In New Mexico, about 15% of households have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. That rate of food insecurity is higher than the nationwide average and the legislature's Indian Affairs Committee heard on Thursday that food insecurity is believed to be at least twice as common among Indigenous communities living on reservations.
Although food benefits like SNAP and others are available, Jill Dixon from the Food Depot network of food banks said that that doesn't necessarily solve people's problems.
"Is there a grocery store that offers fruits and vegetables and protein within a reasonable distance to the folks that are living in that community?" she said.
On the Navajo Nation, for instance, the largest reservation in the U.S., there are only 13 grocery stores. Public transportation is limited, roads are often bad and some people can't afford a car or gas. And the products in the stores are more expensive than they would be in Albuquerque.
"And that just seems deeply unjust," said Dixon.
Another program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, does distribute food, although its recipients cannot participate in SNAP at the same time.
Dixon said that in families experiencing food insecurity, there are also higher rates of conflict, substance use, depression and anxiety
"Those are not optimal environments for children to grow up in."
The committee heard that food banks distribute in 23 out of 50 chapters of the Navajo Nation, 12 out of 19 pueblos, and in three places in the Apache nations. But there can be difficulties like a lack of cold storage, and the fact that many people need water distribution, and if mobile pantries are bringing water they have less capacity to bring food.
The panel did highlight some progress, saying that last year's legislation giving two free school meals a day to all students has made a big difference. Dixon said there is $10 million assigned in the state Health Care Authority's draft budget for funding to food banks.
Recently, there has been news that the federal Department of Agriculture will continue to fund a program that allows the state association of food banks to buy food from local farmers and producers.
Dixon recognized that the issues causing food insecurity are systemic and require large-scale solutions to things like housing and infrastructure.
"We know that we need to impact and uplift folks who are economically disadvantaged in a number of ways as a community," she said. "But I fully agree that we have to keep feeding people today."
