PAC I S S U E P A P E R
HUNGER
Policy Advisory Committee, Joie Glenn, Chair
New Mexico Aging and Long‐Term Services Department
Bill Richardson, Governor ● Michael Spanier, Acting Cabinet Secretary
2550 Cerrillos Road ● Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
505‐476‐4799 ● 1‐800‐866‐451‐2901 ● www.nmaging.state.nm.us
OVERVIEW
Hunger is a real issue in New Mexico. Every day, one in every six New Mexicans faces uncertainty
about their next meal. This dire statistic applies to each of the 33 counties in New Mexico. It is likely
that someone you interact with on a daily basis is part of this statistic and needs your help to find
their next meal.
DATA REGARDING THE ISSUE
● The most recent USDA data indicates that New Mexico leads the nation in food insecurity (hunger).
● A U.S. Department of Agriculture study shows 15.8% of New Mexico’s residents were forced to skip
meals, not eat so their children could, or simply worry about where their next meal is coming from.
● One in six New Mexicans do not know where they will get their next meal. One in four children and
one in eight seniors do not know where they will get their next meal.
● Each month in New Mexico, 89,000 people visit pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens in search of
emergency food for their families. A profile of them shows:
o 34% are children.
o 12% are younger than 5 years of age.
o 9% are elders.
o 36% have jobs.
o 63% have incomes at or below 75% of the poverty level.
o 20% are receiving social security.
o 28% of households have at least one person in poor health.
o 3.2% are on welfare.
● Hunger in New Mexico can be largely attributed to our high poverty rate and the rural nature of the
state.
● A recent study indicated that the average travel time to a grocery store in New Mexico was 29 minutes.
New Mexico has one food store for every 486 square miles.
Mr. John Aquino ● Ms. Dorothy Bitsilly ● Mr. Russell A. Boor ● Ms. Salome DeAguero
Ms. Joie Glenn ● Mr. Sol Hoffman ● Ms. Cookie Johnson ● Mr. Ron Montoya
Mr. Lonnie Ray Nunley ● Mr. Bruce Nieto ● Mr. Robert G. Peets ● Ms. Gil Yildiz
ANTICIPATED FUTURE IMPACT OF THE ISSUE
• Some members of the New Mexico Task Force to End Hunger created a three‐year plan to address
hunger entitled “The New Mexico Plan to End Hunger.” The overarching goal of the plan is to move
the state’s national ranking from #1 to #5 in food insecurity in the next three years. This would help
35,000 New Mexicans.
• The five specific goals to reach the overarching goal are:
1) Eliminate childhood hunger in New Mexico.
2) Provide adequate food for New Mexico Seniors.
3) Improve access to food in rural and underserved communities.
4) Encourage full participation in public food assistance programs.
5) Create pervasive awareness of hunger in New Mexico.
• Effectively addressing the problem of hunger in New Mexico will require an active collaboration
among food banks, the private sector and government
• Outreach and education about the availability of food stamp programs is crucial to assure that eligible
families and seniors do not go to bed hungry.
ANTICIPATED FUTURE NEEDS
● Hunger will continue to be a critical issue for children, especially in summer months when school meal
programs are not available.
● Assuring adequate food for seniors will be a critical problem, as the population of persons older than
age 65 grows in future years.
● New Mexico Plan to End Hunger strategies combine feeding school‐age children with Senior citizens.
Plans are underway to extend these strategies to 50 locations in New Mexico during future summers.
● The private sector will play an essential role in helping address the problem of hunger in New Mexico.
The PNM Resources Foundation, the Albuquerque Community Foundation and the McCune
Foundation have each pledged $300,000 for the New Mexico Plan to End Hunger; several other
foundations and corporations have indicated interest in joining the effort.
● Senior volunteers to help children are needed and will be needed on an ongoing basis.
CHANGING ROLE OF ALTSD
● ALTSD has been a lead agency in building the private/public collaboration to accomplish the goals set
in the New Mexico Plan to End Hunger.
● ALTSD will more fully embrace the benefit of engaging senior citizen volunteers with children across
New Mexico.
● ALTSD will continue to participate in the movement of changing the statistic of one in eight seniors in
New Mexico not knowing where they will get their next meal.
August 2007
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