ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Every day, ranchers here in New Mexico, like Trinidad Mendez, are putting in the work. For nearly 20 years, Mendez Produce, a multi-generational farm based out of El Guique, New Mexico, has worked to grow almost everything under the sun to bring to your kitchen table.
“The support of the customers is the reason we’re able to move forward,” shared Trinidad Mendez, the owner and founder of Mendez Produce.
Mendez says the life of a ranchero is no easy feat; it takes hard work and dedication. “The experience of being a rancher is that the rancher likes the work, above all. Because it’s a lot of work. But the rancher who loves what they do does it with pleasure,” continued Mendez.
For the last five years, this family of farmers has traveled down from Rio Arriba County, displaying the fruits of their labor with customers at the Rail Yards Market. “It’s something that makes you feel very happy. Very happy when the customers value the work of the rancher,” shared Mendez.
Mendez says it’s all about keeping the ranching traditions alive for his family and the future generations of rancheros. “There has to be someone who works the land…There are not many people; youth no longer wants to work the land. But the land is life, knowing how to work it with love,” says Mendez.
