SENATE MEMORIAL 12

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

A MEMORIAL

CELEBRATING NEW MEXICO'S FOOD AND FARMING CULTURE; DECLARING JANUARY 25, 2013 "NEW MEXICO FOOD AND FARMS DAY" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's vibrant food and farming culture is important to its rural economy and promotes employment on farms, in direct, wholesale and retail settings and in food processing, distribution and value-added businesses; and

     WHEREAS, studies have shown that for every one dollar ($1.00) that goes to local agricultural producers, one dollar eighty cents ($1.80) is circulated in the local economy; and

     WHEREAS, if New Mexican consumers were to purchase just fifteen percent of their food from New Mexico's farmers and ranchers, annual farm income would increase by three hundred ninety-two million dollars ($392,000,000); and

     WHEREAS, sixty-seven farmers' markets in twenty-seven New Mexico counties provide New Mexico-grown produce to thirty-five thousand people per week through direct sales, electronic benefit transfer allotments and the senior farmers' market nutrition program; and

     WHEREAS, in 2011, those farmers' markets had gross sales of six million two hundred thousand dollars ($6,200,000); and

     WHEREAS, the "Mixing Bowl" project, which features a United States department of agriculture-certified commercial kitchen, is a successful business incubator of Albuquerque's south valley economic development center; and

     WHEREAS, the creation of more kitchen-business incubators like the "Mixing Bowl" would accelerate the growth of rural food entrepreneurs; and

     WHEREAS, more than fifty New Mexico farmers sell New Mexico-grown produce to fifty-three school districts, which then serve that fresh, homegrown food to two hundred thirty-four thousand schoolchildren; and

     WHEREAS, access to fresh fruits and vegetables enriches children's diets, promotes healthy lifestyles and improves academic achievement; and

     WHEREAS, investing in children's health would help stem the rise in childhood obesity in New Mexico, where thirty-two percent of all children are overweight or obese; and

     WHEREAS, making New Mexicans healthier would save the state three hundred twenty-four million dollars ($324,000,000) in obesity-related health care expenses and one billion two hundred million dollars ($1,200,000,000) in diabetes-related health care expenses; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's community and school gardens are an important way for children and families to grow food and to learn about nutrition and the life sciences; and

     WHEREAS, programs such as foodcorps and Americorps, whose volunteers devote one year to serving local communities, have built and expanded hundreds of garden projects, donated thousands of pounds of garden produce, engaged hundreds of community volunteers and reached out to students throughout New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, increased investment by the legislature would enable schools to serve more New Mexican-grown produce to children and would support the economic development of local farmers, entrepreneurs and communities; and

     WHEREAS, capital outlay projects and funding are a means of expanding New Mexico's farmers' markets;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the time has come to invest in New Mexico's children, its economy and its future; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that January 25, 2013 be declared "New Mexico Food and Farms Day" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to farm to table.