CORRECTED February Local Food News: LandLink 2.0--Let's keep ag land in production!

www.localfoodnm.org

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RE: CORRECTIONS
The original February 2015 newsletter contained errors in the "February Meeting" section. Please see the corrected details for the upcoming event below.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

February Meeting
Career Connection & LandLink

Join us--Friday, February 20th from 6 to 8pm @ Marriott Pyramid North
for Career Connection & Farmer/Rancher Mixer at the New Mexico Organic Farming Conference!

Meeting Details

About:
- Career Connections helps new or beginning agrarians connect with prospective mentors or employers.
- The Mixer will follow and will include live music and refreshments.
- LandLink will be present to facilitate land matches between ag producers and landowners.
- Read more about the organizations behind the event and RSVP at http://www.riograndefarmers.org/career-connection/
When: Fri., Feb. 20th from 6-8pm
Where: Marriott Pyramid North
- (5151 San Francisco Road Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87109)
RSVP: http://www.riograndefarmers.org/career-connection/

LandLink to Relaunch in 2015

We are proud to announce that Central New Mexico LandLink is on its way to becoming:

more user friendly
collaborative and
statewide!

Pardon our dust

What changes are we making to achieve those goals?

First, we are creating a new website based on some really successful models from fellow LandLink programs (e.g., California FarmLink and Vermont LandLink).

The new website will include features like:

search filters,
verified user profiles that allow each user to create an online posting in real time and
links to statewide partner organizations that can help users throughout the process and beyond.

Second, we are forming partnerships with service provider organizations around the state to help keep more agricultural land in production throughout New Mexico! Though more partners will join us over time, we are glad to begin this collaboration with:

the New Agrarian Program out of the Quivira Coalition,
the Rio Grande Farmers' Coalition,
the New Mexico Acequia Association and
the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.

The new website will go live in March 2015!

In the meantime, you can:

Join us on Feb. 20th at the Career Connections event (see details above)
Learn more about LandLink and post your agricultural opportunity at our current LandLink website: http://www.mrcog-nm.gov/local-food/land-link

Local Food and Ag News

Local Food Jobs

Job || ARCA Organics (http://www.arcaorganics.org/) seeks a new F-T Farm Manager. Includes supervision of assistants. Send resume to Jim Douglas at jdouglas@arcaspirit.org.
Job || La Cumbre is searching for new delivery drivers. Does life on the open road excite you? Ready to join the La Cumbre Family? Think you've got what it takes? Email your resume to Paul at paul@lacumbrebrewing.com.
Job || FoodCorps is now accepting applicatons: https://foodcorps.org/become-a-service-member/apply-now
Internships || Sol Harvest Farm is now accepting 2015 intern applications. Read more about this great opportunity at http://bit.ly/15MIvL2. Get to know Sol Harvest Farm
Youth Job || La Semilla Food Center is hiring Youth “Crew Members." from Gadsden ISD and Anthony ISD youth, grades 9th to 12th, for their popular Raices de Tradicion y Salud Program. Application Deadline: February 16, 2015. Download Application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0bztLUV7jMdZDZicFB5R0hwV1U/view.

Local Brews in the News

Bernalillo Brew Fest will replace the annual wine festival. Read more in the Albuquerque Journal's Venue.
New Mexico breweries are pushing for bills to keep the industry bubbling. Read more in Albuquerque Business First.
Santa Fe cider makers are highlighed in the Santa Fe Reporter. Read more: http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-9832-hard-core.html

Rio Grande Community Farm welcomes new farm manager and new projects

Rio Grande Community Farm (RGCF) is excited for another growing season in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. We have another busy year planned with workshops, tours, an expanded community garden to help grow your appreciation for local food, soil-building projects on the main field, and--of course!--our Maze event in October. We also would like to welcome Sean Ludden as the new Farm Manager. Farmer Sean will organize many of our community events and outreach, do the field planning and--above all--work towards making this a true farm for our community.

The Board and Staff of RGCF invite you to help make this year a community effort for sustainable agriculture. Stay tuned for announcements of events throughout the summer and fall and come by the farm anytime. In the meantime, sign up to join the community garden and learn more about the farm at http://riograndefarm.org and check out the recent newsletter: