MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

Fresh, Organic & Native: Foods of the Four Corners
A Directory of Ecoregional Food Sustainability
Center for Sustainable Environments
Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University, 2003
52 pp., free (additional copies $3 each), paperback

"What are Sustainable Food Production Practices?" introduces readers to this directory of food producers around the Four Corners, an area bordered by Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Gary Nabhan, Director or the Center for Sustainable Environments attempts an answer:

"Ideally, a strategy for food production is considered to advance sustainability when it restores or hardly depletes the local water supplies, soil fertility, biodiversity, and human communities that support it."

With this in mind, Fresh, Organic & Native - Foods of the Four Corners lists the sustainable practices of food processors, in the hopes that: 1) consumers become more aware of sustainability standards in the food they buy; and 2) listing will promote sustainable practices by more food producers.

This directory is divided into sections, from organic and/or sustainable beverages, meats, and vegetables, to sustainable restaurants, specialty shops, and stores. Also included are listings for local Farmers Markets and non-governmental organizations and government agencies. Most of the listings are for Arizona, but producers in the Four Corners area can provide the Center with their products and purchasing information.

Fresh, Organic & Native is not just a directory of sustainable producers, it is also a very educational resource for libraries and schools. Sidebars include: Native Foods of the Southwest, Promoting Sustainable Practices, Why Purchase and Eat More Food from Your Region?, and the Southwest Marketing Network. The directory can be downloaded from the Internet, though I prefer having something to thumb through and highlight at my leisure.

Consumers and advocates of and for farmers markets may want to go to the Center for Sustainable Environments website to download a complimentary pamphlet: 10 Reasons to Buy Local Foods (http://www.environment.nau.edu/farmersmarket/10Reasons.pdf), Flagstaff Community Farmers market. This pamphlet is an excellent accompaniment to the directory. Hopefully, the next edition of Fresh, Organic & Native will include the 10 Reasons.

— Annette Aguayo

Order from:
Center for Sustainable Environments
Northern Arizona University
PO Box 5765
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
(928) 523-0637
http://www.environment.nau.edu/publications/FoodDirectory/index.htm