Article: 'COVID grew New Mexico hunger relief network'

Great article from Isabel Ruehl in New Mexico In-Depth

Below are a couple of excerpts, followed by a link to the full piece

"When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it created a food emergency of epic proportions.

But it had strong silver linings: People... learned how to access healthier food in their daily lives. And it forced food, health and agriculture organizations to scramble, causing them to rethink how to get food to those in need, with new collaboration and innovation that has the potential to transform New Mexico’s struggle with food insecurity."

This year, building on the gains made during the pandemic, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham launched the Food, Farm, and Hunger Initiative — recently renamed the Food Initiative —and secured $24.7 million from the Legislature to create and fund policy that tackles hunger across the state.

“The Food Initiative is Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s commitment to build a robust food system that measurably reduces hunger and improves equitable access to nutritious, culturally meaningful foods,” said Chavez, “while simultaneously supporting farmers, ranchers, and food businesses to produce more fresh food for food-insecure New Mexicans.” 

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