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In case you missed our press release, the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute (the Institute) appointed Adan Manuel (Manny) Encinias, Ph.D, as the new Executive Director effective this month.
“We are thrilled to welcome Manny to the Institute,” said Board Chairman Michael Knight. “Our organization and its community of local ranchers and farmers will benefit from his experience in program management and fundraising, including his deep connections to local food systems, as well as multi-state agricultural organizations. We have full confidence he will provide the leadership, vision and strategy to achieve the Institute’s mission and position us for long term success.”
Encinias, whose family has lived in Northern New Mexico for more than five generations, has spent much of his professional life advocating for farmers and ranchers. He is the owner of Trilogy Beef Community, LLC and has been a vendor at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market since 2021. He is also the co-owner of the award-winning Buffalo Creek Ranch – La Gloria Cattle Company, the recipient of the 2022 Sustainability Commitment to Excellence Award presented by Certified Angus Beef. As a consultant, he has developed English-Spanish training programs through Now We’re Ranching Cattle Management Services.
His nonprofit leadership includes service on the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, the national Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network, and as Board Vice Chair of the Estancia Basin Water Planning Committee. He also founded Feeding the Future, a nonprofit organization focused on strengthening the protein supply chain in Indigenous communities of the Southwest to achieve food sovereignty.
Since 2019, Encinias has served as the Discipline Chair, Professor and Director of Workforce at Mesalands Community College. From 2002-2014, he was the Extension Natural Resource and Livestock Specialist at New Mexico State University. Dr. Encinias holds a Ph.D from North Dakota State University (Ruminant Nutrition), a Master of Science degree from New Mexico State University (Animal Science), and a Bachelor of Science degree from New Mexico State University (Animal Science). The Moriarty native and his wife, Corina, have seven children ranging in age from college to preschool.
To hear Manny Encinias speak about the appointment in his own words, please click here.
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Dion Silva, Enterprise Bank & Trust’s
Community Minded Leader
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Dion Silva and Gigi, his Assistance Dogs of the West sidekick. | |
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Spring is blooming, and so is the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute’s Corporate Sponsorship Campaign. The Campaign provides an opportunity for small businesses and large corporations in our community to promote their businesses while supporting the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute.
If you have attended a community event recently, you were sure to see A. Dion Silva, Regional President - Santa Fe, NM of Enterprise Bank & Trust. The Executive Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Assistance Dogs of the Southwest – one of four nonprofit Boards that he currently serves on - makes his way around Santa Fe with his black Labrador Retriever, Gigi, who he has trained from a pup to be a service dog. Assistance Dogs of the Southwest is one of the 67 nonprofit organizations supported by Enterprise Bank & Trust, and fits neatly into the bank’s five pillars of support: Animal Welfare, Social Welfare and Health, Economic Development, Education, and Youth.
Enterprise Bank & Trust is a lead sponsor of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute, which straddles three Enterprise pillars: Social Welfare and Health, Economic Development, and Youth. Sponsorships may benefit the organization as a whole, or be restricted to a specific area of the Institute’s work. Enterprise Bank & Trust’s sponsorship is dedicated to the Double Up Food Bucks program, which doubles the purchasing power of SNAP recipients at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Markets. Dion is especially committed to the Del Sur Market, which helps to address food insecurity on the underserved Southside of Santa Fe. He said, “At Enterprise, we believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the community. This includes ensuring that everyone has access to fresh, nutritious foods and the ability to choose healthy eating options. The Del Sur Market supported by the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute delivers locally-produced food at its best to the Southside of Santa Fe. It is an exceptionally important outlet in what is otherwise considered a food desert.” (The Santa Fe Farmers Market is open year-round Saturday mornings at the Railyard, and the Del Sur Market is open on Tuesday afternoons from July through September in the Presbyterian Santa Fe Medial Center parking lot on Beckner Road.) Continue reading...
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Lifting Up Volunteers During Global Volunteer Appreciation Month | |
Information Booth Volunteer Sharon Potter Explains the Double up Bucks Program to a Customer | |
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At the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute we express our gratitude to volunteers each and every day. However, in April, we dedicate this article to the volunteer corps during Global Volunteer Appreciation Month. From Board and committee members to docents, Information Booth volunteers, and all of the special event supporters, we are truly indebted to you. It may sound like a cliché, but we could not do what we do without you!
