Monday, November 24, 2008

Santa Cruz Valley (AZ) Foodways Festival

While visiting old friends Joe and Carol Costante of SaddleBrooke/Catalina, AZ last weekend, we took a ride down to Tubac to check out the Santa Cruz Foodways (Sabores Sin Fronteras/Flavors without Borders) Festival. Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance, I was directed to the Festival while visiting Suzanne Nelson, PhD., Director of Conservation for Native Seeds/SEARCH of Tucson, AZ. The Festival was co-sponsored by the University of Arizona's Southwest Center. Although small, what a delightful event! Among others, we visited a Sun Oven demonstration by Baja AZ Sustainable Ag, and an educational display by the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project. I even tried a Sonoran hot dog with 'Mexican Candy' which was 'delicioso!' Entertainment included Mariachi Plata (Band).

A bit more about the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project, whose primary goal "is to assist the National Park Service in replanting historically, culturally and botanically appropriate fruit trees of this land." 'This land' refers to Sonoran desert region of Arizona and Mexico, and specifically the Tumacacori National Historical Park, an important mission site in southeast Arizona. We visited the orchard at Tumacacori after leaving the festival, here with a fig tree.

Wow!, the food, culture, and history of southeast Arizona rolled into a small but intimate event in the Sonoran desert. A reminder of what's important to our lives and culture, and not soon to be forgotten...

¡adiĆ³s! amigos

JC