New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill declaring the smell of green chile roasting in the fall as the official aroma of the state.
The Governor signed Senate Bill 188 at Monte Vista Elementary School in Las Cruces. The bill was introduced by New Mexico Sen. Bill Soules, who said that the children at Monte Vista Elementary were the ones who came up with the idea behind the bill.
“We talked about how to lobby, how bills get passed, what the process is, and filed [to] have Senate Bill 188 to make the smell of chile roasting the official aroma of New Mexico.”
Governor Lujan Grisham said that the bill has significance from a cultural standpoint by spotlighting what makes New Mexico unique.
“You know that pride in who you are, what recognizes you, is incredibly valuable. And all of us love the smell of roasting green chile,” Lujan Grisham said. “That pride is good for us as humans. It’s really important for us to care about our state, be proud of the things that we do better than anybody else. And uniquely different than anybody else.”
New Mexico is now the only state with an officially recognized aroma.
