Latest news with #HungerActionDay
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘With Many Hands,' Otero County residents address food insecurity
Community work day at the Maryland Avenue Garden in Alamogordo. (Photo courtesy Courtney McCary Squyres) When Courtney McCary-Squyres started noticing the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables at the market and on the store shelves in Alamogordo during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she decided to take action. McCary-Squyres is a lead organizer with the non-profit With Many Hands, an organization developed out of the Addition Collective Action Fund supporting community organizing efforts across the country. In Alamogordo and Tularosa, the organization is working to address food instability by creating community gardens in vacant lots. McCary-Squyres, her family and volunteers will join representatives of Roadrunner Food Bank Friday for Hunger Action Day at the Roundhouse. The group is advocating on behalf of House Bill 229, which proposes a $430,000 appropriation from the general fund to New Mexico State University for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to distribute to approved supplier programs. The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee last week advanced the bill, which now heads to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. When she started talking to her neighbors and fellow residents, McCary-Squyres said she found that access to food, particularly fresh foods, was a concern shared by many. 'And I had seen some communities online doing community gardens and being able to distribute fresh food via community gardens so that's when I started to become passionate about believing that that could happen in our community as well,' she told Source NM. Today, With Many Hands has developed three community gardens in Alamogordo and one in Roswell where volunteers join in the process of planting seeds, watering raised garden beds and harvesting the growth. McCary-Squyres said about 100 volunteers take part in some way throughout the year – so much so that they sometimes run out of jobs for people to take on. A wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown in the gardens – 'anything you can think of,' McCary-Squyres said. And when crops are ready to harvest, everyone is welcome to take as much as they need. For those who are unable to access the gardens, volunteers deliver produce to their homes. McCary-Squyres added that not only are the gardens providing nourishment and bringing people together, but also transforming areas of the community that showed blight and disuse. Volunteer work day at the New York Alleyway garden in Alamogordo. (Photo courtesy Courtney McCary Squyres) Their Puerto Rico Avenue garden is the organization's latest project. At about half an acre, the land will allow for larger yields and an area dedicated to children. 'We can encourage people to bring their families out to enjoy the garden,' McCary-Squyres said, adding that her own four children have been involved in community work days in the gardens when they're not in school. 'They were coming with us to water, to plant seeds.' Advocates are also supporting House Bill 77, which proposes an amendment to the Public Assistance Act requiring the Health Care Authority to create an annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach plan to promote the program. The bill has passed two committees and is set to appear on the House floor next. McCary-Squyres noted that there are a multitude of federal and state programs that help people establish secure access to food. Otero County residents are doing their part to join in the efforts. 'We consider ourselves New Mexicans now,' McCary-Squyres said, adding that she is from North Texas and her family moved to the area six years ago. 'We're from here now and we're planning on staying in Alamogordo for many years to come.' According to a news release, organizers estimate approximately 150 hunger advocates from across the state will attend Hunger Action Day, which will commence at noon in the Rotunda with music by the Cibola Choir, comments from both The Food Depot and Roadrunner Food Bank leaders, as well as remarks from state Rep. Charlotte Little (D-Albuquerque) and Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española). Little is a co-sponsor of House Bill 17, which would create the Commission on Reduction of Grocery Costs to study and determine strategies for reducing grocery prices for consumers. Jaramillo co-sponsored Senate Bill 4 in 2023 establishing free and healthy school breakfast and lunch for students K-12. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
