Hunger advocates push for funding, policy at the Roundhouse
The Food Depot Executive Director Jill Dixon and hundreds of other food-security advocates turned out at the Roundhouse Feb. 21 for Hunger Action Day (Julia Goldberg/Source NM)
Hunger advocates were hard to miss Friday morning at the Legislature. They traveled in packs wearing orange shirts that read, 'Act Now/End Hunger,' and were on the move visiting lawmakers to spread the word.
Legislative priorities for The Food Dept and Road Runner Food Bank —along with their many supporters and volunteers — include: passing a state budget with $30 million for the state's five food banks; launch a Food is Medicine program through the state Health Care Authority; ensuring New Mexicans receive food and health benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and reforming the state's anti-donation clause so nonprofits can directly access state funds.
We asked The Food Depot Executive Director Jill Dixon a few more questions about hunger advocacy. The following interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
What's the goal for Hunger Action Day?
The goal is to bring together the food security action community to have a moment of celebration for all that's been accomplished over many, many decades of trying to improve the circumstances for folks experiencing food insecurity, and also an opportunity to connect people with their local legislators who really do want to hear their stories. It's a chance for us to express gratitude for the funding that has come forward in the past, and the funding that we'll hopefully receive in the future. We want to just make those relationships deeper and better.
Is there a disconnect with people not understanding how is in New Mexico?
It's so easy to live inside our own bubbles, and it's comfortable there. I think for folks who have experienced food insecurity, who have lived experience, it's maybe a heightened awareness for them throughout their entire lives. But for those of us who don't need to calculate exactly what we can put in the cart at the grocery store, there is a disconnect because it is not our lived experience. But there's always an opportunity to look up and look around and realize that one in five children in our community are experiencing food insecurity, statewide. It's a very real threat.
At the federal level, programs that help feed people also are now threatened. How is that impacting the hunger advocacy community?
The hunger relief network is really dependent on so many different programs and so many different entities to close what we call the meal gap, which is all those meals that people forgo because they don't have the resources. We want everyone to meet their caloric needs, to have those calories be nutritious. And there's a lot of different ways that intervention happens. There are food pantries with the food that comes from food banks; there's school meal programs, There's SNAP funds, most importantly, that help put money in people's pockets so they can buy the food they need. And all of those programs need to be fully funded, and folks who are eligible need to be enrolled at the greatest extent possible to make that meal gap close. When there is a shortfall in one of those areas, you see need go up, quite frankly.
You receive a lot of private donations too, but is there still fear about those potential federal cuts?
The food banks are thankfully not very dependent on federal funds in terms of money. But what we are dependent on is TEFAP [The Emergency Food Assistance Program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture] commodities. About 30% of The Food Depot's food comes from TFAP. Some of our other food bank partners, as much as 90% of their food comes from that source. There's no current understanding that there's a threat to that program, but it is a huge area of dependence for us. We're very concerned and very emphatic that SNAP benefits must remain in place at the level they are, or even expanded eligibility. For every meal that a food bank provides, SNAP can provide a family with nine meals. So when there is a shortfall in SNAP, when there is cut in SNAP, that deeply affects the charitable food system, which cannot bear the weight of cuts.
But I would say for people for whom the world seems scary or unkind right now, this is a moment for action, and the food banks are here to receive you. You can come distribute food, you can repack pinto beans. You can donate financially, of course, but you can be part of our advocacy network too, and doing something is better than being afraid.
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