Radio Free Rhinecliff  
Mezcal, Watersheds, and Trust: Bard professor Monique Segarra on Oaxaca, the Catskills, and Community-Led Sustainability

Episode 224: Mezcal, Watersheds, and Trust: Bard professor Monique Segarra on Oaxaca, the Catskills, and Community-Led Sustainability

Bard professor Monique Segarra returns from Oaxaca with mezcal and insights on agave sustainability, Zapotec land governance, and community-run conservation.

Show notes

Norm welcomes back Monique Segarra, a Bard Center for Environmental Policy professor just returned from Oaxaca, to share a mezcal from a small-batch palenque as they dig into agave's long growth cycles, industrial production, and what sustainability actually means for Oaxacan producers. Segarra, who has spent a decade doing field-based work with graduate students in the region, discusses water management, payments for ecosystem services, and community-run conservation businesses that support local livelihoods. She describes Zapotec communal land governance and one northern mountain community's collectively owned enterprises, including sustainable logging, a sawmill, furniture factory, community bank, and social programs. The conversation connects to New York's Catskills watershed agreement, WAC's voluntary whole-farm planning, and trust-building organizations, alongside personal family stories.

Produced by Norm Magnusson, Jennifer Hammoud, and Matty Rosenberg @ radiofreerhinecliff.org

Send comments to comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org

Hosts


Guests

Monique Segarra

Monique Segarra

View episodes

Subscribe now

Get new episodes of Correct me if I'm Norm automatically

Subscribe