Hatch New Mexico The Chile Capital of The World Rev 1

Hatch New Mexico the Chile Capital of the World.
I have chosen to do my expository essay on Hatch New Mexico. This small

village town is known as the Chile Capital of the World. The villages population is
roughly 1,648 people and sits about 4,058 feet above sea level. Colonias associated
with the Village of Hatch include Garfield, Milagro, Placitas, Rincon, Rodey, and Salem.
The Village of Hatch was incorporated with the state of New Mexico in 1928. Hatch is
located 37 miles northeast of Las Cruces in Dona Ana County off of Interstate 25.
I have been there many times because my fathers family lives there in Hatch. My
mother, my siblings, and I lived there for one year when my father was stationed in
South Korea. Living in different cities throughout my life Hatch, was always the getaway
vacation spot that my parents would take us to, every two years until my dad retired
from the Air Force. When I graduated from High School I moved back to Hatch to live
with my grandparents and work for the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation
Department. I worked there for a year before entering the military in 2001. My grandpa
and uncle have lived in Hatch for as long as I can remember. They are proud farmers
grow Chile, they also have over 200 pecans trees those are their main crops that they
grow annually.
Hatch New Mexico is known as the Chile Capital of the World. Hatch is known for their
Chile and many other agricultural crops such as onions, pecans, alfalfa, lettuce,
cabbage, sweet potatoes, wheat, cotton, and various experimental crops. There local
farming supports a host of subsidiary industries, such as onion sheds and Chile
dehydrating plants. Hatch has never experienced crop failure, but if a drought would
occur it would be a nightmare for farmers since they would lose their primary income
resource. Hatch crops are what feed their families and pay their bills. Drought and
parasites are a big issues when growing chile crops, so the farmers have to harvest the
chile fields by hand.
Now a days you can go to any grocery store and see Hatch green Chile in the
vegetables and in the can food isles. Hatch Chile, is so popular now that major food
chains such as Whataburger, Cracker Barrel, and On the Boarder have added Hatch
green Chile to their menus. When you enter Hatch you can see Chile stands off the
sides of the roads selling Chile. With that being said, there were authenticity issues with
stores, restaurants, and Chile stands selling different types of red and green chile and
were claiming to be selling chile grown within the state of New Mexico and Hatch Valley
area. To eliminate this problem on July 1, 2013 New Mexico passed the New Mexico
Chile Act. The New Mexico department of agriculture have authorized inspectors or
agents to audit the purchase and sales records of a person dealing with the sale of
Chile peppers or products containing Chile peppers that are advertised, described,
labeled or offered for sale as New Mexico Chile.
One of my favorite restaurant in Hatch is called the Pepper Pot Mexican restaurant.
There is a web article about the Pepper Pot, owner Melva Aguirre churns out hundreds
of plates a day of chili rellenos. When the Hatch Chile festival comes to town she states
that she has to make 3,000 chile rellenos for the weekend. Melva Aguirre grew up
picking chilies, and her brother still works the harvest each year. Chile farmers eat at
her restaurant so often they unlock the doors and let themselves in for breakfast.
Everything on her menu has chili. This shows the dedication that village Hatch has for
their chile products. In Melva Aguirres article there is some chile facts that Stephanie
Walker, from Chile Pepper Institute located at New Mexico State University wrote. She
is called the extension vegetable specialist. She is compared to the Encyclopedia
Brown of facts on hot peppers. Here are a few of her facts on chile that makes The New
Mexico Chilies Special. First, if you just bite into the tip of a very hot chili pepper and not
into the placenta or vein, you won't get any heat. 2nd, the Chili peppers and bell
peppers are the exact same genus and species. 3 rd, the heat in chili peppers does not
affect the birds sense of taste, making them a nuisance to farms. 4 th, Chili pepper are
fed to the Flamingos in zoos to keep them pink. 5 th and final fact is, the chemicals from
the peppers are used in paints applied on boats to keep barnacles from attaching
themselves to the sides of boats. I did not know any of these facts until I started typing
this essay. I found a unique quote that I liked from my research of this topic, it was from
Melva Agurrie, it is as follows: "You know, Wisconsin has their cheese, Idaho has their
potatoes, its about time New Mexico has their chile recognized around the world.
There are many different stores that sell chile products so you may want check them out
before making a purchase. One Chile store that I enjoy buying my Chile from, is called
the Hatch Chile Express. They have a good variety of Chile and has numerous other
items to purchase. They make it easy for buying over the internet. Hatch Chile Express
proudly holds the record of world's longest Chile at 17 inches. It is officially documented
by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Hatch Chile Express has been featured
on the Food Network five times on the following shows Eat the Heat, Garden Giants,
festivals of the World, Traveling the Southwest Corridor, and Whats in your Kitchen.
Hatch Chile Express has also been featured in several periodicals such as New Mexico
Imagine, Texas Monthly, National Geographic, Sunset Magazine and Parade Magazine.
They were also featured in USA Today's America's Famous Food Capitals.
Hatch holds there two day annual Hatch Valley Chile Festival during the Labor Day
weekend. This year the festival will be held on September the 3 rd & 4th 2016. It is
located at the Hatch Municipal airport one mile west going out of town on Highway 26.
The festival to date has attracted approximately 30,000 people from all over the United
State. One can get into the festivities by mood by attending the Carnival or by listening
or dancing to Mexican and Country Western music the Friday night before, followed by
the shopping and eating on Saturday and Sunday, there is something to do and enjoy
for everyone all ages. The main event on Saturday is the opening day ceremonies
which includes a Parade, crowning of the Hatch Chile Queen, followed by a variety of
different Chile, jalapeno, and the watermelon eating contest. There are several other
different festival events such as vendor booths, VFW horseshoe tournament, Beer
Garden, Chile roasting garden, Chile capital artist, and chile Ristra demonstrations.
This expository essay has brought me closer to Hatch then I ever thought. Even though
Hatch is a small village, there is so much history. I know more about the Hatch chile
festival, the New Mexico Chile Act that was passed July 1, 2013, and the facts about
what chile can be used for. I knew that Hatch was big on agriculture from all the chile
and pecans because that are grown by my grandpa and uncle. The other crops are
onions, alfalfa, lettuce, cabbage, sweet potatoes, wheat, cotton, and various
experimental crops. I did not realize how much the Pepper Pot Restaurant and the Chile
express have to do with the annual Hatch valley chile festival. Anyone visiting Hatch will
not be disappointed when experiencing friendliness of the local residents, chile festival,
restaurants, and chile shops.
When researching my expository essay I used the following web pages:
http://www.villageofhatch.org/
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/138805258/chile-pepper-capital-seeks-to-preserve-roots
http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/13%20Regular/final/SB0234.pdf
http://www.hatchchilefest.com/

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Hatch New Mexico the Chile Capital of the World.

I have chosen to do my expository essay on Hatch New Mexico. This small

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