Chile Harvest Fiestas and the Long Histories of Food Justice and Chicana/o/x Movements in New Mexico

• In Event: The Spicy Life: Environmental and Cultural Histories of the New Mexico Chile Pepper

Abstract

New Mexico red and green chiles are symbols of the state’s heritage and identity. While the celebration of chiles can be found in most corners of the region, less is known about the crop’s role as an organizing tool in Chicana/o/x movement organizing. In this presentation, I center the story of an Albuquerque-based social justice organization, the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), and their chile harvest festivals that first began in 1995. Based on their grassroots community archives, and first-hand collected oral histories, I show how the chile harvest fiestas are examples of food justice activism that grew from the Chicana/o/x movement in New Mexico. In doing so, I broaden the history of food justice activism to center its long-standing relationship to the Chicana/o/x movement and other anti-colonial organizing in the region.

Author

• Divana Olivias, University of New Mexico