‘With Many Hands,' Otero County residents address food insecurity
When Courtney McCary-Squyres started noticing the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables at the market and on the store shelves in Alamogordo during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she decided to take action.
McCary-Squyres is a lead organizer with the non-profit With Many Hands, an organization developed out of the Addition Collective Action Fund supporting community organizing efforts across the country. In Alamogordo and Tularosa, the organization is working to address food instability by creating community gardens in vacant lots.
McCary-Squyres, her family and volunteers will join representatives of Roadrunner Food Bank Friday for Hunger Action Day at the Roundhouse. The group is advocating on behalf of House Bill 229, which proposes a $430,000 appropriation from the general fund to New Mexico State University for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to distribute to approved supplier programs. The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee last week advanced the bill, which now heads to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.
When she started talking to her neighbors and fellow residents, McCary-Squyres said she found that access to food, particularly fresh foods, was a concern shared by many.
'And I had seen some communities online doing community gardens and being able to distribute fresh food via community gardens so that's when I started to become passionate about believing that that could happen in our community as well,' she told Source NM.
Today, With Many Hands has developed three community gardens in Alamogordo and one in Roswell where volunteers join in the process of planting seeds, watering raised garden beds and harvesting the growth. McCary-Squyres said about 100 volunteers take part in some way throughout the year – so much so that they sometimes run out of jobs for people to take on.
A wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown in the gardens – 'anything you can think of,' McCary-Squyres said. And when crops are ready to harvest, everyone is welcome to take as much as they need. For those who are unable to access the gardens, volunteers deliver produce to their homes.
McCary-Squyres added that not only are the gardens providing nourishment and bringing people together, but also transforming areas of the community that showed blight and disuse.
Volunteer work day at the New York Alleyway garden in Alamogordo. (Photo courtesy Courtney McCary Squyres)
Their Puerto Rico Avenue garden is the organization's latest project. At about half an acre, the land will allow for larger yields and an area dedicated to children.
'We can encourage people to bring their families out to enjoy the garden,' McCary-Squyres said, adding that her own four children have been involved in community work days in the gardens when they're not in school. 'They were coming with us to water, to plant seeds.'
Advocates are also supporting House Bill 77, which proposes an amendment to the Public Assistance Act requiring the Health Care Authority to create an annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach plan to promote the program. The bill has passed two committees and is set to appear on the House floor next.
McCary-Squyres noted that there are a multitude of federal and state programs that help people establish secure access to food. Otero County residents are doing their part to join in the efforts.
'We consider ourselves New Mexicans now,' McCary-Squyres said, adding that she is from North Texas and her family moved to the area six years ago. 'We're from here now and we're planning on staying in Alamogordo for many years to come.'
According to a news release, organizers estimate approximately 150 hunger advocates from across the state will attend Hunger Action Day, which will commence at noon in the Rotunda with music by the Cibola Choir, comments from both The Food Depot and Roadrunner Food Bank leaders, as well as remarks from state Rep. Charlotte Little (D-Albuquerque) and Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española).
Little is a co-sponsor of House Bill 17, which would create the Commission on Reduction of Grocery Costs to study and determine strategies for reducing grocery prices for consumers. Jaramillo co-sponsored Senate Bill 4 in 2023 establishing free and healthy school breakfast and lunch for students K-12.
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President Donald Trump has added to the pressure on queer people in general by insisting that there are only two genders, and attempting to block gender-affirming health care for transgender teens. In March, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins brandished two triumphant scissor emojis on X in a post saying her department had terminated a $361,000 grant in New York City to support queer and transgender farmers and urban consumers. Chicago-area farmers, including Schneider and Alem, were directly affected by the Trump administration's attempt to freeze funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which increases profits for small farmers and provides fresh produce to communities in need. Schneider and Alem were set to participate in the program for the whole season, Schneider said. Then, all of a sudden, the funding stopped: 'That was really scary.' Some farmers did get money again for a short period, Schneider said, and recently there was more good news: The money would be back until Sept. 30. Schneider and Alem figured out how to keep selling their produce, although for less money than they had planned. Alem said they were heartened by the way small farmers worked together, sharing strategies and solutions. 'We've all been doing this for years, and we're not going to just stop,' Alem said. Being in Chicago has shielded the couple from outright discrimination, but there are times when they are clearly in the minority as farmers. 'I think as queer people — and I'm trans — you're around a lot of people who aren't those things and sometimes it's fine, it doesn't really matter, and other times you can feel like you're in a really traditional setting and it's like, 'Is it worth talking about this? Is it work bringing this up?'' Schneider said. 'For me, usually not — unless I'm in the company of people that are comfortable,' they said. 'There are not many queer people who own their own farms, and there are even less trans people.' Roberson has also noticed some self-censoring, in their case regarding clothing choices. 'I might not go into my USDA office as this Black, fat, queer person in my Dyke March shirt and sit down and talk. … Maybe they're cool, but I'm in Iroquois County. I don't know,' they said. Studies indicate that many queer farmers anticipate discrimination, and that fear of discrimination itself can have a real impact on peoples' lives. Michaela Hoffelmeyer, an assistant professor of public engagement in agriculture at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, recalled interviewing early-career queer farmers who worried that valuable internships and apprenticeships would place them in hostile work environments or unsafe communities. Queer farmers may also be forgoing good farmland because they want to avoid harassment, Hoffelmeyer said. Alem and Schneider arrived at their farm plot in Bronzeville in broad-brimmed hats and sturdy boots, ready to harvest zucchini and cucumber under a blazing summer sun. Schneider's enthusiasm was infectious as they delved into the specifics of mushroom cultivation, brushed aside the notion that farming is particularly hard work and jumped up to rescue a dragonfly from a puddle. Alem cheerfully described working a full-time job in digital publishing, but still managing to farm on some evenings and early mornings — and all day on Saturdays. 'For me, it's really fun to do something so productive,' Alem said of farming. 'It's the most productive thing I do.' Asked about the future of queer farming, Schneider was similarly upbeat. 'In 10 years, if I had to guess, they'll probably be a lot more queer folks who are farming and living sustainably, even if they don't own their own farm,' they said. 'It just seems that that is really popular.' The couple hope to help pave the way at their new farm in McHenry County. They want to host music events and workshops, renovate an old dairy barn so guests can stay there, and launch a farm incubator project, with space and support for early-career farmers. 'We really want to help people find their own journey with farming,' Alem said.
