“Sustainable agriculture is deeply rooted in community well-being.”

Dulce Moeller

Agriculture has always been a part of life for Dulce Moeller. She grew up in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico in a family of campesinos, or farmers. Dulce and her family of origin are Ñuu Savi, or “people of the rain,” an indigenous group with centuries-old roots in the Mixtec region.

The Mixtec region is divided into three subregions based on geography: Mixtec Alta, Mixtec Media, and Mixtec Baja. Dulce’s hometown, Asuncion, Cacalotepec, in the Mixtec Alta subregion, was never conquered by Spanish colonizers. The people there work to preserve many of the ancient traditions of the Ñuu Savi. Dulce speaks both Spanish and Mixtec.

In Mexico, Dulce had the opportunity to attend college and earn a master’s degree in business administration from the Institute of Technology of Mexico (ITAM), after which she had a career in finance working for Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). During college in Mexico, she was a volunteer making cooperative coffee for the Mixtec community. She explained that it was not easy pursue an education while working.  

Dulce came to Wisconsin in 2012, and married her husband William, a small business owner. They do not share any children, but Dulce has a daughter who lives in Mexico, along with the rest of her family. 

While in Wisconsin, Dulce has attended College of Menominee Nation (CMN). Dulce chose CMN because she likes the community structure in Native American culture, and attending a Native institution was important to her. She also appreciates her small cohort size. She explained that adapting to the US education system was an adjustment. Since first enrolling at CMN, Dulce has received an associate's degree in public administration, a 2-year degree in Natural Resources, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is now a senior in the Sustainable Agriculture program at CMN and a recipient of the SUSHI Scholarship. She is happy to graduate from the agriculture program. 

“Sustainable agriculture is not about growing crops; it is about caring for soil, water, air, adapting to weather, healthy food, and the environment for all living things.”

Dulce Moeller

To support herself, Dulce has always held part-time positions throughout her education. She currently works at the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) at CMN as a field coordinator for the SDI agriculture program, a position she has held for 3 years. In this role, Dulce works with experimental agricultural plots, collecting and processing data, training interns, and working with her mentor, Dr. Frank Kutka. The work encompasses 4 projects involving fruit trees, education, culture, foodways, and ancient gardens with flint corn. Her position is grant-funded through U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This grant concludes in May 2025, after which she will have to find another position. 

Through SUSHI scholarship funds, Dulce was able to receive an online certificate in aquaponics. As a function of her position at SDI, she worked with students at Menominee Indian High School using the high school’s aquaponics system. She and the students worked in greenhouses and grew experimental plots of the corn and beans, including some aquaponics in the aquaponics system.

“The SUSHI scholarship program is an excellent support for students like me...My support is only scholarship-based, so every coin is crucial to me to continue my college education.”
Dulce Moeller

She is passionate about sustainable food production, organic food, and teaching the relationship between agriculture and the health of our world. She expresses that adapting food systems to sustainable models is crucial in a globalized world with a changing weather patterns.  
After her graduation from CMN this spring, Dulce hopes to pursue a master's degree in agriculture or environment. She is interested in occupations within the agriculture industry with a focus on the relationship to the environment, and the sustainable production and consumption of organic foods.