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By Allison Cekala - intern
 This week, a few of us from the Seeds of Change Farm will be heading up the high road to Taos into the secluded mountaintop communities of Peñasco and the Picuris Pueblo, where the snow has long since melted and the rich soil is tilled and ready for crops. There, a group high school-aged future farmers will await us with shovels and pitchforks, ready to plant and seed this season's crops for the first official day of Project G.R.O.W., a summer-long organic food donation and education program we are implementing in partnership with the Picuris-Peñasco Community Coalition to encourage local food security.
Last year, Seeds of Change formed a relationship with the Picuris-Peñasco community, a community, like many, struggling with rising food prices and the challenging economy. Historically the region has had a strong agricultural tradition, but over the last 30 years or so, the practice of farming has slowly been lost. This, coupled with the recent closure of the only area grocery store, has created a real need for food in the area. Last season, Seeds of Change, in partnership with the Picuris-Peñasco Community Coalition, established a free produce distribution program for sixty families from the Picuris Pueblo and the 15 villages in the Peñasco school district. The fresh, organic produce, grown at our Research Farm benefited the community greatly, complemented by the program's added educational components of farm visits and the dissemination of information on the nutritional and economic importance of local, organic food.
Seeds of Change, thrilled with overwhelmingly positive response to last year's food distribution program, is now funding an expanded program with the Picuris-Peñasco community. The newly-designated Project G.R.O.W. (Growing Roots of Wellness) is a being partially supported by the Seeds of Change 1% Fund - wherein one percent of all sales are donated to sustainable food initiatives, in this case, right in our backyard. The expanded project adds local youth and local farm plots for more food and more community involvement, more than doubling the amount of families served to 150. Five high-school interns and one community-member coordinator have been hired for the project to be the backbone of the farm labor force and distribution events, providing job training and exposing these youth to traditional and organic agricultural practices, allowing them to experience farming from seed to plate, while developing an understanding for the need for sustainable food systems in the greater community.
We are anticipating great things for Project G.R.O.W., planting many seeds (both literally and figuratively). We hope for abundant growth of our crops, nourishing growth within the community, self-growth and discovery within our interns, and possibly, hopefully, economic growth in the Peñasco region of northern New Mexico, inspiring a revival of local agriculture as a means to provide regional food security.
More updates to come! Stay tuned...
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