Local, healthy, fresh, clean, affordable food

Self-fed by 2030 sounds expensive. Our seasons only support outdoor growing half of the year. If we are to feed ourselves the whole year, it will mean infrastructure. Infrastructure is a dollar sign and a number with a lot of zeros following.

A large infrastructure project takes investment capital, for sure, but up front, it demands an investment of attention and focus. Planning for future abundance demands we budget more of our time for action on local food.

When we spend millions on projects that are non-renewable, we likely suffer a loss. But if, in our funding choices, preference is given to programs that are productive and renewable, our investments will likely pay out dividends. We win.

Green infrastructure is renewable by definition and so not a single cent we will spend should be automatically written off as a loss. Green infrastructure is not like other spending. It’s a win-win. Self-fed economies are profitable because money keeps recirculating inside the community instead of escaping.

How many jobs are created if Taos decides to be self-fed?

I have no idea what it will cost. I’m interested in what we’ll gain.

What about if we’re only talking about pork? How many pigs, how many farms, how many jobs? How much pork do we consume every year as a county?

I know I sound like a politician. I’m running for the District 3 county commissioner seat. That’s why I’m using my “we” voice.

We the people of Taos. We eat a lot of pork. How many pig farms would we need to cover our pork needs? The nice thing about investing in pigs is that pigs make pigs, litters of them. That’s great math.

I’m mostly vegan. I’m no spokesman for swine. But, I can’t help noticing that we consume our fair share of pork products. I’m not oblivious to the sweet smell of morning bacon in the air.

I think if we determined to produce our own pork here, it might add 1,000 well-paid jobs to our economy. Self-fed by 2030 should be considered as a jobs program.

If we stay thinking on pigs, behavioral changes we can enact become apparent.

Most of you reading have mentally noted that feeding all those pigs won’t be cheap. And pork’s pretty cheap, neatly packaged and effortless at the store.

I’m for enacting policy changes like tax-free farming and surplus purchase guarantees to address issues of cost and pricing. But, we the people have more power than any legislation. Producing our own pork suggests behaviors we’d want to adopt to address cost and pricing in concert with beneficial policy reforms.

If there are pig farms distributed throughout the county, it would make sense for household compost (kitchen scraps, etc.) to go to feeding pigs at the closest farm. Households would separate out what is compost for farms from what is trash for the dump. One farm job would be picking up all this compost for pig feed.

There’s no pork on my fork, no swine in my brine, yet still, I’m interested to know how many pounds of pork we consume in Taos each year as a community. Then, we can talk how much of a capital investment we might need.

Self-fed by 2030 isn’t a bottomless pit we throw money into and it isn’t a wrecking ball either. It would allow every experience to include local, healthy, fresh, clean, affordable food.

No cherished event in our communal lives is threatened by the proposition that we’ll have the infrastructure and capacity to feed ourselves.

Taos Feeds Taos is perhaps one our greatest annual gatherings, 37 years on our calendar. Over the holidays, more than a thousand hams are distributed. If we become self-fed regarding our pork intake, the hams will be local. Self-fed by 2030 would enhance the experience.

Self-fed by 2030’s success is a matter of intention. It starts with budgeting our attention differently, paying more attention to local food systems, committing to behavioral flexibility, etc.

Is Self-fed by 2030 possible?

We built a bridge over the gorge. Pablito Trujillo, who served three terms as Taos County Commissioner and who was the lead engineer on the Gorge Bridge construction, now in his mid-80s, smiles, eyes twinkling, as he talks about the grand impossibility of it all. And how much focus the enterprise demanded. Everything grand is impossible until people decide it must be done.