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

Jessica Swan, Farmer Coordinator and USDA Harmonized GAP Plus+ Manager

Jessica Swan has been contracting with ACN since 2019. She loves advocating for her local Hispanic, Native and Indigenous communities.  She is an organizer and activist in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and beyond.  Jessica holds social justice issues at the center of her heart and works with an intergenerational and grassroots approach at reversing systemic injustices in New Mexico.  Jessica is a cultural farmer from Southern New Mexico.  She serves on the board of local food banks and faith- based social justice commissions.  Jessica is a Trinity Test Downwinder and has been working closely with La Cosecha CSA and ACN. She brings her deep knowledge of food service and extensive food safety training to the network.

Delilah Valencia, La Cosecha CSA Manager

Delilah Valencia is a proud South Valley native, bringing 12 years of combined experience in the customer service and food industry to her role as The La Cosecha CSA Manager. With a passion for fresh local produce and all things food, she is committed to optimizing your CSA experience. Delilah is excited to serve the community and promote sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Cathy Day, Director of Climate Solutions

Dr. Day has been growing food for 25 years in farms and gardens ranging from Alaska, Montana, and New York, to Florida, Costa Rica, and Niger. With a background in education, social science, and sustainable agriculture, she began her agricultural career with a farm internship in Alaska. She then completed master’s coursework in Crop and Soil Science at Cornell University, and graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching. Three years of Peace Corps service as an agricultural extensionist in Niger exposed her to climate change impacts on food production, which she further explored while teaching on Little Diomede Island in Alaska.

After teaching K-12 science New York, Alaska, and Maryland, she pursued advanced degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focusing on farmers' responses to climate change in Niger (MS in Geography) and New Mexico (PhD in Geography). She later taught at Stetson University, where she managed the Sustainable Farming Fund and incorporated gardening, Indigenous growing systems, and climate-informed edible landscape design into her teaching.

Most recently, she worked as Climate Policy Coordinator for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in D.C. Among other work there, she wrote on agricultural diversification, the Agriculture Resilience Act, values for agricultural climate change transformation, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities. Her interviews with press in that role can be found on her LinkedIn page. 

Currently, Dr. Day works with the Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network (ACN) and La Cosecha, developing climate-friendly systems and educational programs that emphasize food access and sovereignty. Her projects include designing a climate-friendly farm demonstration site and teaching sustainable methods to interns and farmers.

Agri-Cultura Cooperative Network Kitchen Staff

The hardworking ACN kitchen staff receive, process, and pack the produce that arrives at the ACN kitchen on a daily basis. With 5,000 pounds of produce coming into the kitchen in an average week, the staff moves at least 20,000 pounds as the food passes through their hands multiple times. Their dedication is the powerhouse that ensures New Mexican food can feed New Mexicans who need access to high quality, nutrient dense, affordable produce.