SANTA FE, N.M. ? It can be hot, medium or mild. It can come from a family plot near Chimayo or a 100-acre farm in Hatch. But if the label or seller says its New Mexico chile, it better be grown in New Mexico.
This is the first harvest season in which new state rules require vendors of chile and chile products to verify the origin of their produce.
The state laws, passed last year, make it illegal for anyone to knowingly sell chile or chile products labeled as New Mexico-grown if the chile wasn?t grown in the state. The state Department of Agriculture will enforce the rules.
Chile growers lobbied for the new regulations, according to New Mexico Chile Association Executive Director Jaye Hawkins, as a way to guard against impostor products from places such as Mexico, China and India.
Hawkins said competition from importers ? who have fewer regulations and lower labor costs than New Mexico chile growers ? has seriously affected New Mexico?s chile industry in the last two decades.
In the 1990s, Hawkins said, New Mexico farmers grew about 35,000 acres of chile. Last year, she said, less than 10,000 acres of chile were grown in the state.
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Katie Goetz said the department held a series of meetings with farmers across the state after the rules were passed last year to figure out the least cumbersome way to enforce them.
The result is a two-document system. The first form in the system is an affidavit provided by a grower to verify the chile?s origin. That form travels with the chile, like a passport, to its ultimate destination.
For example, Goetz said, if the chile is bound for a grocery store, the form travels with the chile to the store, which then has the verification it needs to label the chile as New Mexico-grown.
The second part of the program requires those who process chile into other products, such as salsa, to submit a verification form with the state, which affirms they are using only New Mexico-grown chile in products with a ?New Mexico chile? label.
Goetz said state standards inspectors, who already conduct audits of grocery stores ? to ensure the accuracy of scales and volume claims, for instance ? have taken on the added responsibility of verifying the origins of chile products.
While in stores, Goetz said, the inspectors check products that list New Mexico chile on their labels against a list of companies that have submitted verification forms to ensure the products are in compliance.
If they aren?t, Goetz said, the items are pulled from the shelves until the vendor remedies the problem, either by providing documents to verify that the chile is indeed New Mexico-grown or by changing the label to eliminate a false claim.
Goetz said the department began enforcing the new regulations July 1. Since then, she said, inspectors have audited about 120 products; about 45 of those were pulled from shelves because the manufacturers weren?t in compliance.
Goetz said she didn?t have data to differentiate between products that were pulled because they were grown out of state and products that were pulled because they simply lacked the proper paperwork.
Goetz said roadside vendors are also subject to the regulations and should have on-site their verification forms showing where their chile was grown. Ideally, she said, vendors should have multiple copies of the document on hand to give to customers who want to process the chile into another product that could be offered for sale.
Mauricio Mena, the produce manager at Lowe?s grocery store on St. Michael?s Drive ? one of the few chile roasters that have begun selling this year?s crop ? produced a sheaf of papers when asked about the regulations; all the documents showed that the store?s chile is grown in Hatch, like the sign says.
Mena said he learned of the new requirement via emails from his supervisors and the Department of Agriculture, and he thinks it?s a good idea.
?A lot of people come from Colorado and Texas, and they want New Mexico chile,? he said. ?If it?s going to be sold as authentic New Mexico chile, then it should be authentic, and the state should require certification,? he said. ?It?s better for the tourists to get what they pay for. It?s not fair if they don?t.?
And as far as locals go, Mena said, ?You don?t want to get ripped off.?
Mena said he?s heard rumors that in the past, some vendors were selling chile grown in Mexico, and also that some vendors were falsely advertising the weight of the chile in their sacks.
Amos Nava, who was manning a chile roaster Wednesday in front of Jackalope on Cerrillos Road, said he didn?t know about the regulations ? he was running the roaster for his wife?s uncle, Octavio Mendoza ? but he said people always ask where the chile is from, and he feels comfortable telling them it?s from Hatch ? because it is.
?Some people say the chile from Socorro has a better taste, but I don?t believe it because this is famous,? he said of the Hatch-grown chile.
Mendoza said in a phone interview that he has been buying chile from Atencio Farm in Hatch for the last seven years, and he drives down to get it himself. He said he does get a form from the farmer when he picks up his load.
Hawkins said this year?s chile harvest has only just begun, and as of now it appears it will be an ?average? year for the crop, which generates about $300 million for the state annually.
?It?s not going to be a bumper crop this year,? she said. ?Nor is it going to be a poor crop, as of today. But this time of year, it?s a day-to-day thing. Three days from now, if we get a bunch of rain ? or too much of anything ? it could wipe out a crop in a matter of days. We?re very much beholden to Mother Nature during the whole process. But especially during the harvest.?
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