THE WAY WE EAT

Santa Fe grocery shoppers are an altogether different animal from residents of Albuquerque and Gallup, or even the rest of the country, according to Jennifer Knapp, produce buyer for La Montañita Co-op. They are more educated, more inquisitive, and more careful about what they put in their carts. This Thanksgiving weekend,

Pasatiempo’s food writers asked a few hard questions about the way we eat.

To get the lay of the food landscape in Northern New Mexico — and to get to know the people who are carrying out new (and also ancient ideas) with our future in mind, we delved into a few special topics. Since 2010, more than 400 seed libraries have opened across the United States. How does New Mexico fit into that movement? What is food security, what is a food desert, and how do those terms pertain to norteños? How local is our “really local” beer? How do we practice sustainable, responsible, and healthy meat eating, even on a budget? What is a genetically modified organism (GMO), and how might it affect our health? If a head of broccoli grown locally is not certified organic, will it still taste better than its big-agriculture alternative? Can we take advantage of food waste in order to feed the hungry?

We may not have all the answers. But we’re asking the right questions, examining the challenges facing local consumers, and searching for bright and innovative solutions. After all, we’ve all got to eat.