What Georgia Maryol is probably best known for in Santa Fe is the popular Tomasita's restaurant.
“I spent half my life there,” she said Thursday of her three decades of ownership. “I raised my kids there.”
But after attending a recent meeting at Santa Fe High about Texas-based Tecton Energy's proposal to drill for oil in the Galisteo Basin, Maryol has added a new passion: supporting local farmers as a way to cut down on the community's need for oil.
Maryol has donated $100,000 as a challenge grant for the Santa Fe Farmers Market Building in the Railyard. Any donation the market receives before the end of the year will be matched by Maryol's gift.
“This is not an overnight solution,” said Maryol. “It's a long-term solution to what's going to be a long-term problem. But we set precedents in this town— like the living wage, for example— and we can set another one.”
Maryol would like to see the community join with her in that precedent. “I'm a business person,” said Maryol, who licenses Tomasita's to her cousin, Ignatios Patsalis. “I know that business gathers taxes, it employs people, but I think the drilling will devalue real estate, our culture, the reputation of our community and hurt tourism here.”
Maryol sees the farmers market as doing the opposite. “If we support local farmers, we're cutting down on our need for oil,” she said, noting that food often comes “from 1,500 miles away” and transporting it requires oil.
Sarah Noss, executive director of the Farmers Market Institute, the fund-raising arm of the market, said Maryol is an enthusiastic supporter of the market. “Georgia was a member of our capital campaign committee, starting in the summer of '06 when we launched it publicly.”
Maryol's son, George Gundrey, was then working as the marketing and outreach person for the institute and now is executive director of the market.
“About 90 percent of the food we buy at the local grocery stores travels 1,500 miles to get here,” said Noss, “and so the process of transporting food from the coasts to Santa Fe creates a lot of greenhouse gases and consumes a lot of fuel.”
Noss said the farmers at the market live an average of only 44 miles away. “I think Georgia's right that if people want to make a difference, one of the ways to do that is to support local farmers.”
Donations should be made payable to the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute Building Fund and sent to 607 Cerrillos Road, Suite 4, Santa Fe, NM 87505. For information, call 983-7726.
