SCOTT BROCATO:
What counties and areas seem to have the greatest preponderances of food deserts?
EMILY WILDAU:
You know, it's a huge problem in New Mexico. There are three counties that are completely food deserts, meaning everyone in the county has low access to food as defined by the US Department of Agriculture. And those are Harding, Catron, and DeBaca. McKinley, Rio Arriba and Colfax all have also over 50% of their populations in food deserts. But in some you see that there's issues with food deserts like McKinley, which includes most of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. And Dona Ana has 42% of the population experiencing food deserts. And that's where you've got your colonias and other counties that have higher poverty and greater representation of native nations, tribes and pueblos. You start to recognize that there's choices in many cases driven by historical racism that result in these issues as well.
SCOTT BROCATO:
How do we rank as a state, New Mexico, among other states, and food insecurity and food desert areas?
EMILY WILDAU:
As of 2021, New Mexico's rate of food insecurity overall is 14%, whereas for the US it was 10%. And for child food insecurity it’s 19% compared to 13% nationally. So, you know, you can see on a map that food insecurity rates are typically worse in southern States and in the Southwestern states.
SCOTT BROCATO:
How does food policy affect food deserts?
EMILY WILDAU:
Yes, that's a great question. So New Mexico is the 5th largest state geographically, and it's very rural, so many communities have that limited access to food, particularly healthy and fresh foods. So nearly 30% of New Mexicans are living in a federally designated food desert, and many rural communities especially have less access to food options. So as far as policy choices for food, you know there's federal policies like programs like SNAP and WIC. But even getting those, if you're in a food desert where you can't access good foods that are provided that you could purchase with those benefits, they don't do as much good. We've got about one in five children in New Mexico that are living in high poverty areas where there's concentrated poverty, and neighborhoods with many families that are earning low incomes often have fewer grocery stores nearby, and often have more access to fast food restaurants and convenience stores with really small grocery selections instead of those kind of full service establishments with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
And, you know, I've mentioned that the term “food desert” is a federal designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But I hear a lot of folks that are working in food justice talk about it as food apartheid because it's really built into the system, and it's a choice to leave places with less access oftentimes.
SCOTT BROCATO:
What can lawmakers do to address the issue?
EMILY WILDAU:
First of all, I really want to say a big thank you to our legislature and the governor. One thing that they did last legislative session in January was they passed universal healthy school meals for all kids. And that came at a time when some of the emergency SNAP benefit programs were ending; families were experiencing really high inflation and their grocery bills. And so now this school year, kids are able to go to school, (and) no matter who they are, they get a free breakfast and a free lunch. And that program also incentivizes programs and schools that bring in local, healthy foods. So just a huge thanks to the state for that.
And one thing that the lawmakers can do is make sure that that continues to be funded and is supported moving forward. Other things that they can do is continue to provide support to food banks. Food banks often have food assistance programs that are specifically designed to take food into low access communities, whether that's on like a big truck trailer where they can bring in food to places that don't have access, so it's right there in the community. And there's a lot of really great programs that food banks do to reach food deserts.
And lawmakers should really support the food system more broadly. So that includes things like supporting rural communities, food production; supporting traditional food production that native communities have been doing for generations; and supporting the critical role acequias play in many communities.
