Interview with Fidel Gonzalez by Sue Brown

Our co-operative work began 14 years ago in northern New Mexico, supported by funding from the American Friends Service Committee. Juan Bustos organized small groups of farmers there and the model spread. Now in the mid Rio Grande, we have a co-op with five major farmers making decisions and a 501 C3 with a board of directors. We have allied farmers who sell through us and employees called the Green Team. They work out of the South Valley Economic Development Center, washing and packaging fruits and veggies and checking for quality.

Part of our financial plan is to sell boxes through our community-supported agriculture (CSA). We hope to sell over 300 boxes this year. We deliver them to various locations in the area. You can go to our website and look under La Cosecha to order. We also sell at farmers’ markets in the area.

A big problem for small farmers is how to have a year-round income. We raise veggies in winter in our solar cold frames, so our network needs a year-round market. We hope this can happen soon.

For more on the Agri-Cultura Network, see their website at https://www.agri-cultura.org/. La Cosecha CSA is at https://www.agri-cultura.org/la-cosecha-csa.