On Tuesday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, other public officials and members of the New Mexico Chile Association announced a program to trademark and certify chile peppers grown in the state. The program was announced at Bernalilo's Range Café, the first restaurant to participate.

According to Fox News Latino, green and red spicy chile peppers can be found in almost every one of New Mexico's signature dishes. As a result, the vegetable is a very important crop to the state.

"Red or green is a question New Mexicans answer every day at breakfast, lunch, or dinner," Martinez said according to Fresh Fruit Portal. "Chile is a way of life in our state, ingrained in our culture and our economy. It supports more than 4,000 jobs and contributes more than $400 million every year to New Mexico's economy."

The program stems from 2011 legislation, which made it against the law to advertise chiles as New Mexican if they were not grown in the state. According to local news station KOB 4, farmers have had to compete with imposters and chile in pulp and powder form from China, India and Peru.

"The one question no one should ever has to ask is, 'Is this chile really New Mexican?' This program further cements the status of New Mexico Chile on par with other nationally-renowned state and regional products," Martinez continued.

"We are confident we can continue to expand markets for New Mexico Chile as consumers understand there is no imitation of the original," Dino Cervantes, New Mexico Chile Association president, added.

According to FNL, under the program, an independent auditor will certify chiles used by restaurants, salsa makers and others in the food business before they can advertise their New Mexico chiles. A website listing New Mexico Certified Chile providers has also been made

"Whether you prefer red, green or Christmas (a mix of both), you want to know that your chile was grown in New Mexico by farmers with generations of experience, in rich soil and the kind of intense sunlight that makes this flavorful food," Martinez said according to FNL.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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