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Jose Luis Moreno is the executive director of the Laredo Center for Urban Agriculture and Sustainability, a nonprofit dedicated to the the creation of an urban food system that will increase access to local, fresh food for low-income citizens and the community at large.
Every day, Jose Luis is a witness to the impact that climate change is having on his crops and demonstration gardens off Chihuahua Street in Laredo’s inner city. During the summer season, rows of tomatoes, chiles, zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, and okra planted at LCUAS’ Canseco House struggle under the blistering sun.
Jose Luis has to carefully plan watering schedules and volunteer hours so that they revolve around heat conditions. Volunteers work the garden from 8:30am to 12 noon, latest. Even the festive pumpkin patch which takes place in late October and attracts hundreds of families, has to open late, after 6:30pm, when the sun sets due to lingering late season heat.
The Canseco House demonstration farm promotes sustainable agriculture practices. Jose Luis wants to strengthen the relationship between the Laredo community and nature, and teach more people how to grow their own produce.
“Everything is part of the ecosystem and to the extent that each of us respects it, it will be a more beautiful world and a better world,” says Jose Luis, who is passionate about teaching people how to plant crops and care for the soil.
As climate change creates unpredictable weather partners, one such occasion that affected Jose Luis’ urban farm was Winter Storm Uri which claimed 700 lives across Texas in 2021. "Half of the garden died,” Jose Luis said. That was a turning point for him; he realized he had to learn to adapt.
Strategic applications of fresh water, vital for agriculture, has become key for Jose Luis. LCUAS has implemented drip irrigation techniques that allow for a more efficient distribution of water, minimizing evaporation losses by up to 90%. (Wilson & Bauer, 2014). José Luis mentions that " it is not about using more water, but about using it intelligently."
But drip irrigation isn’t enough to keep fruits and vegetables alive in Laredo. In hotter months, LCUAS volunteers have to water by hand three times a week because the smart irrigation system is unable to provide enough water to the plants.
While heat poses a major threat to Laredo gardens, rising temperatures elsewhere may reduce the growth of crops by nearly 40% in the United States (US Department of Agriculture [USDA], n.d.). As climate change intensifies, successful adaptation may become nearly impossible. As José Luis mentions, “the statistics say it, these are not the same temperatures as 20, 30, 40, years ago. So, it’s getting worse every year.”
Over the past 130 years, average global temperatures have increased by between 0.3°C and 0.7°C (0.6°F and 1.2°F), with future increases of 0.2°C (0.4°F) every decade (Bhattacharya, 2019).
Children are vital to the life of the garden. José Luis comments: “I work a lot with children in the garden and like to think that every child who comes here to work or learn something is a potential crop producer.” Through direct teaching and active participation, children not only learn about agriculture, but also about the importance of caring for the land. José Luis teaches them that “the real superheroes are farmers who care for the land.”
Jose Luis invites the community to connect with nature without letting heat be an impediment and emphasizes how today’s action can have on future generations.
Climate change threatens access to food making it impossible for farmers to adapt as quickly as needed to the increasing rate at which the planet is heating (Niranjan, 2025). Food insecurity and vulnerability are apparent in regions like South Texas, where dry periods and extreme temperatures have affected livestock and yield, which directly affects the ever increasing price of food (Carver, 2023).
In order to create a sustainable future, Jose Luis emphasizes every individual must begin changing their habits and make more eco-conscious choices. The future of our planet depends on how we care for and value the earth and the resources it offers us today.
