One in seven people in New Mexico face food insecurity. That’s according to the 2024 Map the Meal Gap study by Feeding America. Advocates say one way to help address hunger in the state is by improving outreach to those who may qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which provides food benefits to low-income families. To learn more about this, Anthony Moreno talked with Jason Riggs, Advocacy and Public Policy Director with Roadrunner Food bank.
Transcript:
Anthony Moreno: Jason Riggs, advocacy and public policy director with Roadrunner Food Bank, joins us now to share more about efforts to improve SNAP outreach in New Mexico. Jason, thanks for joining.
Jason Riggs: Very happy to be here. Thank you.
Anthony Moreno: Your organization, and other advocates addressing food insecurity in the state have called on lawmakers to pass legislation to require state law for the healthcare authority to submit a snap outreach plan every year to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Why do you feel this is needed?
Jason Riggs: Well, a lot of people need help actually applying for SNAP. A lot of people don't have the information they they're not sure how to go about applying. They might not have Internet access, they might not have internet proficiency. They could go in person and apply where income support division field offices would be happy to help them, but they might live far from those offices. So, outreach is really needed, and New Mexico is actually a little late to the game, other states have had a state SNAP outreach plan for years and years and years, and at Roadrunner Food Bank, we're really excited that the state is making this happen.
Anthony Moreno: Now you mentioned other states having an outreach plan already in place. What do we know about how this is making a difference in those states?
Jason Riggs: When I first helped Roadrunner start our SNAP outreach program. This was 10 years ago. This is this is before New Mexico even talked about having a state plan. You know, we communicated with a lot of other food banks that we're already doing SNAP outreach, and we saw that, you know, by their state, particularly like Nebraska and some of our neighboring states, they were established, so you know, it's one thing for someone at a food bank or another community based organization to go out and tell people I can help you apply for SNAP, you know, but it really helps if there's some kind of communication between the government agency and our case, the income support division of a healthcare authority. It's really good to have that communication and that cooperation between the Community based organization doing snap outreach and the actual SNAP agency of the government and so other states, they had that they were working with their States and on top of that, by submitting this plan, it entitles the state of New Mexico to get federal funds to match 50 percent of the outreach costs and if the state is working with a community- based organization, that organization can then hold down some of that funding, and since most of these, if not all of these organizations that help people apply for SNAP and across the country, most of them are nonprofits and limited in funds. There is not a whole lot of grant funding for SNAP outreach out there, so these funds can really help a community- based organization grow their snap outreach program.
Anthony Moreno: If this plan was implemented into law in New Mexico, how do you see your organization perhaps playing a role in it?
Jason Riggs: We've been playing a role for quite a while, along with the New Mexico Center for Law and Poverty, trying to get the state first to get a SNAP outreach plan. So, you know, we're really delighted that this is finally transpired in the in the government’s fiscal year 23, we were the sole organization. Year two is about to begin, so we are joined by our Sister Food Bank, the ECHO Food Bank that serves San Juan County, based in Farmington. So, we're delighted. We've already been very blessed to receive some of this funding and that has helped us hire more personnel, hire a second bilingual Spanish speaker so that we can reach more new Mexicans where you know, language itself is a is a challenge. You know, the SNAP applications are available in English and Spanish, but you know it is great to have somebody helping that that can communicate in both languages. And you know, we'd like to expand that. There's a lot of languages spoken in New Mexico and a lot of communities that we could reach if we had someone that could speak Vietnamese or Farsi or Arabic or many other languages. Not to mention, you know, some of our indigenous languages here in this in the state.
Anthony Moreno: Jason Riggs is an advocacy and public policy director with Roadrunner Food Bank in New Mexico. Jason, thank you so much for joining us.
Jason Riggs: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me and shout out to your listening audience.
