SIERRA VISTA — The holidays are here and many of us are gathering with friends and family to share food and celebrate. Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture is on a mission to promote sustainable sharing of native foods through projects like mesquite pod milling and gleaning.
“The goal is to turn Cochise County into a food oasis rather than a food desert,” said Christie Brown, chairwoman of BASA’s board.
A few weeks ago, BASA held the last of its public mesquite milling events for the year at the Sierra Vista farmer’s market. The event had such a large turnout that BASA will be scheduling an additional mesquite milling later in the year.
As part of its mission to promote local sustainable food systems in Southern Arizona, BASA encourages the public to harvest mesquite pods during the summer that can be milled into mesquite flour during the fall.
“Mesquite is a very nutritious food, it was a food for indigenous people here for thousands of years,” said Brown.
According to Brown, there is no local commercial source of mesquite flour in the county. If you order online it will come from somewhere in South America. Brown feels that this is a waste considering that mesquite trees are one of the most dominant native trees found in the county.
Mesquite pods aren’t the only locally grown food that BASA is using to promote sustainable native food systems. The organization’s larger mission is to educate the public on the importance of sustainable food systems and expand their gleaning program.
Gleaning is the act of collecting excess fresh foods from farms, gardens and other sources to reduce food waste. BASA has organized a growing group of volunteers to collect excess fresh foods from residential trees and gardens in the county.
“For us, it’s about using foods that are available and appreciating how people lived before Safeway,” said Brown.
BASA’s gleaning project began in 2018 when the Ishkasitaa Refugee Network began bringing citrus that was gleaned in Tucson and Phoenix to food banks in Cochise County. Now Brown and a team of volunteers collect excess foods grown in residential areas around the county and donate them to local food banks. This year all of the food gleaned went to the Salvation Army’s food bank in Sierra Vista.
BASA is working to expand the gleaning project with additional volunteers in other areas of the county. Sierra Vista’s community garden is looking to start working with the group to donate its excess produce. Huachuca City’s community garden has already begun gleaning with BASA.
As BASA’s gleaning project expands, Brown is looking for more volunteers. With more volunteers, more gleaning is possible. Brown hopes that someday BASA will have active gleaners covering all of Cochise County.
“If we spread the word, we hope more people will come and join our meetings,” said Brown. “We’re not meeting this month or next, we plan to meet again in January.”
BASA’s meetings are open to all interested parties. Brown can be contacted through BASA’s website for information on how to attend meetings and get involved.
Gleaning is a growing movement across the country and Brown sees gleaning as a way to share food in a way that is socially just and humane.
“If you plant a garden, why not plant a little extra for the food bank?” asked Brown.
BASA also seeks to educate the community about local native foods that can be harvested year-round. Seasonal harvesting guides and recipes can be found on BASA’s website.
Cochise County is full of native foods that can be harvested. During the winter months acorns can be harvested and processed into food. During the spring and summer months, plants such as cholla, yucca, tumbleweed, prickly pear and palo verdes all offer different foods.
“That’s what we say with desert foods, never take all of it because other creatures depend on it. The animals appreciate the food too, but there’s certainly enough to share,” said Brown.