Juliana and Tejinder Ciano have some progressive ideas on how to create nutritional justice.
They put their theories into practice through their local mom-and-pop farm and a downside
Information on initiatives aimed at revolutionizing equal opportunities and access to healthy food.
Juliana Ciano, 36, said that she and her husband, 44-year-old Tejinder, started their nonprofit, Reunity Resources, about 10 years ago. “Her goal is to create functional closed-loop systems that turn waste streams into something valuable and to build a resilient food system in our community,” she said.
Due to the Cianos’ commitment to increasing food security in Santa Fe, they were collectively named as one of the 10 The New Mexicans that made a difference for 2021.
Reunity Farm in the historic village of Agua Fría is the couple’s heart, growing garlic, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, spinach, arugula, peppers, hot peppers and eggplants.
They use well water and a drip irrigation system “that allows us to send every drop of water directly to the seeds we want to grow,” said Juliana Ciano. “A sprinkler – you lose a lot of water through evaporation. We try to be very careful when handling water. “
The couple, who met 11 years ago at a food cooperative in Santa Fe, sell their groceries twice a week at a farm stall on their property. “Often there is music or something else at the same time – local policy talks or a volunteer group project,” said Juliana Ciano.
Ensuring access to food has a long tradition on the farm.
In the late 1940s, a World War II veteran John Stephenson first started a charitable farm in the country. It became known as the Santa Fe Community Farm in the 1980s and began providing products to local food charities. It worked until the end of 2017, about six months after Stephenson’s death at the age of 102.
“There are old-timers in the neighborhood who talk about how he gives them a nickel and a cart full of vegetables and say, ‘Go here,'” said Ciano.
She and her husband had brought their compost to Stephenson’s farm for several years. They later bought the property and expanded the community farm’s mission.
There is archaeological evidence of agriculture along the river valley that is 5000 years old, said Juliano Ciano. “We take this story very seriously.”
The Cianos, aiming to train the next generation of farmers, started running a farm camp this year for children ages 3 to 12. Older children served as counselors in training.
“During the eight-week summer vacation we had 270 children here,” says Juliana Ciano.
“Our focus was on social-emotional wellbeing because it was the first group experience most children had since the pandemic,” she added. “We had a whole curriculum about seeds and snacks, how to make medicines, and how to make herbal colors – we did all of that – but our foundation was, let’s think about how we can be together.”
The couple employed 23 people in the summer to run the farm camp, harvest grain and run other food justice initiatives, including a farm-to-table food truck. “A lot of ingredients are harvested here. Everything else comes from the region, ”said Ciano.
They park the food truck on their property and serve fresh food six days a week. That year they hired a sous-chef from the culinary program of the non-profit organization YouthWorks to help prepare the dishes and plan the menu.
The farm also has a composting yard “that processes 2 million pounds of food waste”. [per year]“Said Ciano. “Redirecting all of this food waste – this compost goes back to the farm, and much of it we sell to the community to other farmers.”
Reunity Farm has a food waste collection contract with Santa Fe Public Schools. It turns the waste into compost, which it delivers to the school gardens.
It also runs a program that collects used cooking oil from restaurants in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and transports it to Las Cruces for processing into biodiesel.
“About six thousand gallons every five weeks,” said Ciano. “If you drive a diesel engine, you currently have 5 percent biodiesel in your tank.”
The Cianos have two boys, ages 7 and 9, who help with Reunity’s endeavors. “They are definitely involved,” says Juliana Ciano, who often meets her boys at the farm stall while they are filling the baskets or recommends activities for the farm camp.
Antoinette Villamil – who nominated the Cianos for the 10 Who Award and was honored last year for her work with the nonprofit Many Mothers – said she would bring her 8-year-old son to the farm during the coronavirus pandemic. “That was the only contact my son had,” she said.
What the Cianos do “is so extensive,” she said. “They started with biodiesel and then compost, camp for children, meals for families who have difficulties, community events, music evenings, the farm stand.”
Reunity Farm recently opened its own pantry on the property for those in need.
“It’s so multidimensional,” said Villamil. “It’s really based on equity and that everyone has the resources they need.”
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