Express Your Gratitude to

New Mexico’s Farmers

Photo caption top to bottom: “Rocio” Alcantar tilling the soil on her farm; Stan Crawford pictured at his booth at the Tuesday Railyard Santa Fe Farmers’ Market; Annie Krahl straightens up her booth at the Saturday Railyard Santa Fe Farmers’ Market while holding daughter Mabel.

As we approach Thanksgiving, the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute expresses its gratitude for the bountiful harvest the dedicated farmers of Northern Mexico have contributed to our community this year.

At our 20th Anniversary Community Celebration last month, we were offered a glimpse into a day in the life of hard-working farmer Rosa Maria Alcantar, owner of Rocio Produce in Española. We invite you to replay her story on the All Star Video found here. Rocio expressed her own appreciation to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and the Institute for providing opportunities for her to sell her produce, especially in the Market Pavilion.

Veteran farmer Stanley Crawford shared how he was able to complete a solar installation project at El Bosque Garlic Farm through the newest innovation in the Institute’s Microloan Program. Microloan Chair Lisa Kantor, explained, “Farmers generally tend to work on very small margins, so if we can save them their energy costs every month it is meaningful to those farmers in terms of their prosperity and the prosperity of their families. It can also be useful to ranchers with electrifying their fences” to deter predators. We are grateful to the Institute’s microloan partner Guadalupe Credit Union and solar partner Remy’s Good Day Fund for helping to bring solar energy to our farmers.

We also heard testimonials describing how the Double Up Food Bucks program benefits SNAP participants in our community by doubling their purchasing power for fresh, locally produced, nutritious food year-round at the Railyard Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. We know that over the past four years, the participation in this essential program has expanded 160% and that it touches every sector of our community, from students to seniors, and including young families. 

Additionally, the expansion of the Del Sur Market, located in the Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center Parking lot, has reduced food insecurity on Santa Fe’s underserved south side over the summer months.

2022 Farmer All Star Annie Krahl, Owner of Annie’s Herb Farm takes particular pride in the marketing and branding of her farm. Her booth at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market (both at the Railyard and the Del Sur Markets) reflects her creativity and style. Thanks to a grant from the Harry Chapin Foundation, Annie’s peers also are offered the opportunity to participate in an Institute-sponsored Marketing and Branding series of workshops that will take place this winter. The workshops are among the many Training and Development Programs for farmers and vendors presented by the Institute. We know these programs directly impact farmers’ bottom lines by allowing them to distinguish their products and reach a wider market.

These are a few of the programs that your annual contributions to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute supports. Whether it is maintaining the Market Pavilion at the Railyard or expanding selling opportunities at the Del Sur Market, funding low-interest loans for infrastructure and expanded growing seasons through the microloan program, reducing food insecurity for those in need in our community, and providing training and development opportunities in areas of need defined by farmers and vendors – your contributions matter!

And the impact will continue to grow as the Institute rolls out new farmer-facing programs, such as Women in Agriculture and Healthy Soils in 2023. As you consider your end of year philanthropy, please consider making a one-time or recurring gift to the nonprofit Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute through our secure donation page. As a special incentive, all contributors to the Institute’s Annual Appeal through December 31, 2022 will receive a special token of our gratitude from Annie’s Herbs.

Full Circle with David Loeb

The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute is pleased to welcome David Loeb to the Board of Directors. David will continue his work on the Finance Committee, drawing on 36 years of financial expertise he has developed over his investment industry career, including more than 25 years in equity research for Wall Street firms. He currently serves as Founder and Managing Director of Dirigo Consulting LLC.

It was during his time in New York that he was introduced to the Phillies Bridge Farm Project, a not-for-profit working farm in the Hudson Valley. He had heard about a small farm that incorporated organic growing methods and was fascinated by its mission to create sustainable agriculture and quality food from a relatively small parcel of land. He subscribed to their first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and that “got me started on the journey of small scale, local farming,” he said.

In 2006, David had an employer that allowed him to live where he wanted and to work from home. “Santa Fe, a small city with big city amenities and services and a favorable climate,” won out, he said. He bought a house in the City Different and continued his interest in small scale farming. He said he was “impressed with the quality of the food and the potential impact on food access issues at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market.” After following the Market from parking lot to parking lot, David was introduced to Institute Founding Executive Director Sarah Noss, and learned of her campaign to raise money for a permanent home. He decided to donate the funds for one of the solar panels on the planned building.

Interestingly, as David joins the Board of Directors, the Institute’s Microloan Program has just entered a partnership with Remy’s Good Day Fund to enable farmers to incorporate solar energy on their farms. David is “intrigued by the use of a microloan as a bridge loan. It is a great way to leverage the Institute’s knowledge and capital in the short-term in order to assist farmers to reduce their costs and improve the sustainability for their growing efforts over the long-term.” He continued, “I think New Mexico is uniquely challenging for farming, with its limited access to land and water. Anything the farmers can do around the edges to make it more feasible is important to them. Eliminating the cost of electricity gives farmers more of a margin.” (Please watch our brief video on the program here.)

When asked why he chose to make the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute his first nonprofit Board experience, David said, “What drives me is the virtual cycle of providing more access to nutritious food by a broader segment of the population and the resulting impact on the farmers in what becomes a wider customer pool. I was impressed by the work of the Institute in administering the Double Up Food Bucks program (DUFB) which essentially doubles the purchasing power of SNAP participants, making local, sustainably-grown and delicious food available to a broad segment of our community.”

