{"id":79060,"date":"2015-09-03T19:44:16","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T01:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=79060"},"modified":"2015-09-08T10:30:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-08T16:30:43","slug":"in-search-of-the-great-new-mexico-chile-pepper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/09\/in-search-of-the-great-new-mexico-chile-pepper\/","title":{"rendered":"In search of the great New Mexico chile pepper"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_79065\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-79065\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers-771x485.jpg\" alt=\"There are thousands of varieties of chile peppers grown across the world, like this chile growing at the organic farm, The No Cattle Company, in The Mimbres Valley.\" width=\"771\" height=\"485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers-771x485.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers-336x211.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers-1170x736.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Chile_peppers.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robert Yee \/ New Mexico State University<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">There are thousands of varieties of chile peppers grown across the world, including\u00a0this chile growing at the organic farm, The No Cattle Company, in The Mimbres Valley in Southwestern New Mexico.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It was one of those splendid cruises up Highway 26 and around the Mesilla Valley south of Las Cruces. A hot summer day and Mexican radio 106.7 FM from Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez was jumping with classic rock and ska-Panteon Rococo, Lynyrd Skynyrd and CCR\u2019s \u201cGreen River.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The music crackled and the acequias flowed in a lazy sweet rhythm as the car glided by tall rows of corn, clipped clumps of hay, sleek horses, dark pecan forests and sprouting bundles of cotton, in and around Anthony, Berino, La Mesa, San Miguel, San Pablo, and Mesilla.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story was produced by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/frontera.nmsu.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Frontera NorteSur<\/a>,\u00a0a U.S.-Mexico border news service run by the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>But something was missing, something was very odd that summer day of 2015. Not a single field of chile was readily observed.<\/p>\n<p>Decades ago, when this reporter began covering the Paso del Norte borderland, this patch of Do\u00f1a Ana County was Chile Country. Hundreds of acres of the hot stuff stretched far and wide under the New Mexican sun, filling buckets lugged by seasonal and immigrant workers that soothed the palates of consumers in the Land of Enchantment and far beyond.<\/p>\n<p>La Mesa was the scene of the historic 1992 strike by the El Paso-based Border Agricultural Workers Union (UTAF) that demanded better pay and working conditions for the overwhelmingly Mexicano chile pickers.<\/p>\n<p>More than two decades later, Carlos Marentes, director of the Border Agricultural Workers Center in El Paso and leader of the \u201992 strike, mused about the changing landscape of the once booming New Mexico chile industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsumption isn\u2019t declining. It\u2019s not that people are eating less chile; they\u2019re eating more,\u201d Marentes told Frontera NorteSur.<\/p>\n<p>The difference between now and then, he says, rests with the increased globalization of the chile industry as well as the greater role of financial and speculative capital in the world economy. Just as the Florida orange is but one ingredient of a global industry, so is New Mexico chile, according to the longtime farm labor activist.<\/p>\n<p>Visually, change is evident in places like the New Mexico-Texas border town of La Union, where Marentes says big houses have replaced old chile fields.<\/p>\n<p>Priscilla Garcia, program assistant for the La Semilla Food Center Community Farm in Anthony,\u00a0also has noticed \u201ca large change\u201d in local land usage during the past 15 years or so, with more parcels developed for housing or simply left untilled.<\/p>\n<p>In 1992, the year before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved, 34,500 acres of chile were harvested in New Mexico. That harvest remains the high point for a crop that is not only an economic driver but a cultural icon of the Land of Enchantment. Since then, it\u2019s been mostly downhill for chile.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The decline was especially notable during the drought-worn, post-2009 years, when less than 10,000 acres were annually harvested. The stunning news that 2013\u2019s harvest of 8,600 acres was the lowest since 1973 was beat out a year later when only 7,700 acres of peppers were pulled from the New Mexican land.<\/p>\n<p>Tagged at $38,695,000, the farm-gate value of the 2014 crop was much lower than in 2013 when chile earned state farmers $49.5 million. In 2012\u00a0chile fetched growers $65.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s National Agriculture Statistics Service.<\/p>\n<p>In the chile hierarchy, workers have been the hardest hit. Marentes challenged some growers\u2019 assertions that there wasn\u2019t enough labor. \u201cThere\u2019s a contradiction,\u201d he said. \u201cWorkers are saying there isn\u2019t work, and in the media farmers are saying there aren\u2019t enough workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chile Industry participants and observers cite many reasons for the misfortunes of the New Mexico chile pepper, including drought, plant diseases and pest infestations, underhanded competition from sellers of fake New Mexico chile, and labor shortages caused by restrictive immigration policies.<\/p>\n<p>But a primary reason goes by five fat letters \u2013 NAFTA \u2013 as well as other free-trade inspired agreements with chile-producing nations that have far lower labor costs and less environmental controls.