Building Local Food Resilience
A small-scale, locally focused food production system designed to serve the Questa community.
This system is designed to serve the needs of the Questa community first.
A locally rooted housing initiative for the Questa community
What it is
The project includes a controlled environment food production system designed to grow fresh produce locally.
The focus is on reliability, efficiency, and accessibility rather than scale.
Why it matters
In Northern New Mexico, access to fresh and affordable food can be limited depending on the season.
Local producers play an important role, but supply remains limited and seasonal.
Our objective is to complement existing local agriculture, not compete with it.
A local, year round food system
Our response is to build a fully enclosed plant production facility able to grow selected crops in carefully controlled conditions.
This allows us to produce food locally throughout the year, with predictable quality, stable production cycles, and reduced dependence on long distance supply chains.
Each plant, in it’s ideal conditions
Inside the facility, every key growing parameter is carefully controlled to provide optimal conditions for each crop.
This includes :
- Temperature
- Humidity
- CO2 levels
- Nutrient composition
- Light spectrum
- Day and night cycles
Each plant type receives a tailored environment designed specifically for its needs.
Instead of adapting plants to the environment, we adapt the environment to each plant.
Optimized light, with no light pollution
Our facility is designed as a fully enclosed system.
Unlike traditional greenhouses, no light escapes outside the building.
This means :
- No light pollution
- No disturbance to the surrounding environment
- Full respect for the region’s dark sky conditions
Inside the facility, lighting is precisely optimized for plant growth.
Each crop receives the right spectrum, the right intensity, and the right duration of light.
By controlling day and night cycles, we can improve growth conditions, shorten production cycles, and support consistent quality.
Powered with efficiency in mind
The facility is designed to integrate solar power as an important part of its energy approach, including for the LED lighting systems used inside the building.
Our goal is to reduce external energy dependence while aligning the project with local environmental priorities.
Using water carefully
Water efficiency is one of the core principles of the project.
The facility is designed to :
- Collect rainwater
- Recover and recirculate water internally
- Filter and optimize water use throughout production
A connection to the local water network would serve only as a backup.
The objective is to grow food while using as little water as possible, which is especially important in arid environments like Northern New Mexico.
Giving back to the soil
We also plan to integrate worm composting to transform part of the organic residues into natural compost.
This compost would be made available locally, free of charge, for people who need it for home gardens or for farmers interested in improving soil quality.
We do not expect to produce large quantities of compost at first, but we see this as a meaningful way to give something back to the local ecosystem.
What we plan to grow first
The first production cycles are expected to focus on a limited number of crops selected for their nutritional value, local relevance, and ability to complement existing local agriculture.
The initial crops currently being considered include :
- tomatoes
- leafy greens
- strawberries
The facility is technically able to grow many different types of plants.
However, we want to begin with a limited selection and refine the offer over time in close dialogue with the community and local partners.”
Water use
Water is treated as a limited and shared resource.
The system minimizes water use through efficient techniques and recapture methods.
The system does not rely on groundwater extraction and does not require water rights.
Starting small and growing responsibly
The plant production facility is currently envisioned at approximately 12,000 square feet.
At the beginning, it would not be fully utilized.
This is intentional.
We want to start with a small scale production model focused primarily on nearby schools and local community needs.
Over time, depending on demand and feedback, the facility may evolve by :
- increasing the number of crop varieties
- using more of the available space
- supplying additional local outlets such as community partners or local stores
The goal is not to impose scale.
The goal is to grow only where it makes local sense.
Built to support, not to compete
Our goal is not to compete with local farmers.
Our goal is to work in a complementary way.
We intend to begin with a limited number of crops and to align production with real local needs, while avoiding unnecessary overlap with existing local agricultural activity.
We are currently discussing this approach with local partners so that the facility can support the wider community rather than disrupt it.
Local production for local communities
We believe that resilience should be built at the community level.
Food should not have to travel thousands of miles in refrigerated trucks before reaching the people who need it.
Long supply chains increase costs, reduce freshness, create inconsistency, and add unnecessary environmental impact.
Our approach is different.
We believe that food production should happen as locally as possible, for the benefit of the local population.
Local needs should be met locally, with fewer intermediaries, better quality control, and stronger community ties.
Built for people, powered by local talent
At the heart of this project are people.
We want to hire locally and build a team from within the community.
For us, the ideal employees are not necessarily people with previous experience.
What matters most is :
- care for the community
- respect for nature
- curiosity
- willingness to learn
- a genuine love for living systems
We believe that skills can be taught.
Values cannot.
A new kind of agricultural job
The roles created by the facility will be varied and practical, with a strong focus on harvesting, plant care, and day to day operation.
In many ways, this is still agricultural work.
But it is agriculture adapted to desert conditions and modern resource challenges.
We see it as a new way of practicing farming in places where traditional agriculture is difficult or no longer sufficient.
From desert to oasis
Our ambition is to show that even in challenging environments, it is possible to grow fresh and healthy food throughout the year.
Places where some forms of agriculture are difficult today can become productive again through thoughtful design, scientific knowledge, and community driven implementation.
This is part of our broader vision:
to help transform difficult environments into living, productive systems.
Why Questa ?
We chose Questa because we believe it is a place with strong community values, a real sense of independence, and a meaningful connection to land, resilience, and local identity.
We deeply respect that spirit.
Our intention is not to bring an outside model and impose it.
Our intention is to work with the community to build something that responds to local needs and local values.
Learning, sharing, inspiring
We also want the facility to include a dedicated educational space connected to the production area through a glass wall.
This space would allow schools, residents, and visitors to better understand how the system works and how controlled environment agriculture can respond to real world challenges.
Our hope is that this can become :
- a place for training
- a place for curiosity
- a place for community learning
- a place that inspires future vocations
We believe this project can also help raise awareness about water scarcity, food systems, and the role science and technology can play when traditional solutions are no longer enough.
Growing with the community
This project is not designed as a fixed model.
It is designed to evolve with the community.
We are not bringing a model.
We are building one together.
The long term goal is to create a practical, local, and resource efficient system that supports the people of Northern New Mexico with humility, consistency, and care.