David was born in western Massachusetts, but grew up in the Midwest. Today he still divides his time between Santa Fe and his vacation home on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the home of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. As you would expect, there is a farm stand managed by the human ecology-focused College of the Atlantic around the corner from his Maine home that fulfills his need for good local produce.

Executive Director Search

Outgoing Institute Executive Director Andrea Fisher Maril pictured with Board Chair Michael Knight 

The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute is the non-profit partner organization to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. The Institute’s mission is to advocate for farmers, ranchers, and other land-based producers; provide equitable access to fresh, local food; own and operate a year-round venue for the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market; and manage programs to help sustain a profitable, locally-based agricultural community.

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce a search for a new Executive Director.

In announcing the search, Board Chair Michael Knight stated that, "We have been extremely fortunate to have Andrea Fisher Maril come out of retirement to lead the organization over the past couple of years. We would not be where we are today without Andrea’s commitment to the Institute and thank her profusely for all she has done."

The Institute has made much progress over this period and is in a strong position to continue our success. We celebrated our 20th Anniversary this year and are ready to focus on the next 20 years.

The Board is seeking an Executive Director to lead the Institute in our efforts to meet the mission of the organization and position ourselves for long term success.

Click here for the full job description.

Any qualified candidates interested in the position can please send their resume confidentially to: hiring@farmersmarketinstitute.org

Chef Shout Out: Chef Paulraj Karuppasamy

Chef Paulraj Karuppasamy and his wife and business partner, Nellie Tischler, own and operate Paper Dosa, a restaurant specializing in South Indian Cuisine. Located at 551 West Cordova Road, the menu offers dishes with lamb and chicken as ingredients, but this Santa Fe favorite is especially popular with vegetarian diners. During our interview, the proprietors wanted to encourage Institute readers to “diversify your produce! We are inspired by what goes into our salads, soups, uttapams, chutneys, sambars, and curries. We do serve meat as we want to feed the whole Santa Fe community, but vegetables are what talk to us the most and the ONLY way to get fresh veggies is through a farmer - plain and simple.”

Nellie and Chef Paul share a joyous moment at Paper Dosa.

Both Chef Paul and Nellie come from farming families. Chef Paul grew up in Tamil Nadu, India, where his mother was a very good cook, and his father farmed and ran the local grocery store. He taught Paul how to choose the best produce for the store from an early age. Nellie is a Santa Fe native whose farming roots extend to South Dakota. They met in San Francisco, where they both worked at a South Indian restaurant named Dosa. Chef Paul worked in the kitchen for 10 years and Nellie oversaw customer service. We could say the rest is history, but there is much more to tell.

Chef Paul and Nellie married and moved to India for a year. By now Nellie was pregnant and wanted to move back home to Santa Fe to raise their child surrounded by family. Paul needed to work to support his young family, but finding employment in New Mexico was difficult. In 2014, they made their own opportunity through catering and pop-ups at Café Fina and Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen, among other locations. In 2015 they took the plunge and opened Paper Dosa.

Chef Paul created the menu drawing from his culinary training experiences: helping out in his mother’s kitchen; three years of exacting schooling, where he learned both customer service and food and beverage best practices and fulfilled apprenticeships at five star hotels; and his ten years at Dosa in the Bay Area. He now “provides jobs for thirty people and feels grateful and content.”

Chef Paul said that Santa Fe Farmers’ Market farmer Matt Romero teaches him “day in and day out with his immense knowledge. His produce is beautiful, and I learn about different eggplant and radish varieties from him, among the many items he has available each week.” Asked about whether he has incorporated any of New Mexico’s signature green chiles in his preparation, Chef Paul acknowledged he has created a Green Chili Cheese Dosa featuring the unique Southwestern flavor. (A dosa is a thin pancake in South Indian cuisine made from a fermented batter of ground black lentils and rice.)

Nellie singled out 2021 Farmer All Star Susan Higgins of Sungreen Living Foods, or the “Sprout Lady,” as she is referred to affectionately. Nellie said, “Susan is amazing; she restores faith in humanity.”

Nellie shared that Chef Paul descends from a vegetarian caste, and so Paper Dosa’s focus on vegetarian dishes comes naturally for him. They have a commitment to “diversifying their vegetables and sourcing locally as much as possible – everything is fresh with few exceptions, such as coconut which is not available here.” When we spoke, the couple was making dinner at home. The menu was a Sambhar, the traditional lentil stew, which in this case featured 15 or 20 different vegetables.

They both agree that “you can tell when something is fresh and local. It’s so beautiful and you can taste the difference.”

During the pandemic, Chef Paul and Nellie created cook at home kits for customers to buy and prepare dishes at home. Today they graciously share their recipe for Green Cabbage and Sweet Carrots Poriyal. Please prepare it at home using Santa Fe Farmers’ Market produce, and then visit the restaurant. Nellie shared, “We welcome our loyal customers and are honored when people tell us that they choose to bring their out-of-town guests to our restaurant.” When you next dine at Paper Dosa, please thank Chef Paul and Nellie for sourcing their ingredients from the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market farmers and vendors. For more information, please visit the website.