New Blog site!

Living Roots has a new blog site, which now has a page for Spanish translations. PLease check it out and continue to "follow" us.

Thanks for your support!

Springtime in Baja

Spring is in full swing and lots is moving and shaking with Living Roots.

If you're in the San Javier region this week, come join the Living Roots team for a festival of sierra culture, as well as a regional market of sierra-made craft, artisanal foods, and seasonal produce. The market will be open daily, April 16 - 24 from 10 AM to 6 PM, with artist demonstrations happening the 21st - 24th. For a complete schedule of events, visit our website or Facebook page.

Local olive oil production is also in full swing! You can even get a taste of how the local's produce this culinary staple at this week's festival (link to demonstration schedule above). Sierra-made olive oil is made by hand with olives picked from the very first olive trees brought to the Americas almost 300 years ago. Local artisans have been experimenting with different production techniques, and now offer unique, delicious, and highly sought after blends for customers.

In other Living Roots news, we have a new organization system in place utilizing local community representatives. We now have ten Living Roots representatives - one from each ranch cluster, or Rancheria. These representatives (eight women and two men) coordinate local communication and distribution of sierra products, utilizing existing transportation infrastructure such as vehicles already being used to pick up children from boarding school on Fridays. Bios and photos of these representatives will be up on our website soon.

It is amazing to see our team continuing to grow new roots and shoots. In addition to our community representatives, we have gained the support of students studying Alternative Tourism at the University of Loreto. A group of 21 student volunteers have been divided into small groups to help us research government regulations and permits for various products, and also help with promotion and translation of our website into Spanish.

It is also a great honor to have Rafael Roustan, Phd. at the University of Arizona and a Fulbright Scholar, join us in San Javier this Friday to walk through the huerta (orchard) and talk to San Javier students about her research on the historical and biological significance of the oasis communities through Baja California Sur.

More exciting events and activities are on the books this spring and summer, so stay tuned; as always, thanks for your support and staying up to date!

Out Of The Blue

Two days ago, Living Roots received its first "out of the blue" communication via our web presence. Shane J. Macfarlan, Ph.D., a professor of Anthropology at Washington State University Vancouver, contacted us after stumbling upon www.livingrootsbaja.org; he was excited and pleasantly surprised. He and his wife (an archeologist) have been working with Baja rancheros over the past five years - actively researching, documenting, and attempting to preserve this unique culture. Professor Macfarlan is in the process of preparing a manuscript on the cultural geography of one of the arroyos in the southern Sierra de la Giganta, the mountain range where Living Roots is currently working.

Recently, Prof. Macfarlan used Living Roots as part of a learning exercise for a course he teaches - Anthropology and World Problems. He had students consider the natural and cultural assets of sierra communities and how different stakeholders value these resources differently, which impacts how they are used and managed. Finally, students discussed how Living Roots is attempting to build community capacity through sustainable development principles. He said his class really enjoyed learning from our website and that it provided students with valuable information; needless to say, we are excited and pleasantly surprised.

It's exciting to keep meeting and learning of others who are interested in revitalizing ranchero and Baja sierra culture ~ thank you Professor Macfarlan for reaching out! We look forward to keeping in touch.

Living Roots : A New Era

After much needed rest and rejuvenation over the holiday season, the Living Roots team is back in action. Three months have rapidly passed by since our last posting, so it's about time to "back the burro up" and share a few noteworthy highlights.

Fiesta Success: December 16, 2010

First and foremost, we'd like to thank everyone who came out for our inaugural fundraising fiesta. Nearly 100 people descended upon the Fort Collin's Brewery to support Living Roots... and, of course, bust a few salsa moves. Thanks to everyone's dancing feet and silent auction bidding, Living Roots raised enough money to launch operations in Baja this January. Again, a special thanks goes out to The Fort Collins Brewery, the Public Service Credit Union, Lupita's Mexican Restaurant, and to everyone who donated to our silent auction; without their generous contributions, the event would not have been possible.

San Javier Days / Sales Trial: December 2-4, 2010

In the midst of preparing for final exams and presentations, pulling a final business plan together, and planning a fundraiser, McKenzie, Mila and Colleen scooted down to Baja for Living Roots' sales trial. The team was joined by their faithful advisor, Professor Asad Aziz, for a few days of delicious shared taco plates, much success, even more fun, and as always, valuable lessons learned.

The team earned booth space right in front of the Mission of San Javier, the heart and center of festival activities. From sun-up to well past sun-down there was traditional music, food, dancing, and lively processions on horseback - all in honor of Saint San Javier, the town's

namesake. Thousands of people from all over Baja came to participate in the three-day celebration.

Throughout the festival, sierra artisans came down from their ranches to help (wo)man our booth, and had the opportunity to talk with festival-goers from all over the state about ranchero products and culture. Sierra-made wine and honey were an especially huge hit. The artisans also helped us sell over two hundred raffle tickets. Much interest and excitement was generated for the artisans, their products, and Living Roots' mission.

All said and done, the sales trial generated enough pesos not only to pay our artisans, but also compensate Living Roots' community representatives and fund our first traditional skills training workshop of 2011!

Graduation: December 17, 2010

The December sales trial was certainly the icing on the several layered cake of our GSSE experience, and yet with so many other accomplishments to savor, the actual earning of three letters (MBA) and a piece of paper seemed, well, no big deal. With that said, it was a tremendous honor to finally sport our gowns, toss our caps, and toast the evening away with our fellow cohorts, forever our GSSE family.

Living Roots - The Real Thing

No longer just a school project, Living Roots became a non-profit organization and celebrated its "first birthday" on November 14, 2010, when it filed its Articles of Incorporation with the Colorado Secretary of State. Two months later, on January 12, 2011 Living Roots gathered at The Wild Boar (coffee shop where we had our first meeting more than a year ago) and held our first official board meeting. We ratified board members, did some strategic planning, and sent McKenzie, Living Roots' Executive Director and ever fearless leader, off to Baja for the unforeseen future. She is already busy organizing a follow-up meeting with the San Javier community and getting a booth ready for an event celebrating ranchero culture this coming Friday. Much more to come from the field as Living Roots begins to launch its programs!

Visit our website for more information about what we're doing to help protect Baja sierra culture - www.livingrootsbaja.org.

As always, thank you for keeping up to speed with Living Roots.

We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and is feeling healthy and energized for this exciting new year!