Free Lecture: Mesquite & Permaculture in Food Systems, with Gerardo Ruiz Smith
Join us in Tucson or Patagonia to learn from Gerardo Ruiz Smith about how growing mesquite can enhance desert food security and carbon drawdown.
Gerardo is a farm planner and regenerative agriculture consultant and trainer based in central Mexico. His work is mostly focused on the research and propagation of drought tolerant perennial crops and the design of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems that regenerate degraded lands, restore ecosystem processes, sequester atmospheric carbon, support rural economies and strengthen food security for the inhabitants of arid and semi-arid regions. He co-founded a mesquite nursery and a food business that works with women from rural communities in Guanajuato to harvest and process mesquite pods into high quality mesquite flour.
Participants will learn about:
- The ecology of mesquite
- The natural and ethnobotanical history of mesquite
- Mesquite processing and uses of mesquite
- Integration of mesquite into agroforestry and silvopastoral systems
Admission is free in both venues and no registration is needed. If you are unvaccinated, please wear a mask.
The lecture in Tucson will be streamed live through the Southwest Center's YouTube channel, linked below.