New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Hope for 2018-- from the Bottom Up in New Mexico

Need to revive hope in the New Year?   Here are a few of the New Mexico solutions featured in my new book,  Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico. I will be talking about others Jan. 13 1-3 at the Los Poblanos Farm Store, 4803 Rio Grande Blvd. in Albuquerque. 

Solution #1: A service corps for young people to provide training in outdoor occupations, a sense of stewardship for New Mexico’s public lands and a leg up to further education.

Solution #2: A farmers market located outside a primary health clinic to offer low-income mothers fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms at affordable prices.

Solution #3: A community land trust to provide affordable housing, preserve a traditional neighborhood, and clean up an old industrial wasteland.

Solution #4: Tele-conferencing to bring the expertise of medical specialists to rural areas and address chronic diseases and opiod addictions.

Solution #5: A new type of experiential museum for all ages that is breaking the traditional mold and creating jobs for young artists.

Solution #6: A small factory that provides quality, on-site childcare for its employees at 25 cents per hour.

Solution #7: A civics program that gives kids a real-world opportunity to write a bill and lobby it through the legislature.

Solution #8: A medical residency program that encourages—rather than discourages—budding health care providers to locate in remote rural areas.

Solution #9: A fire department whose EMTs help 911 callers find services and solve problems rather than just taking them to the emergency room.

Solution #10: A program that matches the savings of low-income families if they take a financial literacy course and use the money for school, a small business or a home.

These are only ten reasons to have hope in the New Year —look around your community for the problem solvers, or just read my book, available through me www.dedefeldman.com/another, at Amazon (including Kindle) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999586408, Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/another-way-forward-dede-feldman/1127525590;jsessionid=E807877B1B77494C2FA174B10F926C74.prodny_store02-atgap05?ean=9780999586402 or BookWorks, where I’ll be having an event Feb. 1. at 6 pm. 

For Thanksgiving: Gracias a la Vida

 

Download 13 Gracias a la Vida

It is worth listening to this classic again, and remembering how much we have to be thankful for.  

 

2009 Local Food Festival and Field Day - Come Y'all

2009 Local Food Festival and Field Day
A celebration of food from the ground up
Saturday May 16th
12:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Gutierrez-Hubbell House and Demonstration Farm
6029 Isleta Boulevard, SW

Come and enjoy the 2009 Local Food Festival and Field Day, at the Hubbell House in Albuquerque’s South Valley.   Among the many things you’ll get to do:

• Taste locally grown foods prepared by chefs from Zinc, Nob Hill Bar and Grill, Slate Street Café and Los Poblanos Inn
• Find out why composting is fun!
• Discover the health benefits of grass-fed beef
• Meet the people who grow local food and purchase some fresh spring produce
• Find out what’s so important about bees
• Come early and participate in the blessing of the ditches and the celebration of San Ysidro, the patron saint of agriculture.

Pet a chicken, feed a goat, listen to live music, and just enjoy the beauty of one of New Mexico’s historic treasures!

“The Local Food Festival and Field Day is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate why we want to keep our local New Mexico farmers farming”, says Lawrence Rael, Executive Director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments. “That in turn keeps our lands in agricultural production, our valleys green and our open spaces intact.  This Saturday’s event will be a great event for the whole family.”

The event is organized and sponsored by the Mid-Region Council of Governments’ Agriculture Collaborative and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.  For more information, contact the Agriculture Collaborative at 724-3619 or [email protected].  Also, check out www.localfoodnm.org.

The festival is free and open to the public and celebrates local agriculture and our food shed.