As climate change bites and the Southwest gets drier, some environmental advocates think we should be growing and eating more native foods like cactus.
One such voice is Will Thomson, who started thinking differently about crops after he had a farm in Albuquerque's North Valley growing market vegetables like eggplants and tomatoes.
"I saw that lots of the things we grow use a lot of water," he said. "And we're in a desert that's going to get hotter and drier."
There are many edible plants that are adapted to arid climates, among them the opuntia or prickly pear cactus, whose fruits have long been eaten by Native people and whose pads, or nopales, are a big part of Mexican cuisine.
But although they grow everywhere, their deep reddish fruits a beloved fall sight, "we don't eat them much here," said Thomson.
He wanted to change that, so he started a prickly pear festival in Albuquerque in 2019, with products to buy and workshops to learn how to prepare the fruits, in an atmosphere designed to be fun.
"I really wanted to have a place to have discovery and joy around eating this fruit that lots of people are familiar with but they may not have tried," he said.
The annual event began as a partnership with the Three Sisters Kitchen in downtown Albuquerque and grew into a two day event now held at the Gutiérrez-Hubbell house in the South Valley.
This year's event will begin in the evening on Friday, September 27, with music, flamenco dancing and prickly pear cocktails and mocktails. On Saturday, September 28, there will be workshops on how to prepare and preserve the fruit, prickly pear-themed crafts, and talks for farmers interested in growing the cactus.
"There's all kinds of stuff you can do with this and still make a great product, make some money and do it using more sustainable things," said Thomson.
There will also be cuttings available for sale for people to begin growing their own prickly pear at home.