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, New Mexico Business Weekly cited United States Department of Agriculture statistics several years ago in reporting that U.S. chile pepper imports soared from 417 million pounds in 1999 to more than one billion pounds by 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Back in the days of the Great Chile Boom, some old timers and insiders suggested that the state industry had gotten too big too fast, evoking a wasteful monoculture, and was burning up lands that should be carefully rotated with different crops. Now, however, the trend has arguably gone in the opposite extreme.<\/p>\n<h3>In Hatch, \u2018selling more and more chile\u2019 every year<\/h3>\n<p>Chile hounds searching for the vaunted pepper will still have better luck in the Hatch Valley straddling Do\u00f1a Ana and Sierra counties north of Las Cruces.<\/p>\n<p>As the August harvest picked up, a valley nourished by the Rio Grande bustled\u00a0with workers dumping hand-picked pods into field crates, trucks hauling chile to packers and processors and metal roasters scenting the air with an unmistakable New Mexican aroma. Down valley back roads deep green fields streaked with red beckoned the sun and rain clouds.<\/p>\n<p>Located\u00a0in downtown Hatch, the Atencio family\u2019s Hatch Chile Sales is one center of the action. There shoppers will find fresh sacks of green in the 38-42 lb. range, dried green and chipotle chile, bags of red chile powder and other goodies. On a recent day, a roaster exuding pungent smells kept the ambiance true to the season.<\/p>\n<p>A couple from California, Raul and Norma Martinez, loaded the bed of a pickup and a small U-Haul trailer with dozens of sacks of green chile destined for the West Coast.<\/p>\n<p>Originally from Silver City, Raul Martinez said the chile was for a \u201cbig roasting party\u201d a neighbor was planning in the Golden State.\u00a0Hatch Chile Sales helper Edward Martinez chimed in, saying his sister and her husband were contemplating a roasting venture this year farther up the coast in the state of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>As the \u00e9migr\u00e9s show time and time again, you can take a New Mexican out of New Mexico but you can\u2019t take the chile out of the New Mexican.<\/p>\n<p>Now 41, Pete Atencio has grown up with chile. According to the farmer-seller, the number of retail roasting operations in his small town has grown from two in 1986 to 14 today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year we seem to be selling more and more chile,\u201d Atencio said. Raising a \u201chealthy stand\u201d of peppers with \u201coptimum yields\u201d is the perennial challenge, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Atencio has not seen one of the experimental green chile harvesting machines that some view as a solution to labor issues. \u201cIs there such a thing as a green chile picking machine?\u201d he asked the reporter.<\/p>\n<p>While the New Mexico chile industry is merely one cog in a global chile machine run by international trade regimes, it is nevertheless a local and regional endeavor whose future survival might be found in the direct farmer to consumer exchanges at places like Hatch Chile Sales or in other niche markets.<\/p>\n<p>Geographically, Gilbert \u201cGilly\u201d Pino has carved out an enviable spot on the edge of Hatch. The 66-year-old\u2019s Hatch Valley Chile Company is the first business on the right travelers see when descending into the town from Interstate 25.<\/p>\n<p>Rhyming with \u201cGilly\u201d, the self-proclaimed \u201cKing of Chile\u201d does not grow chile himself but specializes in peddling salsa and dried peppers, hawking fresh produce and, of course, roasting green chile. Dripping with ideas, Pino plans to open a taco bar-style restaurant soon at his storefront, which is located near the willows of the Rio Grande and across from a cotton field.<\/p>\n<p>A folksy man who raises peacocks, spouts racy jokes and hangs a R.C. Gorman painting and other colorful potpourri on his store\u2019s walls, Pino is from a big northern New Mexico family that wound up in Hatch decades ago because of the railroad, a career path he followed his father in pursuing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho would want to quit a $50-per-hour job to go into chile?\u201d Pino quipped with a grin. In a lengthy conversation with FNS, Pino waxed philosophical about religion, delved into family history, detailed the differences between Arizona and New Mexico chiles and assessed the latest varieties coming onto the market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, God blessed me with a business that is so good for you,\u201d Pino insisted. \u201cIt\u2019s so addictive and it\u2019s so legal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hatch\u2019s chile king was outspoken on a matter that stirred controversy in the Land of Enchantment this summer:\u00a0Whole Foods, the corporate natural foods giant that was recently in trouble for systematically overcharging customers, announced it will use Colorado-grown chile for a good portion of its store sales.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ll never compete with Hatch,\u201d Pino growled. We got a longer growing season than anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>More water, but other problems<\/h3>\n<p>In New Mexico, chile always brings surprises. While more water has been available to farmers this year in comparison with the past several ones, the changing climate appears to be playing other tricks.<\/p>\n<p>This year some growers are watching their green chile turn a mature red earlier than usual, a phenomenon that is causing problems in the harvest schedule.<\/p>\n<p>As field hands finished a hard day at a field south of Hatch, forewoman Angela Mora said she was surprised at the early reddening of the 2015 crop. \u201cIt\u2019s unusual. I told my boss it\u2019s turning red,\u201d Mora said. \u201cI\u2019m barely making my green\u2026 everything is going red.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>La Semilla\u2019s Community Farm in Anthony also experienced an early-maturing crop. