Urban Agriculture: Centro Mayapán Farmers and Produce Market
Featured Projects
>Plan Mayachen
>Centro Mayapan
>Center for Bilingual Development and Social Enterprise (CBDSE)

Centro Mayapán will include a Farmers and Produce Market by creating a network amongst existing and new growers and farmers in the colonias and other rural areas surrounding El Paso, as well as encourage and connect with urban-based community gardens and agricultural production.

The Produce Market will develop new regional networks that can link producers and consumers of products related to the Mexican cuisine, as a direct marketing activity. To ensure that the Market offers the diversity of products sought by consumers, the program also will seek out and secure produce suppliers and vendors from throughout the Southwest and Mexico, to provide specialty produce items, not easily grown in the El Paso area, but in strong demand by area consumers.
In addition, the Market will create and supply a network ofconsumers seeking access to a diverse array of fresh produce, by not only serving as a retail market, but also connecting to and supplying centers of consumer demand in the rural areas of El Paso, including the colonias. The market will facilitate this network of consumers by establishing trading relations with other community-based organizations in rural areas.
eature the harvests of area farmers and community gardeners, as well as local and international produce suppliers. The goa
The Produce Market will fl is to facilitate “one-stop” shopping for area consumers’ fresh food needs, especially those linked to Mexican cuisine. The Produce Market will feature the harvests of area farmers and community gardeners, as well as local and international produce suppliers. The goal is to facilitate “one-stop” shopping for area consumers’ fresh food needs, especially those linked to Mexican cuisine.

The community-supported agriculture program will operate with a regional network of existing farms with which Centro Mayapán will engage in advance purchase contracts to supply the needs of several of its operating divisions for key products. This effort will serve as a pilot program that will be scaled up to include a larger number of businesses in the El Paso area.
Café Mayapán and Rayito de Sol Daycare, two divisions of Centro Mayapán, currently purchase an array of agricultural and fresh products from local intermediaries. To strengthen the regional network and initiate business relations with local farms, these businesses will engage in advance purchase contracts that cover products such as milk, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, onions, chiles, and fresh vegetables, based on average monthly consumption.The Market also will encourage the formation of an alternative direct producer-to-consumer infrastructure to allow monthly bulk purchases from the farmers market’s network of producers, AND to generate affordable consumer baskets of farm products, called despensas in Spanish. These baskets will be bought be workers and members of La Mujer Obrera and its network of non-profit organizations and businesses.


Finally, the Market will be linked to an urban agricultural greenhouse and training center which will
provide the research and business support necessary to facilitate the success of the Market. The center
will include an urban community garden, urban livestock, and orchards, and will also serve as a training
center for property managers.

The urban agricultural training center will be the base for generating food products and a revenue stream
for low-income families and the organization. It will also serve as a place for promoting family unity and
appreciation of the environment. In addition, It will be a training center to teach viable marketable skills in
agriculture, business development and management, property maintenance and care of the land. It will
build on the knowledge and skills of many Mexican immigrants who tended land in Mexico, while also
incorporating the best of modern technology and expertise regarding urban agriculture. The existing
property already has the basic infrastructure, including housing, outbuildings and productive land and
orchards. It currently produces eggs, chickens and pecans as commodities for sale. There are two more
acres of potentially productive land. With the addition of a greenhouse, dedicated to growing products that
require such a structured environment in the El Paso climate, the facility can supply the Market with
flowers and other kinds of plants and herbs in addition to food.

In summary, the Market will:

• Make affordable, healthy and organic food available to the people of South Central El Paso and
the general community.
• Offer solutions to environmental concerns over resource scarcity in the Chihuahuan desert
through its training center.
• Use ingenious, ancient Mexican agricultural techniques of crop rotation and soil-less, aquaponic
cultivation, and serve as a means to celebrate Mexican culture by acknowledging its many
contributions to this community’s economy, and environment.
• Provide a source of economic development in the heart of South El Paso, providing dignified jobs
to the community and affordable food.