Industrial agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for up to a quarter of all GHG emissions worldwide. At the same time, farming communities are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis. Increasing trends of drought, wildfire, soil and water losses, and agricultural decline inflict conditions of poverty on rural and indigenous populations. In New Mexico, these interconnected problems are rooted in our state’s colonial history, systemic inequities and discrimination of traditional communities, and the rural-urban divide.
The NM Healthy Soil Working Group is committed to the success of the state’s farmers and ranchers, knowing that building soil health creates co-benefits including rural and state economic gains, water availability and quality, more nutrient dense food leading to better public health, carbon drawdown and other key ecological services.
Soil health is something we can all rally behind, but there are real barriers for farmers and ranchers to change their business model. NM Healthy Soil Working Group addresses these barriers by providing soil health education and critical resources for farmers, engaging in collaborative demonstration projects, building the soil health movement in the greater society and advancing supporting and policies.
Formed in the fall of 2018, the Working Group succeeded in passing the NM Healthy Soil Act by assembling an extensive alliance of grassroots advocates, food and agriculture related organizations, farms and ranches, health practitioners and environmental groups. The Healthy Soil Act established one of the Nation’s first statewide incentive program which is now run by the NM Department of Agriculture.
Partnerships are a core tenet of our process, resulting in collaborations with communities and organizations to advance innovative demonstration projects, for example in the areas of agrisolar/ eco-voltaics, land access creation and landscape scale restoration. In addition, we’re building the soil health movement in the state by bringing people together for educational events and networking. About half of our network consists of agricultural producers and the other half comprises educators, consumers, rural and urban residents, and members of Indigenous communities.
It is our mission to achieve rapid adoption of healthy soil principles, resulting in greater ecological and human well being, significant water infiltration, rural prosperity, and climate resilient communities.
A grassroots nonprofit organization, NM Healthy Soil is fiscally sponsored by the Climate Change Leadership Institute (CCLI). For donations, please use the CCLI portal and add a note to make sure the donation goes to NM Healthy Soil. Thank you!
Core Team
Robb Hirsch acts as lead legislative liaison and facilitates the bridge loan program for awardees of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Soil Program. Robb recognizes that the health of food, the health of our families and the health of the planet are all directly connected to the health of the soil.
Isabelle Jenniches As a community organizer, Isabelle’s main focus is in policy, movement building and farmer-to-farmer education. Drawing from an extensive background in the arts, she now applies her skills to storytelling, communications and outreach as well as program development and coordination.
Navona Gallegos is a soil ecologist and permaculture designer, and focuses on catalyzing beneficial relationships in both soil and human communities. She works to provide soil health education through teaching, networking, and communications.
Warren Edaakie is an Indigenous farmer, artist, conservationist and land steward focused on growing healthy nutrient dense food, restoring ecosystem processes and building more healthy communities. Warren utilizes his background and network of farmers, organizations, and agricultural experts to offer hands-on demonstrations of techniques and practices to promote building more fertile and resilient soils.