New Mexico First in Child Hunger (Again!)

Graphic from Feeding America

Six years ago, the Map the Meal Gap report published by the national anti-hunger organization Feeding America ranked New Mexico first in child hunger and second in food insecurity.  The report conclusions were based on statistics for 2011.

Since then, our state has continued to rank near the top of the list. (While those rankings are useful to put the problem into perspective, I contend that our focus should be on how we compare with past years, and not necessarily how we compare with other states).

Nevertheless, the latest Map the Meal Gap report, announced by Roadrunner Food Bank locally this week, offered a stark reminder of how much work remains to be done to address the problem of hunger in our state. The 2019 Map the Meal Gap report (based on statistics for 2017) again ranked our state number one child hunger. Regarding, general food insecurity, our state was fourth, compared with second in the 2013 report.

Graphic from Feeding America

Percentage of Hungry Children
In terms of numbers, the Map the Meal Gap report found that more than 118,000 children under 18 in our state suffered from hunger in 2017, or about 24 percent of our total number of kids in our state. Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas had higher numbers of hungry children than New Mexico, but they represented a smaller percentage.

“We’re number one has never had more tragic implications," Roadrunner Food Bank said regarding our top ranking on child hunger.  "But this study provides us with information that can help us change our standings in the national ranking and improve the future for New Mexico children.  So what is the Map the Meal Gap, and how can you use it to address the need in your community?"

The Map the Meal Gap report is also useful in providing hunger data by county. McKinley County, which includes Gallup, had the highest percentage (26 percent) of residents (18,920) who were food insecure in 2017. The largest actual numbers of hungry people were found in Bernalillo County (100,000), but that is because Albuquerque is our state's most populous community.That total represents almost 15% of the county's population. San Juan, Luna, Catron and Cibola Counties also had high percentages of residents who are food insecure. Here is the table for all New Mexico Counties. (This is the general link. Click on New Mexico to find our state's data).

In covering the Map the Meal Gap report, the Albuquerque Journal correctly pointed out that poverty is a major factor behind our state's hunger rates. Quoting statistics from New Mexico Voices for Children, the report said 27 percent of children in our state live in poverty, which ranked our state 49th nationwide, tied with Mississippi.

The Interfaith Hunger Coalition Responds
When a group of us first decided to create the Interfaith Hunger Coalition in 2013, our impetus was the 2013 Map the Meal Gap report. At that time, we noticed there was no place for faith communities to come together hold a conversation on how we could come together to address this pervasive problem. So we held our first Hunger 101 consultation at First Presbyterian Church.

Our purpose in coming together was not to resolve the overall problem of hunger, but to discuss and propose ideas on how to address the problem in various ways, including education, advocacy and support for direct-service efforts. This is spelled out in our mission statement.

We continue to promote conversations on hunger via our Hunger 101 workshops, which we have held at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church, the Jewish Community Center, Congregation Albert, and the Albuquerque Baha'i Community. We also recently sponsored a hunger focus group, which was partly a effort begin a conversation among food pantries and other food providers.

On the legislative front, we have worked with legislators to create a mechanism to address hunger in New Mexico on a broad and long-term perspective. House Memorial 65 in the 2019 legislative session reaffirmed the existence of a Hunger Council and provided for the creation of a bicameral and bipartisan Legislative Hunger Caucus to look at specific ways in which hunger can be addressed via the legislative process.

The process of ending hunger in New Mexico will involve many changes to structures, including addressing poverty and the needs of rural and Native communities, working families, seniors and children. But we now have the tools to continue the conversation and to propose legislation.