Santa Fe City and County Advisory Council on Food Policy

Santa Fe City and County, Advisory Council on Food Policy Thursday, December 11, 2025, 9:00AM-11AM ​ A. CALL TO ORDER 9:04am​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ B. ROLL CALL Nate Crail - Present Eric Renz-Whitmore - Not present David Sundberg - Present Susan Perry - Present Emigdio Ballon - Not present Tejinder Ciano - Not present Said Assali - Excused Jasmine Meyer - Present Peter Ives – Present Coy Maienza - Present We have a quorum. Staff: Pam Roy Helen Henry Guests: Christa Hernandez Marco Alarid White, NM Center on Law and Poverty JoDee Powers Catherine Nolte, Advocacy and Policy Specialist at The Food Depot​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ B. ROLL CALL ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA –December 11, 2025 [ACTION]​ ​ ​ ​ Prioritization and Agenda Order​ Move item G to just after item E David motioned Coy seconded​ Approved as amended ​ ​ ​ D. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – November 13, 2025[ACTION]​ Sue motioned David Montoined Approved​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ E. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR​ Christa Hernandez introduced herself and described what she does for the City. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ F. INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 1. Federal/State Updates Peter mentioned the news about Farm Aid becoming available to help out some farmers who are experiencing shortfalls because of the tariffs. Pam said that many farmers in NM will not see that aid because it is oriented towards commodity farmers and not small-scale farmers. She shared a list of the areas where the state is picking up funding shortfalls. The Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) is meeting this week to prepare for the upcoming legislative session. The state is now predicting a downturn in oil and gas revenues which will affect the state budget this year. It is likely that we will not be able to get recurring funding for programs this year. Marco: NM Center on Law and Poverty is beginning to get clarity around when SNAP work requirements will go into effect and what the parameters are. They hope to have materials available soon for people who are needing to maintain their status. Pam was in a meeting that it was announced that there is about a 40% increase in needs related to food, healthcare and other costs of living. Catherine concurred with this. David reiterated that all of these shortfalls in programs affect farmers in NM. He also mentioned that Congresswoman Ledger-Fernandez is working to update the requirements for including foods like nuts in food standards for programs such as SNAP and Double-Up Food Bucks. Pam went over the NM Food & Ag Policy Council’s 2026 priorities which are related to food and nutrition needs, and agriculture and water needs and include programs that are also on the Governor’s priority list. Sue commented that all of the programs in these priorities are connected and support each other synergistically. Pam also mentioned the work that we are doing at the federal level that affect us at the state level - these are things that Farm to Table is providing through the AgriPolicy newsletter and roundtables. Pam also explained about how funding for purchasing farmland and equipment is changing. The NMFAPC is doing a Civic Engagement Training on Jan 15 (virtual) and Food & Farms Day on Jan 30 at the Roundhouse. There will also be several walk-throughs at the Capitol to focus on advocacy work. There will be virtual Action Team meetings on Mondays at 11:30 throughout the legislative session. 2. Update to the Food Plan -summary comments [Action] Nothing to report 3. Update and submit County and City Resolution for 2026 Legislature We are behind on this. Pam has circulated the documents that we have used in the past to everyone. Action: She will do drafts of the documents and send those out. Peter mentioned that we need to highlight changes at the federal level that will affect us at the state level. Pam will keep things broad enough to give an overall picture. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ G. PRESENTATIONS: Santa Fe County Connect​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Coy Maienez MA, Health Services Administration Division Manager Santa F County Community Services Department Coy started out by acknowledging that several people who are on the call are involved with this program.​ Connect is an accountable community model that works to understand what the social determinants of health are with the goal of helping people thrive. It helps people connect to things like transportation, affordable housing, nutritional food, utilities, and interpersonal safety.​ Coy went over the history of the program which started in 2017 by establishing an affordable health community with 13 navigators across 8 programs. It is now a City/County partnership that has been built out with a call referral center. The state is currently looking at replicating this model with other NM cities adopting this model. The program now has about 85 community-based organizations that are part of the program. There are many ways that people can connect to the resources of the organizations in the network. Peter asked about funding as well as how the program is able to provide food assistance. Coy said that funding is tight because of the federal cutbacks. Peter suggested that Coy and Chistina meet with Justin Hennamin at the NM Foundation. Peter can make the introductions. Action: Peter suggested that we add a short update for the program to our regular agenda. Sue asked a question about how they protect people’s personal information and privacy. They are Hippa - compliant, so screening info is shared across the platform. There are some areas where the information is protected, depending on the situation. Navigators are trained in procedures. Sharing information is consent-based. City of Santa Fe Self-Referral Portal: https://www.santafenm.gov/connect Santa Fe County Self-Referral Portal: https://www.santafecountynm.gov/community_services/hhsd/ahc For 211, dial 211 and enter a Santa Fe zip code or call 505-245-1735​ ​ H. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Website re-build and transfer - Update from Helen Henry We are waiting for funding from the City to start this project. Action: Pam will follow up with Eric. Pam mentioned that Farm to Table is in the last stages of hiring a new Executive Director and that Pam will be moving to only doing the job of Policy Director. I. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Member check-in Coy stated that the SF Health Policy and Planning Commission (Santa Fe’s health council) is seeking to fill a position for District 1 (in the northern part of the county, Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque, up into Espanola.) David mentioned that USDA is launching a new regenerative pilot program (through EQUIP and Conservation Stewardship program). https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2025/12/10/usda-launches-new-regener ative-pilot-program-lower-farmer-production-costs-and-advance-maha-agenda ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ J. ITEMS FROM THE CHAIR​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Peter talked about the transition team for the new mayor. He is involved with this process. Peter mentioned a GMO development that might reduce the use of fertilizers. Discussion around this. 1. Mechanics for regular updates to City and County Governing bodies from SFFPC.​ ​ ​ Action: Peter asked that the SFFPC should forward the AgriPolicy notes and Report Card to the county commissioners and city councilors. We would like to establish ongoing regular communication with them. Sue said that we should be sure to flag information that may be of interest. ​ ​ 2. New member update Sue has some interest and is following up. Marco mentioned that the NMLPC is hiring for a new position that might be a better fit for this council. David will be stepping off the Council when we have someone who can replace him. We hope he will still come to these meetings. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 3. Next Meeting: January 8, 2026: Hybrid at the Food Depot​ 4. Topics for future presentations Zach Ben from Bidii Baby Food - farming at the Navajo Nation (Pam) We should devote a meeting to working on the Food Plan so we can get this done. K. ADJOURNMENT 10:50am These notes were taken contemporaneously and may contain errors and omissions. Signed by ___________________________ Helen Henry. I verify that these notes have been approved by a quorum of members of the Santa Fe Food Policy Council. Signed by Susan Perry, Co-chair or, Peter Ives, Co-chair _____________________________________________________