The San Juan Agricultural Coperative was formed in the fall of 1992 by memebers of San Juan Pueblo
for the purpose of bringing the tribe's farmland back into productio, providing income to tribal members,
and preserving the community's agricultural traditons. The coperative's founders were fustrated by seeing
their lands lie idle and were determined to reverse the decline of this valuable resource. They hold the conviction
that this event marks the beginning of a new era of renewal in San Juan Pueblo's long and proud heritage of farming.
The cooperative is not a tribally-owned enterprise, but rather was incorporated ( with the approval of the San Juan Tribal Council) as
a for-profit corporation under New Mexico's cooperative association statue. The members and owners of the cooperative are individuals who own or are assigned
(by the tribe) farm lands within the reservation and who commit the use of these lands to the cooperative for at least
10 years. This commitment represents the members' investment in the cooperative. The cooperative is governed by an 8-member board of directors.
The business plans lays out two primary thursts: bringing idle lands back into production and processing value-added food products.
During it's first year, the cooperative will farm over a hundred acres, much of which was previously unused and being lost to encroaching
brush and trees. Most of this acreage will be planted in alfalfa and hay as these represent relatively low-risk crops. Approximately 20 acres will
be planted in traditional crops such as cron, chili and melons. Our dehydration venture will produce a variety of traditional and innovative dried products
and is seen as a key vehical for providing higher paying, Year-round employment for tribal members. The products are packaged under the label of Pueblo Harvest Foods.
The cooperative is producing five soups and stews along with five other seasonal items.
Another central concept in the cooperative's plans is that it's primary business activities can provide a "hub" for a consellation of smaller
projects which serve essential, if not immediately income-generating, community ends such as youth education, cultural preservation, and encouragement of individual entrepreneurship.
The coop intends to seek grant funds to support these efforts. It will make an initial "seed" investment of staff time to work with community members to develop project ideas,
research potential funcing sources and develop proposals. The coop will then provide "in-kind" support in the form of equipment and facility use, project sites(i.e. hands-on participation in the
farming and processing operations) and limited staff participation for technical assistance, supervision and coorination.
Some of the projects of this sort which currently in place include:
* Intergenerational Garden Plot- A garden plot jointly worked by seniors and the youth of the community to teach traditional farnming methods and other cultural lessons.
* Community Seed Bank- A repository of traditional San Juan and other Pueblo seeds which would be distributed for free to tribal members in return for a commitment to return
an equal or greater amount of seed after harvest. This wouls help preserve native variety and teach seed-saving techniques.
* Vocational Training in Agricutural and Food Processing- A training program to prepare young adults to work in all aspects of farming and processing enterprises including
production, processing, management and marketing.
* Small-scale farm marketing coop- A cooperative if independent small farmers for joint purchasing, technical assistance, and shared marketing.
* Food processing micro-enterprise "incubator"- A variation of the concept of a "business incubator" whereby a single flexable facility houses several very small food processing enterprises.
In addition to use of the facility, the incubator would support th enterprises with technical assistance, general business and management training, and marketing support.
* Community food bank- A mix-crop plot to grow food specirically for distribution to the needy families and individuals, particularly elderly. Volunteer labor would be recuited from the community
to help tend the plot. The project would also emphasize education about nutrition, food preparation, and good diets.