REGIONAL FARM TO FOOD BANK
Resilient Local Food Economies Feeding Our Communities
The New Mexico Association of Food Banks purchases locally and regionally produced foods to nourish New Mexicans in need. By offering fair prices to farmers, ranchers, and other food producers, the Regional Farm to Food Bank (RF2FB) program strengthens local food systems while ensuring that New Mexicans experiencing food insecurity gain access to healthy, fresh, local foods.
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Who Can Sell?
Funds support farmers, ranchers, and other food producers.
The RF2FB program is designed to provide economic support to regional, local, small, and mid-scale food producers to build a more resilient local food system in New Mexico.**Producers must be ‘Approved Suppliers’ **
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Why Should I Sell to Food Banks?
Expand Sales
Receive Fair Market Pricing
Feed Your Neighbors
It’s a Win-Win!
WHAT IS AN ‘APPROVED SUPPLIER’?
To sell to food banks, producers must be part of the New Mexico Grown Approved Supplier Program* (ASP). Managed by the New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association, ASP helps New Mexico producers access sales to schools, food banks, and other institutions by ensuring their products are safe, traceable, and originate from gardens or farms with proven food safety and quality assurance practices.
Becoming an Approved Supplier can further benefit your operation. Approved Suppliers have connections to other institutional buyers around the state, and technical assistance is available.
PREFERRED FOOD FOR FOOD BANKS
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MEAT
Beef, bison, lamb, mutton, and pork.
Ground, stew, fajita, roasts, and other common cuts for families. -
VEGETABLES
Chile (dried, fresh, roasted), sweet corn, fresh string beans (green, yellow, wax), bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, celery, garlic, cilantro, lettuce heads (butterhead, green, romaine), onions (storage type, red, yellow, white, and spring types), peas (snap and snow pea), peppers (jalapeno, padron, poblano, serrano, select specialty), potatoes (all types), radishes (fresh bunching types and select specialty), shallots, spinach, summer squash (all types), winter squash (all types), tomatillos, tomatoes (all types).
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FRUIT
Apples (all types), cherries, grapes, melons (all types), nectarines, peaches, pears, plums.
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FLOURS, BEANS, & DRY GOODS
Beans (pinto, black, and tepary), cornmeal (yellow, blue, white), corn flour, dried corn (chicos, posole, specialty), select dried herbs, nuts (pecan, pinon).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Applications are processed on a rolling basis; while there is no deadline to apply, early applications are strongly encouraged.
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Funding is available through June 30th, 2027 with support from the state of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
We are working towards long term financial investment.
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All businesses must be part of the Approved Supplier Program, offered through the New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association in support of New Mexico Grown. Please see the NMFMA website for details.
Farms, ranches, food businesses, and food aggregation businesses of all sizes are welcome to apply. Small and mid-scale businesses located within New Mexico receive priority.
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Allowable items include fresh produce, meat, and lightly processed whole foods. Contact our team for preferred products.
Eggs, dairy, and poultry are not allowable items.
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Delivery from the original producer is not required. We encourage the opportunity to work with food distribution businesses and food hubs that address the transportation gap on behalf of food producers. If you would like technical assistance regarding transportation, talk with our team to discuss options.
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We prioritize sourcing from small and mid-scale producers, though food banks have capacity for a significant volume of foods.
Contact the team to discuss your scale and capacity in greater detail.
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Purchasing specialists will review and follow up within one week and determine eligibility.
Eligible producer attends a *virtual* onboarding meeting to discuss in detail: product, scale, communication, Terms of Agreement, and other critical details.
Submit any outstanding documents.
Ordering may begin.
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Values-based procurement is a strategy that deprioritizes purchasing based on lowest price, and towards decision-making based on a combination of other cultural, environmental, and social factors. For example, placing greater value may be ascribed to foods produced in state, within 50 miles of distribution point, demonstrated ecologically responsive production practices, and other metrics that facilitate positive social impacts.
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No. Products must be received before any payments are issued.
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Upon receipt of the invoice, payment will be sent via Direct Deposit within 30 days or less. Payment is typically received within 14-21 days.
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Bonnie Murphy, Program Manager
bmurphy@nmfoodbanks.org
(505) 510 - 7492
MISSION
Economic Opportunities
Create lasting economic opportunities for small and mid-sized New Mexican food producers.
Regional Resiliency
Strengthen the regional and local food supply chain and improve foodshed resiliency and responsiveness.
Healthy Food Access
Support underserved communities facing barriers to accessing high-quality, diverse, nutritious whole foods.
GET IN TOUCH
Are you a food producer looking to expand markets? Get in touch with the Regional Farm to Food Bank Team to discuss further.
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THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
RF2FB is made possible with support from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Food Initiative, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, The Food Depot, and New Mexico Grown.
