The SAR Humanities Festival is back with a new topic and fresh mix of events. We’ll hear from presenters and hold discussions about ancient agricultural practices and sustainability, eating and food ethics, local food systems, and more. In a documentary film we’ll follow trailblazing chef and food writer Ruth Reichl in her conversations with farmers, ranchers, and chefs wrestling with systemic and pandemic challenges. And we’ll take SAR members on field trips to community agriculture sites.
What Can We Learn from the Archaeology of Sustainable Agriculture?
New Mexico History Museum 113 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe, NM, United StatesArchaeology plays an important role in the pursuit of sustainable agriculture. Modern farmers are reviving ancient techniques—such as Medieval Moorish irrigation canals and Aztec-era floating gardens—to cope with the environmental challenges our planet faces today.
Complex Cultural Meanings of Moral Eating
New Mexico History Museum 113 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe, NM, United StatesMichaela DeSoucey discusses the moral arguments and politics of food production and promotion and how they intertwine with social identities, cultural context, and class inequalities.
Book Discussion: “Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food”
SAR 660 Garcia Street, Santa Fe, NM, United StatesMichaela DeSoucey discusses the moral arguments and politics of food production and promotion and how they intertwine with social identities, cultural context, and class inequalities.
From the Ground Up Member Field Trip
A sneak peek into local, sustainable food with a guided tour of Reunity Resources community farm in the morning, followed by a three-course, vegetarian lunch made of local and seasonal ingredients at Santa Fe’s “secret restaurant,” Plants of the Southwest Kitchen.
Food and Country Film
Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, United StatesTrailblazing chef, New York Times food critic, and Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia; farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx; a New England fisherman; and maverick chefs on both coasts as they struggle with pandemic challenges.
Creating the Future of Food and Panel Discussion
Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe, United StatesCreating the Future of Food: From the Nation’s Capital to the Local Farmers Market with Kathleen Merrigan, followed by a panel discussion.
From Puye to Santa Clara Member Field Trip
The excursion starts with a guided tour of the scenic Puye Cliff Dwellings, ancestral home of the Santa Clara Pueblo and quintessential example of early pueblo architecture. We’ll then spend the afternoon at Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute with artist Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo), who founded the institute. Following a traditional lunch, we’ll tour the institute and farm and participate in a harvesting workshop.