My View Published in The Santa Fe New Mexican on June 6, 2026
New Mexico Is Choosing Abundance In Food Policy
By Jill Dixon
You never forget the lines of cars at your first food distribution, or the clients. Somehow, even after your hundredth, moments still stay with you.
As the executive director of The Food Depot, community members have questioned if our mission to end hunger is possible. The last few years I’ve challenged, “Hunger is a policy choice.” Any policy choice at a governmental level can create scarcity, increasing food distribution lines or embracing abundance for families.
The Food Depot propels the movement toward food security by supporting a strong network of nonprofit organizations and our own programs, all of which cumulatively provide food assistance at 150-plus locations each month. Dedicated staff, volunteers and partnerships have made the staggering task of distributing 12 million pounds of food to 43,000 New Mexicans possible this year. These clients are friends and neighbors hit hardest by the affordability crisis.
Food banks, by design, should be the last line of defense to prevent people from going hungry. Long before someone, perhaps a senior, enters our Thursday morning distribution line before the sun rises, they have exhausted all other options. This grandmother has used her Social Security to pay the rent for her small family. Her daughter’s paycheck has paid utility bills, hospital bills and school supplies for her granddaughter. They have both hustled for extra income this month to fix the car and used their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/WIC funds by mid-month.
In this space of anxiety, we recognize that all U.S. states are not created equally. There is no uniformity from state to state in safety net services offered, including the presence of universal school meals for her granddaughter.
Each state must make its own policy choices regarding food security, one of scarcity or one of abundance. In New Mexico, we choose abundance.
The Governor’s Office and state Legislature took bold policy action in 2024 to create Universal Healthy School Meals. With nearly 25% of New Mexico’s children experiencing food security that year, Universal Healthy School Meals expanded meal eligibility to more than 150,000 previously underserved children, offering an additional 2.5 million breakfasts and 3 million lunches.
By making meals accessible to all, the healthy meals program eliminated the shame and stigma surrounding reduced lunch. The state’s continued investment has secured schools as places where children can learn and grow.
Additionally, in 2024, the state made a bold policy decision to expand SNAP, formerly food stamps, eligibility from 165% to 200% of federal poverty level. Although SNAP is a federal program, this decision made grocery benefits accessible to an additional 67,697 New Mexicans. SNAP is the nation’s most effective hunger-relief program. These households were empowered to shop for their own groceries with additional SNAP benefits rather than seek emergency food assistance. This policy choice embraced abundance and strengthened the economy.
The Food Depot celebrates the strategic leadership and continued commitment to food security from our New Mexico policymakers. Policy interventions have reduced childhood poverty at a rate far exceeding the national average.
Using the supplemental poverty measure, New Mexico’s childhood poverty rate falls to 10.3% compared to the standard measure of 24.2%, ranking the state as 21st in the nation. Policies of abundance are working, and this progress must continue.
New Mexicans are facing increased fuel costs, transportation barriers and food-supply challenges. Families will continue to need support from state leadership and regional food banks to make ends meet. Still, we are empowered by the commitment from the New Mexico Health Care Authority, the state Legislature and the Governor’s Office. New Mexicans have proven that when we choose policies of abundance, our communities begin to thrive.
Jill Dixon is the executive director of The Food Depot, Northern New Mexico’s regional food bank serving nine counties.
