Participants: Joe Martinez, Loren Schoonover, Andrew Baker, Barbara Webber, Don Bustos, Lupe Salazar, Yesi Daniel, Jay Wilson

Don Bustos: Farmer in Santa Cruz, Española. Have two sheep hanging in the shed, making some lamb stew. Main concerns are easy and equitable access to resources in rural communities. Finding it difficult to fill out forms and do everything on the internet.

Yesi Daniel: Educator and community organizer. Education program manager of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Serving the community wherever we can! Right now serving to make connections and network with other people in the community.

Lupe Salazar: Worried about mental health issues and drug addiction. Other issues. 

Joseluis Ortiz: Liaison at Northern NM Community College. Teaching land-based ways of living and knowing. Focus on students, families and youth in the Española Valley. Promoting traditional ways. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Environmental, Racial justice to solve issues in our own community

Notes:

• Legislative Updates from HANM!

• HB 177, SB 188, Food Accessibility/Homemade Food Act, Food Hunger and Farm Bill of 2021.

• Talk that schools will go back to in-person in two weeks.

• YD: There have been issues with the vaccine rollout: people aren’t given much notice of when they’re scheduled to get the vaccine, which creates issues of accessibility.

• JM: What have you heard about vaccine distribution in your community? And who have you heard it from?

• LS: We’ve heard that you have to sign up for the vaccine, but not sure how simple or complex that is. Only know a few people who have taken it, but still uneducated on the issue.

• DB: Went to the doctor’s last Tuesday, the doctor didn’t know much about the issue at all and sent me to someone else at the hospital. She was trying to figure out how to get people on the signup sheet. People above 75 are the first priority, was told to go onto the website and register there. At this point it might be easier to wait for the National Guard to set up those vaccination sites in public

• JO: The only thing that I’ve heard from family members is that they’re vaccinating elderly populations. It was impossible to get my father a vaccine soon and he’s 65. He had to sign up through the website.

• JM: The state had been given a promise on the number of vaccines, but we didn’t get everything that had been promised. There have been more orders on production and much more coordination on production and distribution efforts.

• BW: every resident and member in a long-term care facility has received their first dosage of the vaccine, still have to wait 2-3 weeks for the booster, and 2-3 weeks after that for full protection. Still having trouble accessing the website. Some people have had to register more than once.

• DB: What do we do if we live with someone who’s at risk but refuses to receive the vaccine?

• BW: That’s a hard question, not sure if there’s going to be a mandate at this point.

• JM: Best strategy at this point is to wait until more people get the vaccine and get information out. People form opinions with limited information, but once we get examples in the community, it should be easier to get people vaccinated.

• YD: There hasn’t been much dissemination of the link to register for vaccination. My family learned about it on the local news. People want to get the vaccine, but some are unsure of how to register.

• JM: Are there any other bills that have come up that you’re interested in? Small farmers are such a critical part of the New Mexico food system.

• JO: As we’ve partnered with the Northern NM Community college, it’s frustrating that they’re not considering how to serve traditional agricultural practices, or rural communities. We have to figure out how to create and lobby for a bill that would get resources to agriculture programs and cultural sustainability practices. If we don’t have the capacity to ask for money through grant proposals or community development, that’s bad. We have to be able to fast-track that infrastructure and make sure that local ag is able to thrive.

LS: We have to think about ways to get people engaged and involved with nature. We need starters here - lots of kids don’t have that opportunity to see where things come from. There are generations of families who haven’t lived in their own homes because of the opioid epidemic. We need to think about sustainability and something positive in the home to solve these issues. Grandparents have taken on a larger role - there’s not time or money to have a little garden, it’s easier and cheaper to get something from the dollar menu. Gardening may not be for everyone, but we don’t know unless we try.