pueblo

The air was crisp and cold as the wind blew across Sandia Pueblo in mid-December.  But, the atmosphere among the Ten Southern Pueblo Governor’s Council was warm and jovial.

Why? Because, the Governors were celebrating the obligation of a USDA Rural Development funded study that creates the first ever Native American Food Hub in the nation.

Just off the Rio Grande River, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., sits Santo Domingo Pueblo, a community surrounded by fields of alfalfa, oats and Sudan grass for horses and cattle, and small gardens filled with corn and green chili peppers.

But this green idyll is in danger of drying out. Over the past few years, New Mexico has been struggling through one of the worst droughts in recorded history. Little rain and a dwindling river have threatened many of the Pueblo’s fields and gardens.

A warm winter day greeted USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan as she visited the high desert community of Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico.

Chandler Sanchez the Governor of Acoma Pueblo gave the Deputy Secretary a personal tour of the new $12-million dollar community center which is currently under construction.

Donning a hard hat Deputy Secretary Merrigan saw firsthand the progress of the construction.  The facility is scheduled to be completed later this summer.