CELEBRATING HARVEST
Dinner marks 20th anniversary of Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust
The Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust is celebrating its 20th year.
Fundraisers such as the Harvest Dinner on Sunday, Sept. 17, have kept the organization running and helped educate the public on its conservation efforts from Sandoval County to Doña Ana County.
“A lot of it is grant writing, partnering, outreach to communities, collaborating with our different partners,” said Cecilia Rosacker, executive director of Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust. “We probably have over 100 partners that we’ve worked with over the years, and in the last five years we’ve been working with 51 partners on North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants, and those are grants for projects, conservation easement projects, restoration and enhancement projects on private and agency lands. … It’s pretty complex, but the bottom line is the fundraising goes to our capacity to continue to protect important conservation lands in the middle Rio Grande.”
The Harvest Dinner is a few years shy of 20 years, but Rosacker and Zinc’s executive chef, Chris Pope, have worked together on it since its inception, when Pope was the chef at Artichoke Cafe. Zinc’s sister locations Savoy and Seasons also participate in the Harvest Dinner.
“They are very strong partners and supportive of protecting local farms and agriculture in middle Rio Grande,” Rosacker said. “I also have a farm, so I’ve been selling to those restaurants for 20 years and trying to create an event where we could really showcase local products, and that’s when my work with the Land Trust (came in). (It) was like here’s the perfect way (for) people to experience the bounty of our farms. This is why we’ve been doing this Harvest Dinner that features all local food. Everything you put in your mouth is New Mexico farmed and from local businesses.”
The three restaurants will each serve two appetizers during the reception hour. Two bars will serve beer and wine from locals Sidetrack Brewing Co., Sheehan Winery and others. A long-table, family-style, sitdown dinner will follow the reception. There will be a salad course, a course featuring grass-fed beef from Ranney Ranch, near Corona, N.M., and a pork course featuring local pork by Mark Cortner. Vegetarian options are available. Dessert will be served.
This is the second time the Harvest Dinner has been held at the historic Gutierrez-Hubbell House in Bernalillo County’s South Valley.
“It really exemplifies what our organization works to protect,” Rosacker said. “The Hubbell House is a Bernalillo County open space, and it is a historic farm. There is still agriculture happening at the Hubbell House. … It really connects our attendees to what we are working for. Protecting agricultural land not only protects the land and the water, but it also protects traditional communities and our historic culture.”