Santa Fe City and County Advisory Council on Food Policy

Santa Fe City and County, Advisory Council on Food Policy Thursday, May 14, 2026, 9:00AM-11AM Hybrid meeting In Person Location: Santa Fe County Extension Office 3229 Rodeo Road Santa Fe, NM 87507-4892 A. CALL TO ORDER 9:10am Susan Perry, Co-Chair - Present Peter Ives, Co-Chair – Present Nate Crail - Present Eric Renz-Whitmore - Present David Sundberg - Present Said Assali - Excused Coy Maienza - Present Emigdio Ballon - Present We do have a quorum. Staff: Pam Roy, Coordinator Helen Henry, Scribe Guests: Harrison Gibson (and Josephine) Catherine Nolte, The Food Depot Marco Alarid White, NM Center on Law and Poverty Michelle Stizza, Santa Fe County Extension Erica Renaud, Conservation and Sustainability Division, City of SF James Martinez, Santa Fe County Senior Services Hvtce Miller, SF County Wes Matlock, Senior Program Manager with NMSU Extension We have a quorum B. ROLL CALL C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA –May 14, 2026 [ACTION] Prioritization and Agenda Order Moved Eric Seconded Sue Approved D. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – April 9, 2026 [ACTION] Moved Sue Seconded David Approved E. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR None F. INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS 1. Local Updates/Federal/State WRRI at NMSU just put out a RFP for water-resilient projects eligible for funding ($10M) Peter asked if we have a list of all the farmers and ranchers in SF county. Nate said that we have some of this through AgriGate. Joseph Scala at the County has sent this out to their list. FTT has also sent this out. NMDA does a periodic census so they have a fairly good list although not necessarily comprehensive. Pam will ask if they can share the list of the farmers who have Farm Service numbers. Pam gave an update on state funding for ALTSD as well as WIC, which has a focus on getting produce out to areas that don’t have farmers markets. The state is focusing more on getting protein into the SNAP program. NMFAPC and FTT submitted a letter to the Water and Natural Resources Committee to request that our work be included in their work plan so we can then share out how things are working. Water issues continue to occupy our attention. In the Chama region, there is an exploration of uranium mining that our senators are addressing. This is very concerning to people in the state. Peter: There is a new emphasis on deep ground water as a resource. $10M to NM Tech to research this. This could be a viable resource. There is now a new discussion for produced water back on the table. Peter noted that we send produced water to Texas as part of an agreement, which they use. Erica said that there was a recent presentation given to the City about where our water resources are. There are four sources of water, but a lot of the thinking is segmented and doesn’t take into account the whole system(s). Pam noted that this question should be brought out in the Food Plan update. Water for agricultural production is utilized for products that don’t stay in this state (milk, alfalfa, pecans, etc.) There are a variety of ways that water is used, agriculture is one, but agriculture often gets blamed for using lots of water. David requested that we get copies of these presentations, Pam and Erica will follow up. Peter asked if we could get the slides from the presentation to distribute at our next meeting. The City is showing that the consumption of water is going down due to water saving. Peter noted that he thinks at some point we will be facing water conflicts over agriculture related to cattle. Farm Bill: The House did pass their version last week. There was a lot of pressure on our representatives (including Democrats) to pass something, even if it was not comprehensive. Nothing back in for SNAP. The Senate will introduce something in June, but may not have enough votes to pass it. Our Senators are central to this process because of the committees they sit on. Catherine said that in NM the HCA is working to bridge the gap between the federal cuts and the new state process, especially surrounding work requirements and not losing their work requirements. Policy Equity Group and NM Center for Law and Poverty hosted the meeting. Marco suggested that organizations should contact HCA if they have opportunities for people to meet their work requirements (volunteer, etc) especially for the rural areas. Harrison said that Kitchen Angels might be able to help with the work requirements. 2. Update Food Plan from Food Plan Committee We met last month and started to work on the overarching goals to make sure that they are still relevant and see if there is anything new to add. This was a very productive meeting. G. PRESENTATIONS: Path to Plate NM (NMSU) - Wes Matlock https://pathtoplatenm.com/ wmedlock@nmsu.edu 901-486-1344 Path to Plate - NM’s local food marketplace, bridging the gap between producers and institutional and retail buyers. Direct market between producers (farmers, ranchers and food entrepreneurs) and buyers (school districts, hospitals, restaurants, food banks, senior centers, food hubs, etc) Launched 10 months ago Realtime Solutions is the technology company that is facilitating this, the program is a project of NMSU Works with NM Grown and Approved Supplier Program Utilizes advanced filters, creates automated invoices, features real-time inventor management, secure messaging portal, interactive user mapping, secure direct payments, automated notifications, forward contract templates 2 sub-marketplaces Buyers can upload their listing, producers can also upload their offerings. Forward agreement marketplace - better frame the availability of products and facilitates planning Distribution ticket system Allows for prioritization of food safety. Peter: How is quality measured? Product images are uploaded, listings (condition of product is described), product safety agreement, buyer has the right to refuse if quality is not met Who handles GRT? The users (although David said in the chat - no GRT on food in NM) Who pays for the project? They are funded through a specialty crop grant. Producers and buyers also pay into the program. Limits on availability? Not currently, but they focus on the smaller producers. Can help producers diversify their markets They have 55 producers across the state in the program. Good diversity of producers. What aspect of the program needs more development? Need more buyers. Working to increase this area through marketing, etc. Creating synergy through collaboration between programs such as ASP to create stability and increase connections. Helps to create high standards and integrity for the whole food system. Emigdio asked about diversification of products and avoiding competition? Producers are not able to see other producers' pricing. Acknowledged that there is competition, but the emphasis is on creating connections, supporting smaller producers. The online process was extensively tested to make sure there are no barriers to using the site. Pam noted that there are multiple distribution systems in the state, including coordination between food hubs. H. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS Website re-build and transfer- Update from Helen Henry This is in progress. I. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL Member update Eric is now the official liaison with the City. We are working on Erica Renaud’s membership. J. ITEMS FROM THE CO-CHAIRS Tejinder has not responded to requests to submit his resignation, so according to our rules, we can take him off the list. Sue will not be at the meeting in June. 1. New member update 2.. Next Meeting: June 11, 2026: Hybrid 4. Topics for future presentations Suggestion for World Wildlife Foundation Controlled Environment Ag program at SFFCC and something similar at Los Alamos - back to back presentations Urban use of water for agriculture and urban agriculture ordinance (there is a resolution to update this) Erica has information about this. Pam would like to have opportunities to have input. Soil productivity K. ADJOURNMENT 11:07am 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 _____________________________________________________