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait for (green chile) to get bigger because it\u2019s turning red,\u201d La Semilla Food Center co-founder Cristina Dominguez-Eshelman told FNS while she staffed her organization\u2019s sales booth on a\u00a0Saturday\u00a0morning at El Paso\u2019s Downtown Artist and Farmers Market in Union Plaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would leave them on longer in hopes they would get bigger, but they would turn red,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Since green chile usually provides two pickings, an early stand of red threatens income for growers and workers.<\/p>\n<p>FNS contacted Jeff Anderson, agronomy and horticulture agent for the Do\u00f1a Ana County Cooperative Extension Service, for insights on the early red crop. Anderson said he had not yet heard about the problem, but did not doubt that early ripening was occurring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll my fruit trees have ripened early this year,\u201d Anderson said, listing pears, apples and apricots. \u201cI\u2019ve had fruit that has ripened earlier, and it probably has a lot to do with our temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anderson said he would need to consult with New Mexico State University\u2019s vegetable specialist for more precise information about the early maturing in chile, but added that hotter weather could produce plant stress and early ripening. Another reason could be from not enough fertility and water in the soil, he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Anderson, southern New Mexico had a late spring followed by a \u201cfast warm-up.\u201d\u00a0Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s extension agent said the public has an opportunity to ask about early red as well as other chile matters at New Mexico State\u2019s upcoming annual <a href=\"http:\/\/newscenter.nmsu.edu\/Articles\/view\/11327\/nmsu-to-host-chile-field-day-in-las-cruces-in-september\" target=\"_blank\">Chile Field Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cWhat does it mean to live and grow up in this region?\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>In so many ways, chile is inextricably linked to New Mexico\u2019s past, present and future-economically, socially, culturally and environmentally.<\/p>\n<p>Cristina Dominguez-Eshelman and Priscilla Garcia of the non-profit La Semilla Food Center describe chile as an essential element of biodiversity, a cultural binder of generations and transmitter of values, a potentially resilient adapter to climate change, and a template for labor and food justice issues. The pepper, they said, was the soul food of New Mexico. For La Semilla, chile is one piece of a diversified operation of vegetables and cover crops.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we only grew chile we couldn\u2019t compete with those large-scale growers,\u201d she said. \u201cWe try to be strategic in our decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A huge part of La Semilla\u2019s mission is working with youth, and chile is part of the curriculum.\u00a0According to Garcia, \u201cWhenever (young people) are interested in a new recipe they ask, \u2018Where is the chile?&#8230; It\u2019s a comforting thing when they have their chile.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Added Dominguez- Eshelman: \u201cI grew up here and didn\u2019t grow up eating kale.\u201d The Mesilla Valley growers regard chile almost as a \u201cgateway\u201d food that can inspire local interest in other, less familiar foods like kale when mixed into the recipe.<br \/>\nDespite the troubles swirling around New Mexico chile, some newcomers to the business are taking the plunge. Oscar Gutierrez, a part-time grower in Anthony, is harvesting his first batch of peppers this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very satisfied with my crop. It was my better crop this year compared with the sweet corn or squash,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nThe Anthony farmer expressed pleasure at getting up to five pickings from his crop of New Mexico, poblano and habanero chiles. Gutierrez, who works as the Latin America sales rep for an electronics manufacturer with plants in nearby Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, acquired land in Anthony six years ago and began growing alfalfa. He\u2019s now making a transition to organic vegetable farming with the assistance of New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n<p>For his first crop, Gutierrez found buyers locally, in Las Cruces and in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be able to find niche markets and grow what nobody else is growing,\u201d Gutierrez said in a phone interview.<br \/>\nAs a new chile farmer, Gutierrez said he had \u201cno reference\u201d to judge whether the chile that he planted in April and which started turning red a few weeks ago matured too early.<\/p>\n<p>In any event, Gutierrez said he was flexible in terms of green and red, even tilting towards the latter. \u201cI don\u2019t have a big issue. I\u2019d prefer the red,\u201d he added. Asked whether he would plant chile again, Gutierrez didn\u2019t hesitate in retorting \u201cabsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The myriad issues surrounding 21st century New Mexico chile- climate change, water, labor or international economics- symbolize broader issues influencing our place and our time.\u00a0As Cristina Dominguez-Eshelman posits, chile provides an opportunity to ponder an important question: \u201cWhat does it mean to live and grow up in this region?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1992, 34,500 acres of chile were harvested in New Mexico. That remains the high point for a crop that is not only an economic driver but a cultural icon of the Land of Enchantment. Since then, it\u2019s been mostly downhill for chile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2732,"featured_media":79065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1190,115,118],"class_list":["post-79060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-agriculture","tag-dona-ana-county","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2732"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}