Information Booth volunteer Sharon Potter spends her Saturday mornings at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market patiently explaining the Double Up Food Bucks and Fresh Rx program to customers. Her dedication and discretion are essential qualities as she honors our guests and helps them navigate the system, assuring that every citizen of Santa Fe has access to nutritious, locally produced food. However, this is not Sharon’s first tour of duty as an Institute volunteer.
Born in Ohio and raised in St. Louis, Sharon moved to New Mexico 30 years ago to work for the Los Alamos Technical Association. Having worked in construction management “all over the country” before landing in Santa Fe, Sharon was one of the very qualified people who former Executive Director Sarah Noss turned to when crafting the Request For Proposal (RFP) for the building. (A RFP is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and solicits bids from qualified contractors to complete it.) Sharon also interviewed contractors and made recommendations. Once the building was open, she returned to the Institute as a docent. She thoroughly enjoyed meeting and supporting the farmers, and fondly remembers bear hugs from Jesus Guzman, 2018 Farmer All Star of Jesus Guzman Produce in Nambé. COVID and a bout with sciatica sidelined her for a few years, but she returned to the Institute assisting at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market’s Saturday Railyard market in her essential position at the Information Booth where she can remain seated.
When asked what attracted her to volunteering, she said, “I’ve been volunteering my whole life.” A longtime supporter of the League of Women Voters – one of the early proponents of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market – Sharon stays politically active. As a volunteer, she seeks out organizations that support women, such as the Esperanza Shelter and the Institute. The Institute recognizes that more than 50% of the farmers at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market are women and is rolling out a Women in Agriculture program this year in response.
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Docent Jonni Lu Pool says she was “riveted” to learn that Northern New Mexico has a high percentage of women farmers, and that it is an honor to volunteer and work with such accomplished women. As a matter of fact, Jonni Lu served on the All Star Selection Committee in 2022, which chose four women-owned businesses as the All Stars. Her contributions on the All Star Selection Committee augmented her volunteer work on the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Inspection Committee and followed a three-year term on the Market’s Board of Directors.
Read More...
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Docent Jonni Lu Pool Volunteers at the Institue's 20th Anniversary Celebration | |
Help Save Lives: Join in the Response to New Mexico’s Critical Blood Shortage! | |
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Over the course of the year, the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute partners with other community organizations to address essential needs of New Mexicans. On Saturday, May 13, 2023 from
9:00am -12:30pm, the Institute is hosting a blood drive in cooperation with nonprofit Vitalant.
Most of us realize that when extreme weather and unforeseen tragedies occur, the need for blood is critical. However, the need for blood is not an episodic situation. Did you know that every day in America, patients in hospitals, surgical centers and emergency treatment facilities need approximately: 29,000 units of red blood cells, 5,000 units of platelets, and 6,500 units of plasma?
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Caption: Heidi Chase, Vitalant Blood Drive Account Manager, Jennifer Fresquez of Monte Vista Farm and Santa Fe Farmers’ Market President, and Janice Mayer, Institute Development and Communication Manager pictured at the 2022 blood drive. | |
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Please join us on the blood mobile parked at the Railyard on Chili Line Lane (corner of Alcaldesa Street) to contribute. You may make an appointment here. Walk-ups are accepted on a space-available basis.
It only takes a half hour of your time to help save lives!
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Program Development Director David Sundberg couldn’t be more proud of his third grade daughter’s 2023 Rising Stars Collection National 1st Place Winning Poem in the Grade 3-5 category.
April
The bluebird sings in delight as his children emerge from their eggs
while the cherry tree's blossoms sway in the breeze
A young girl with sun-kissed hair
and tanned skin scampers out to tend to the horses
She brushes the dust from their dappled coats until they are silky smooth
Long tails swat at the buzzing flies, soft deep brown eyes
blink shut as a silky breeze swirls the scattered hay
playfully around their knees
Clutching the eggs from the hens while the rooster is hot on her heels,
She rushes up the porch steps and gently lays
the white jewels in the waiting wicker basket,
Then runs off to play in the crisp spring day
and romp in the cool morning dew
Snapdragons, petunias, tulips bloom
As the sun's shimmering rays kiss soft petals,
a shower brings down sparkling diamonds of rain
Let the drops of happiness drip onto your tongue and take you away
Una Sundberg
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The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market 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. | |
These lead sponsors help ensure the sustainability of the northern New Mexico food system as well as nurture the agricultural community and the customers that make the Santa Fe Farmers' Market so successful.
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