Ilsa and Rey Garduno Agroecology Center

CURRENT COORDINATION – 2021:

• Food Forest is in the process of being planted. The planning process went through the winter and early spring, planting has been ongoing.
• Youth Programming has still been occurring over the last two summers (2020 – 2021). It was through a limited capacity in 2020 and expanded further this summer.
• Project Feed the Hood (PFH) has expanded into use of the full acre since becoming a partner and the focus has been placed on soil remediation.
  – Successfully had internships without Covid scares
  – Created new Garden Manager Position
  – Created capacity to hire two Youth to work pre and post internship
• PFH continues to produce thousands of pounds of produce that it gives away to the surrounding community. Current Goals include:
  – 1/2 acre scale production is the goal for next year (2022)
  – Youth Summer Programming is shifting to include more youth voice.
  – Base building as a focus of current work.

Project Highlights – 2019/2020:

• The Agroecology Center is managed by Project Feed the Hood (PFH) and is leased from the City of Albuquerque Aviation Dept. PFH is a food literacy and community gardening initiative of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP). PFH’s work focuses on improving community health through education and traditional growing practices.
• The garden was operated in the past by Dr. Hilliard and was ran as part of Project Share.
• The site has access to water and labor, but has no electrical power.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• The State’s anti-donation clause prohibits selling of produce at the site. Bernalillo County has a leasing model for calculating how service value meets or exceeds the lease value which may allow the operator of the land to sell produce if the site can be re-zoned. PFH & SWOP are currently in discussions with the City Aviation Dept. about re-zoning the site and acquiring adjacent parcels to expand the garden.
• There is existing local veteran participation and history at the site. Consideration should be given to collaborating with other veterans’ groups such as the Warrior Farmer Project or Veteran’s Farmers Project.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Setting clear expectations and open communication will be key for future partnerships in all of
  the plan projects.