Celebrate Local Food / Invest in People, Land, & Culture
Friday, October 4 at 5:30pm at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion
Click here to purchase event tickets AND raffle tickets!

 

WHAT will you experience at Fall Fiesta?

The Market Pavilion will be transformed into a fun and interactive environment where you will experience a delectable meal using locally-sourced ingredients crafted by culinary artisans who push the boundaries of social food. This will be a Fall Fiesta like no other and is surely to be a night you won’t want to miss!
  • Join us for appetizers and dinner by Dig & Serve, with an open bar (wine, beer, margaritas, and specialty cocktails).
  • Be inspired by Hakim Bellamy (the first poet-laureate of Albuquerque) and Carlos Contreras (WKKF Kellog Community Leadership Network fellow)
  • Enjoy the whimsical folk songs of Cloacas (a band of unique and curious origins.)
  • Honor the Farmer All-Stars and meet with Senator Tom Udall, our recipient of this year’s Farmer All-Star Special Honors.
  • Learn about the story of food in New Mexico and the Farmers’ Market Institute programs.
  • Purchase gift certificates for local and regional businesses at a discount from their face-value.
  • Bid on six experience and food-based live auction packages.
  • Purchase raffle tickets and be entered to win a complete spa package at Ten Thousand Waves.
Celebrate local food. Invest in people, land, and culture.

WHAT is Fall Fiesta About?

Agriculture has been at the heart of this area for thousands of years. The Mogollon pueblo people survived by the companion planting of the Three Sisters. Beans, corn, and squash continue to be staples in the New Mexican diet. When the Spaniards colonized, they brought an irrigation technique they learned from the Moors. Acequias that are hundreds of years old are still used today to grow your food. And, it’s no mistake that our state song includes the phrase “Fields full of sweet alfalfa / Richest perfumes bestow / State of apple blossoms / Is Nuevo Mejico.” Alfalfa is the leading field crop and apples are the state’s largest fruit crop.
We believe deeply in the cultural value of agriculture and its contribution to rural vitality and family unity. And, we know we must protect indigenous people’s ecological knowledge and seed sovereignty and to recognize and learn from their traditional sustainable systems.
The local food system has grown immensely, now including production, aggregation, processing, marketing, distribution, and consumers. Agriculture has a direct and significant contribution to New Mexico’s economy, from sales to jobs to taxes. 
There has been a 63% increase in the number of New Mexican farms over the past decade. But the size of these farms has decreased by 40%, due in large part to farmers retiring and selling pieces of land. And, smaller farms have influenced the 70%  increase in farmers who sell directly to consumers. 
Agriculture also has a direct impact on the health of our environment. Land and water are vital for the success of a farm and the quality of your food, and so our farmers help conserve and enhance natural resources. They balance sustainable conservation and the right to productive use, while combating soil erosion, providing healthy drinking water, preserving wildlife habitats, ensuring genetic diversity, and much more.
The food system is a complex web with many issues, including the governance and economics of food production, sustainability, food waste, lack of access, the effects on the environment, and the impact on our health. We believe the keys to working through these issues are education and cooperation – two ideals that shape the work of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute.

Click here for WHO

Click here for WHY

Click here for HOW

Click here for EVENT TICKETS & RAFFLE TICKETS

Click here to BID EARLY IN LIVE AUCTION