SENATE MEMORIAL 3

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Nancy Rodriguez

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS TO GLEAN UNHARVESTED FARM PRODUCE TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF FOOD INSECURITY.

 

     WHEREAS, according to feeding America's 2019 map the meal gap study, approximately three hundred twenty thousand people in New Mexico are food insecure and more than one-third of those who are food insecure are children; and

     WHEREAS, a 2010 missing meals study found that low-income people in New Mexico miss one hundred seventeen million one hundred forty thousand eight hundred seventy meals every year; and

     WHEREAS, people suffering food insecurity often make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as paying for housing or medical bills and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods; and

     WHEREAS, over fifty percent of households seeking emergency food assistance include at least one employed adult; and

     WHEREAS, in the United States, it is estimated that thirty percent to forty percent of the food supply is wasted each year; and

     WHEREAS, food waste worldwide is a major contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases, approximating the emissions of thirty-seven million passenger vehicles on the road; and

     WHEREAS, food waste occurs at every step of the food production process, from agricultural production to consumption; and

     WHEREAS, produce that does not meet the aesthetic standards for commercial sale is often left unharvested to save the expense and labor involved in bringing the produce to market; and

     WHEREAS, approximately twenty billion pounds of fruits and vegetables in the United States are discarded on farms or left in fields and plowed under; and

     WHEREAS, unharvested farm produce could be a source of food to address food insecurity in New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico department of agriculture be requested to convene a working group to develop recommendations to glean unharvested farm produce to address issues of food insecurity; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be composed of representatives of the New Mexico department of agriculture, the department of environment, the workforce solutions department, the human services department and relevant non-governmental organizations, including the New Mexico association of food banks, anti-hunger advocacy organizations, labor organizations and agriculture-focused groups, such as 4-H, the New Mexico farmers' marketing association and the New Mexico food and agriculture policy council; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be requested to develop recommendations on how best to coordinate with farmers to glean unharvested produce and efficiently distribute the produce in order to effectively address food insecurity; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be

requested to report its recommendations to the appropriate interim legislative committee by November 1, 2020; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the New Mexico department of agriculture, the secretary of workforce solutions, the secretary of human services and the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council.

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