Santa Fe City and County Advisory Council on Food Policy

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Santa Fe City and County, Advisory Council on Food Policy Thursday, March 12, 2026, 9:00AM-11AM Hybrid In Person Location: Santa Fe Country Extension Office, 3229 Rodeo Road Santa Fe, NM 87507 A. CALL TO ORDER​ 9:06am​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ B. ROLL CALL Susan Perry, Co-Chair - Present Peter Ives, Co-Chair – Present Nate Crail - Present Eric Renz-Whitmore - Not excused David Sundberg - Present (but had to leave) Emigdio Ballon - Present (joined late) Tejinder Ciano - Excused Said Assali - Excused Jasmine Meyer - Excused Coy Maienza - Present We do not have a quorum with everyone present at the same time. Staff: Pam Roy, Coordinator Helen Henry, Scribe Guests: Joseph Scala, Aggregate program, Santa Fe County JoeDee Powers, Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity James Martinez, Santa Fe County Senior Services Harrison Gibson (and Josephine) Catherine Nolte, The Food Depot Cathy Day, Farm to Table Marco Alarid White, NM Center on Law and Poverty Michelle Stizza, Santa Fe County Extension Hvtch Miller, SF County C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA –March 12, 2026 [ACTION] Prioritization and Agenda Order No quorum D. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – December 11, 2025, January 8, 2026, February 12,2026 [ACTION] No quorum E. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR Marco is working on supporting materials for some state legislation around nutrition. Harrison has been consulting with Kitchen Angels and he asked the new ED of Kitchen Angels would be able to come to this meeting. She wasn’t able to participate today, but is interested in being more of a part of what we are doing. Pam met with her recently as well. F. INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS 1. Federal/State/local Updates Pam gave an update on the legislative session. The Governor signed everything yesterday. Pam went over everything to make sure that all the things that we thought were going to pass, did indeed pass. Funding for programs in the state’s FY27 budget: ●​ Double Up Food Bucks Expansion $1 million in the NM Department of Agriculture (NMDA ●​ Regional Farm to Food Banks Program, $2 million to the NM Department of Agriculture ●​ Approved Supplier Program, $430,000 to the NM Department of Agriculture ●​ New Mexico Grown and raised food for senior meal programs, $1.5 million in the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, “Kiki Saavedra Dignity Fund” ●​ Healthy Food Financing Program, $2 million annually for three years (totaling $6 million in SB177) to the Economic Development Department ●​ WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs, $1 million to the Department of Health ●​ Health Councils, $4 million ●​ Student nutrition, $42,201,000 (Healthy Universal School Meals) to the Public Education Department’s Student Success and Wellness Bureau ●​ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, $2.5 million ●​ Farmers and ranchers’ soil and water conservation training program, $1 million to the NM Department of Agriculture ●​ Farmers and ranchers water efficiency grant program, $10 million to the NM State University Water Resilience Research Institute (WRRI) and an additional $5 million ●​ Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, $4,345,000 to the NMDA, water protection program of the environment department $1,936,100, and conservation services program of the department of wildlife $4,348,340. ●​ Acequia repairs and improvements, $5 million; SB 193 passed which will double the funding for the Acequia and Community Ditch Infrastructure Fund (ACDIF) from $2.5 to $5 million per year. ●​ Water Trust Fund, $100 million ●​ There’s additional funding for acequia and land grant education, bovine reproductive trichinosis eradication, $5,100,000; veterinary education and retention, $1,500,000; and support for NM State University’s meat processing facility, $3 million (pages 225-226). Pam noted that Bonnie Murphy is back on board to manage the Farm to Food Bank program. This is a very significant gain. Marco gave an update on SNAP litigation and how the state is making sure that the requirements that they have received are legally sound, measured against the requirements that NM is using. They are looking at reallocating some funds for the short term and are working on introducing legislation that can shore up the gaps in funding from the federal government. Pam: We will continue the discussions with some of our legislators who care really deeply about what we're doing to see if there are some ways to codify these things into a more holistic package and into recurring funding. We're hoping to be on the Water and Natural Resources Interim Committee's work plan with all the food and ag initiatives that we're working on. Sue made some observations about how NM is well-positioned to address food and water needs because we have put money aside that we can use for contingencies. NM is a state that has people who are willing to work towards solutions and not afraid to speak out which is a really healthy thing. Peter: We need to reach out with thank you notes! FTT is putting something together and can include the members of the SFFPC. (Arrange a sign-on event.) Also send to City and County governing bodies. Pam: We will try to get on the City Council’s agenda to do a presentation. Pam is going with the NM Dept of Ag on a trade visit to Argentina. Pam: Federal - Chairman Thompson decided to work on the farm bill. NM Congressman Gabe Vasquez is on the committee and NMFAPC has been meeting with him around this. The House Ag committee did pass their version of the Farm Bill that does not increase SNAP. This goes to the House floor. We are urging them to not pass this version of the bill because it does not address SNAP, which has been gutted. There is a slim margin in the House. Nothing has been introduced on the Senate side. It’s a delicate balance so we need to focus on the areas that are most meaningful to us. We can address some of the issues through amendments such as one for the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program (LFPAP). Part of what needs to be addressed in the Farm Bill is the situation caused by tariffs and how that affects our beef production. Pam also noted that the Farm Bill does not necessarily meet the needs of our tribal communities. If the Farm Bill does not pass, they will do continuing resolutions. There are a lot of things that are included in the Farm Bill, so addressing this is really important. We recently presented to the County Commission and are asking questions about how we are addressing food and farming needs at the local level, including adaptive types of farming. Commissioner Bustamante is also still interested in the Transfer of Development Rights and bringing a resolution back. Joseph added that the County’s Open Space team is having discussions about possibly allowing agricultural leases on available land, also, crossover in connections between entities that can benefit from collaboration. They will also be developing a master plan for the La Bajada Ranch property. Pam mentioned a study that was done about community gardens that identified gaps in gardeners’ capacity. How to fill those gaps (education, etc)? The group had a discussion about community gardens - how that reflects a community and what is necessary to keep one going. Emigdio: The essence of community gardens is the community and preserving collective knowledge. Michelle asked if there is a community plan that shows all the community gardens? Joseph said no. Pam met with Erica, the city's conservation and sustainability division director, about the City’s sustainability plan which has 144 goals and objectives. Pam mentioned that she might be interested in a seat on the Council. 2. Food Needs Assessment No discussion. 3. Update Food Plan The Council went over questions that came up in regard to updating the Food Plan and made a decision to form a committee that would address this in detail.. Committee: Peter Sue Pam Catherine Emidgo Nate Helen Marco Said G. PRESENTATIONS: None H. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS Website re-build and transfer - Update from Helen Henry We are in the process of selecting a template for the new site. I. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL Member check-in We did not have time for this. J. ITEMS FROM THE CHAIR Peter reported that the City of Santa Fe is forming a Santa Fe Charter Commission and we will be bringing a focus on food to this discussion. He will reach out to commission members to see if we can get that as an item to be adopted as part of the Charter Commission. 1. New member update Erica, the city's conservation and sustainability division director might be interested in being a member, 2.. Next Meeting: April 9, 2026: Hybrid 4. Topics for future presentations K. ADJOURNMENT 10:59am 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 _____________________________________________________