SustainEd Farms heads to Albuquerque! National Farm to Cafeteria Conference 2025 recap

In early December, SustainEd Farms had the honor of presenting a session at National Farm to School Network’s 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Matt, our Executive Director, and myself (hi! I’m Maya - SustainEd Farms’ Manager of Programs) packed our things and headed to our neighbor to the south, in hopes of presenting an inspiring and educational session, meeting other folks doing great farm-to-cafeteria work nationally, and perhaps eating some delicious green chile along the way. 

Day One

What immediately struck me about Albuquerque was that, from the moment you step foot in the airport, they never let you forget you are in New Mexico. Coming from the high vaulted ceilings and modern glitzy floors of Denver International Airport, it was grounding to walk through Albuquerque’s airport with its traditional Pueblo-revival architecture style, the mini hot air balloons hanging throughout the airport in reference to the world’s largest hot air balloon festival, and the farolitos illuminating the space. It was clear that we were in a place with a proud and distinct culture and history.

Day Two

Matt and I, well-rested and ready to learn and network, walked over to the Albuquerque Conference Center for the official conference kickoff day. We heard a powerful opening from NSFN’s Co-Executive Directors, and an insightful panel of Indigenous community members that reminded us to center our work in the land. After that, I chose to attend one session that felt very aligned with what SustainEd Farms is doing in Denver, and then one that was very specific to New Mexico. In the latter session, three different New Mexico organizations shared their approaches to utilizing corn in educational settings. This session was fascinating, and the presenters and their communities held their native corn varieties in such high regard. Attendees even got to eat three different foods made with corn: A blue cornbread muffin, a nixtamalized elote en vaso, and a steamed dried corn and peach porridge. 

blue corn

blue cornbread muffin

This was also the day of the keynote speech, given by the Ron Finley. It was such a special experience to be in the same room as one of my food justice heroes, who transformed his community in South Central LA by guerilla gardening before it was “cool”. Ron may have been the first person to teach me about food deserts, so it felt like a full-circle moment to hear him speak now that my work centers around food education, food justice, and the alleviation of food insecurity. This keynote speech challenged the audience to continue empowering youth to stay connected to their food systems - A task that SustainEd Farms keeps at the heart of our work every day. 

Day Three

This was the big day - The day Matt and I were set to present our session! We entitled our session Growing Food, Growing Knowledge, Growing Justice: The Impact of School Gardens in the Farm to Cafeteria Movement. Because Matt and I are educators at heart, we always strive to make sure any presentation we give has a hands-on, interactive element to it. We want to make sure that attendees can put themselves in the shoes of our students, to really feel the impact of SustainEd’s work in school gardens! So, while we talked about how SustainEd Farms partners with Denver Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services to bolster nutrition education and encourage students to eat fresh, local produce, we actually had attendees recreate the recipes that we have students make in their school gardens. About 40 attendees from all over the country came to our session to learn, and little did they know, they also came to eat! Guided by myself and Matt, they enthusiastically created a crunchy fall salad, and a delicious salsa fresca. Both of these recipes had been tried by literally thousands of Denver Public Schools students in their school gardens, so what a thrill it was to bring those tried-and-true recipes to national educators, policy makers, and other professionals! Attendees had a blast making these recipes in teams with folks who were strangers just minutes prior, and reflected on how they could bring similar opportunities to their own communities of students.

Matt and Maya's presentation listed for 1:15

Matt presenting

Feeling accomplished, excited about having met wonderful new connections, and a little exhausted, Matt and I took a brief rest before we headed to an event we were super excited about: The School Garden Support Organizations dinner! The SGSO is a great network of educators across the country who work in and support school gardens. Matt and I have loved connecting with SGSO in various capacities, including participating in their Leadership Institute and leading a Peer Learning Community. This dinner was hosted at Albuquerque’s Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which Matt and I were able to explore with friends both new and old. 

Day Four

Last day in New Mexico, and we certainly made the most of it! The conference allowed attendees to choose from a variety of field trips, an almost impossible task because of how incredible each field trip sounded! There were options such as: Learning about water acequias, aquaponics in action, food and garden walking tours, seeing petroglyphs, preserving farm fresh food, and more. I am nothing if not consistent, so I chose to go on a field trip to a school in Santa Fe with a robust garden-to-classroom education program. I set off on a big bus to take the hour-long drive to Santa Fe. We passed the gorgeous Sandia mountains as we chatted about all of the innovative and culturally-responsive practices that are happening in New Mexico in order to keep food traditions alive. Once we arrived at the elementary school, we were taken into garden and classroom spaces where we did a garden scavenger hunt, and made fresh pasta and pesto sauce with ingredients from the garden. We were also able to meet many students at the school as we popped into their cafeteria and helped the food director get students excited about carrots and turnips in a pesto dipping sauce. They loved the freshness of the ingredients, and asked to see more of these veggies on their menu. What a win!

Returning to Albuquerque with my heart and my stomach full, I met up with Matt and we took some time to explore the town on foot one last time before heading back to Denver. We talked about the art, the architecture, the food, and the culture. We reflected on what we had learned and what we were excited to take back to Denver and our own programs. We made plans for how we’d stay in touch with some of the great folks we met while in New Mexico, including other Coloradans who we hadn’t had the chance to meet while in our own state! How wonderful that the conference brought us all together and sparked potential future collaborations. 

Now that we’re back in Denver and settling into our own work, what continues to resonate with me from the National Farm to School Conference is the deep sense of pride that permeates New Mexico. This pride in place has led to a genuine investment in New Mexico agriculture - an investment rooted in cultural traditions that remain vital to the people who call New Mexico home. Many thanks to the National Farm to School Network for hosting a conference that allowed people from all over to learn from, and share in, New Mexico pride!