscape
The new farm arrives as New Mexico's agricultural base keeps contracting. The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture found the state had just under 21,000 farms, a 16% decline since the 2017 census, according to krqe.com's review of the data. The state also lost about 1.5 million acres dedicated to farming and related activities over that same five-year span, the outlet reported, and the number of farms smaller than 10 acres fell from 8,554 in 2017 to 6,934 in 2022. Nationwide, the total number of farms and ranches dropped 7% to about 1.9 million over the same period, even as average farm size and total agricultural-product value ticked up slightly, per krqe.com.
Even so, average per-farm income from farm-related sources in New Mexico rose from $19,449 to $30,795, according to the same krqe.com analysis. The challenge of bringing in new growers is generational as much as financial: the average age of New Mexico farmers is nearly 61, two years older than the national average, according to santafenewmexican.com. Only 2,666 of the state's more than 37,000 agricultural producers — a little over 7% — are 35 or younger, the paper reported, and the barriers to entry are steep: farmland can run $40,000 to $50,000 per acre, and a new tractor alone can cost a few hundred thousand dollars.
