“If we’re not properly advocating for factors such as increased SNAP benefits or expanded access to healthy food, it not only impacts our children, but it impacts our economic system and education system,” Haven said.
NMSU graduate student Haleigh Haven was also among the NMSU students who attended. Steele and Saavedra were both present, and Saavedra was awarded Student Advocate of the Year by Save the Children. in July, several members of NMSU’s SCAN organization teamed up with Save the Children members from around the country in lobbying for the FARM Bill. “And that’s something we’re thinking a lot about here in New Mexico, especially with such a large indigenous population and a large Latinx population.”Īt a summit in Washington, D.C. “We want our communities to be able to access the food that they need, and the food that they care about, and the food that responds to them culturally,” Steele said. They also hope to make access to SNAP benefits easier, such as being able to access the application over the phone for families who can’t drive, and being able to buy food that has been pre-cooked or frozen. Now that the bill will be reauthorized this September, SCAN is fighting to ensure that the reauthorization will not include cost cuts and that children and their families have the money they need to live. From left to right: Alana Avalos, Ivy Saavedra (President of NMSU SCAN, with her “Student Advocate of the Year” award), and Haleigh Haven. Revised every five years, the bill covers food stamps and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides low-income families assistance in purchasing food. One of the biggest potential impacts on children will be the FARM Bill, which is the agricultural and food policy of the federal government. who don’t necessarily look like me or live in the same situations I lived in, but they’re still going through certain things.” “I was very lucky to where I didn’t become a statistic. “We live in a system that’s designed to fail people like myself,” Saavedra said. Ivy Saavedra, President of NMSU’s SCAN organization, says that she tries to advocate in ways that she wishes someone would have for her. Many of the students involved in NMSU’s branch of Save the Children use their own experiences as children to guide them. “NMSU has really kind of taken the lead on that and really showed the intersectionality of these issues.” “We cover a lot of different issues here at SCAN and NMSU has been really great and kind of leading the way on that one day we’ll do an event that’s in regard to early childhood, the next day will be in regard to food insecurity, the next in regard to immigration,” said Brady Steele, manager of New Mexico’s SCAN organization. While the group advocates primarily for early childhood education development, they also address other topics including food insecurity, climate change, and mental health. NMSU is home to a branch of Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), the political advocacy arm of the Save the Children organization. Save the Children is a humanitarian organization working to help children around the world. As Congress prepares to revise a federal food policy bill, New Mexico State University’s Save the Children Action Network is fighting to ensure that the voices of New Mexican children are heard.
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