GROWING FOOD HUBS THROUGHOUT NEW MEXICO ERIN ORTIGOZA AND DAVID SUNDBERG

A collage of images by Zeke Peña from La Semilla Food Center’s Farm Bill zine, Food, Land and Us (see pg. 18).

BY ERIN ORTIGOZA AND DAVID SUNDBERG

Think about this for a moment: How and where do you access your food? Grocery stores, online, restaurants, convenience stores, workplace cafeteria, CSAs or farmers’ markets? Take the image of that place and the food you get there and walk out the back door. Where do they get their food? See how far back up the line you can follow your food. Can you trace it all the way to the field where it grew? If you can’t, you probably aren’t getting fresh, local food.

A handful of organizations and businesses in New Mexico—food hubs—are working to change that. A food hub is “a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and/or marketing of food products—primarily from local and regional producers—to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail and institutional demand.” (Wallace Center at Winrock International) Food hubs are critical for suppliers to be able to sell to different markets, like schools, hospitals and retailers; and for value-added producers, foodservice directors and individual consumers to have more options and locations to buy local foods. Food hubs also make it possible for emergency food programs such as food banks to get fresh, nutritious food. Food hubs get local food from the field to your plate. So, why aren’t there more of them? Making food hubs work takes a lot of planning, hard work and tenacity. Common motivations that people who work for food hubs have include a passion to provide delicious, fresh food for their communities and a recognition that we need to support farmers and a local food economy.

Below are excerpts of conversations with a few people working for or developing food hubs in New Mexico. These people are committed to supporting farmers, ranchers and local food producers with fair market pricing for their products. Thanks to their dedication, more New Mexicans have better access to healthy food produced by their neighbors— food that is hundreds, if not thousands, of miles closer to home. We can enjoy this food, knowing that it nourishes our bodies and our lands and supports our economy.

You can find how to engage with your local food economy through farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) and food hubs. Be deliberate about your food choices and how you access them. If you find yourself in a food desert, think about starting a hub in your community so you and your neighbors have better access to better food. Communication is essential for transforming an idea into action. We all grow stronger when we’re well-nourished.