Recent federal cuts will impact thousands of families relying on food banks, hunger advocates told lawmakers Thursday during the Legislature’s interim Economic and Rural Development Committee meeting in Farmington.
Officials from the state’s largest food banks said earlier this month that charities and other programs will have less food to feed longer lines of hungry people, especially with 40,000 New Mexicans expected to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in the new Congressional spending bill.
Rural programs will take a particularly big hit, employees from the Farmington-based nonprofit Economic Council on Helping Others Inc., said.
Nicknamed ECHO Inc., the group offers rental assistance and help with bills; operates a preschool; supplies back-to-school supplies for low-income families and feeds more than 7,000 households in Northeastern New Mexico through its food bank.
ECHO Inc. Associate Director Paula Gerthing said the food bank is the organization’s largest program, distributing nearly 2 million pounds of food in the last year for families. That includes 10,000 meals for kids and about 4,000 seniors.
Tami Jenkins, who directs the food bank, told lawmakers federal cuts earlier this spring amounted to just over $88,000, requiring the food bank to scramble to meet demand.
“That is 15,000 meals that we’ve had to somehow come up with and supplement what was expected to be there,” Jenkins said.
ECHO Inc. will lose 100% funding in fiscal year 2026 from a 90-year-old U.S. Department of Agriculture program used to purchase surplus eggs, milk and meat. In total, the end of the program will axe about $551,000 for ECHO Inc., amounting to a gap of 450,000 pounds of food.
Jenkins said that’s about seven months of food that will be lost.
“Once again, we’re gonna have to do fundraising and whatnot in order to fulfill that 450,000 pounds of food that we’re gonna miss,” she told lawmakers.
Additionally, the Trump Administration canceled $2.8 million in USDA funds for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, a “very popular” program that helps farmers deliver regional produce to food banks, schools and senior centers, New Mexico Department of Agriculture Marketing and Development Director Jason New said.
New Mexico Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) requested Thursday’s speakers share their challenges with lawmakers during the upcoming special legislative session in October, with the hope of addressing the program losses sooner than next year’s regular session
“We know our food banks have been hit extremely hard,” Romero said. “I want to be sure that cuts to both NMDA and the recent federal legislation and discussion of some of the budget issues and those implications are considered for the special session going in.”
