All three 4/5 classrooms braved the rainy weather this week and made it outside to prepare a batch of warm refried beans! Thank you to all the students, our teachers, and community volunteers for stepping up and making it happen.
In the classroom this week, the fourth and fifth graders learned about regenerative agriculture and in particular, the argument some ranchers are advancing that it’s not the cow, but the how. We watched a video from the New Mexico Healthy Soil Working Group featuring farmers and ranchers discussing the important role large herbivores play in the ecosystem and how allowing cattle to graze, eat their natural diet of grass, and resting grazed lands for long periods—practices with origins in Indigenous communities—can contribute to, not undermine, the fight against climate change. Students shared their guesses as to why grass-fed beef and dairy products are more expensive in the grocery store than their feedlot-produced counterparts.
In the kitchen we made refried beans with grass-fed butter from Sierra Nevada Cheese Company (fewer than 3 cows per acre that are on pasture for 300+ days out of the year). Everyone had a choice of garnishes, including spring onion, radish, cilantro, lime, and queso fresco. We enjoyed the refried beans with tortilla chips produced by local company Sabor Mexicano. While many experts and activists disagree on whether there is a way forward with cattle ranching given the dire circumstances our climate is in, it was an important discussion to have with students about how food is produced and what our priorities should be as we prepare to feed future generations.
