Helga Garcia-Garza , Executive Director of Agri-Cultura Network and La Cosecha CSA

Helga Garcia-Garza has a vision for equity and food justice for underserved Hispanic and Native communities in her Central New Mexico region. Helga’s lived experience as a member of a marginalized Native and Indigenous community, more than two decades of experience with cooperative organic farming, and her long history as a community organizer and environmental justice activist all inform her work as Executive Director of Agri-cultura Network and La Cosecha CSA. She has worked at ACN member farms, worked on tracking, quality control, and distribution of the network’s produce. For the last 30 years she has been dedicated to community health initiatives on both sides of the US/Mexico region organizing and educating communities on Right to Know Right to Act regarding water, land and air contamination. She bases her work in a from-the-ground-up approach to building an environmental economy, as she believes the nutritional needs of her community are best served by local farmers who grow healthy, culturally appropriate food using organic and sustainable practices. Helga is the New Mexico Food & Ag Policy Council Chair, Castanea Fellow 2020-2021 and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader Fellow 2018-2021.

“As a Native woman in agriculture I am guided by our ancestral calendar, and I share this knowledge through an intergenerational process. As a farmer myself, I know first-hand the challenges of farm to market. I have experience and lessons learned through development of farm cooperatives in Brownsville, Texas and in Central Mexico. This inspired my strong commitment to protecting the environment and to building a healthy, sustainable, local economy through agricultural practices. ‘

helga@agri-cultura.org

Latrell Kaye, Food Access Manager

Latrell is from Window Rock, Arizona. Latrell has a B.A. in Sociology & Human Services from Fort Lewis College. In his work with Diné Food Sovereignty Alliance (DFSA), a Diné grassroots non-profit organization, he helped with community outreach to build consensus around food sovereignty initiatives meant to revitalize traditional foods and lifestyles. He also has his Master’s Degree in Sustainability Solutions from Arizona State University where he concentrated on developing and facilitating sustainable solutions among marginalized communities to increase livelihood opportunities. As an Indigenous person with a Master’s Degree in Sustainability Solutions, he brings a unique perspective by persistently putting sustainability discourse in conversation with hunger and poverty issues. His approach in sustainability has been to prioritize marginalized peoples’ knowledge and experiences while integrating Indigenous approaches where necessary. He is passionate about facilitating collective action toward revitalizing and investing in traditional foodways through local food hub implementation, moving toward an Indigenous modernity that reaffirms our sovereign goals. This will allow equity and access to ensure reliable food supply and economic opportunities that invests in the healing of overcoming generational trauma. Latrell uses he, him and his pronouns.

His research areas include Indigenous food systems, sustainable local food economies and enterprises, sustainability science, and sustainable entrepreneurship.

latrell@agri-cultura.org