Close your eyes and think back to COVID-19 days – Do you remember the empty grocery store shelves? Your grandparents calling asking you to deliver food because Meals on Wheels couldn’t? Folks losing jobs and being unable to afford food? In that moment, the invisible became visible: our food system – which includes everything from our farmers, to grocers, to your kitchen table – is both essential and fragile. We saw something we can’t unsee: many of our friends and neighbors, and perhaps ourselves, were struggling to put nourishing food on the table.
While the acute phase of COVID-19 has passed, the food crisis has not.
Despite today’s very low unemployment – 4.3% in Montezuma County as of July – more households report not having enough food than before and during COVID-19. The reasons vary, but they funnel into one hard truth: Wages don’t match the cost of living.
In 2024, a four-person household in Montezuma County needed about $79,044 to cover basic expenses. The average wage is $44,651 which is only 56% of that amount. When housing, health care and transportation are fixed, families flex the only flexible line item left: food.
Inflation compounds the squeeze. Between 2020 and 2024, grocery prices rose roughly 23.6%. At the same time food costs are going up, many of the COVID-19-era supports have expired. Food insecurity- (ie., not having sufficient food to meet one’s needs) – is climbing: from 11.7% at the height of the pandemic to around 14.5% today in Montezuma County. That burden is not shared equally: about 25% of Latino residents and 19.1% of children are food insecure. That’s more than one in 10 of the people you pass on the street; almost one in five kids.
And now, the recent federal budget package – the “Big Beautiful Bill” – threatens our community’s overall food security even more. As just one example, federal SNAP funding cuts mean the state must backfill roughly $259 million in program funding annually. Because of Colorado’sTaxpayer’s Bill of Rights, lawmakers can’t simply raise revenue; the choice becomes cutting other programs – like Medicaid – or cutting help to the 584,000 Coloradans who rely on SNAP, including about 4,930 Montezuma County residents. These cuts will most deeply impact our seniors, working families, and immigrant residents.
While SNAP recipients may feel these cuts first, all of us will be affected. Each month, about $888,616 in SNAP dollars flows to Montezuma County households. Those dollars are spent at independent grocers, farm stands, farmers markets, and local shops – businesses that hire local plumbers, bank at local banks, and eat at local restaurants. Altogether, SNAP injects roughly $1.3 million in monthly economic activity here. Pull that thread and you don’t just unravel a family’s pantry; you fray the entire local economy.
So what do we do? Exactly what we did during COVID-19 – we band together and take action on two tracks at once: meet urgent needs today, and transform the system for tomorrow.
Neighbor-to-neighbor, right now: Donate cash, time or food to a local pantry – and make it monthly if you can. Rural pantries are often the least resourced and the most stretched. Check out our regional food assistance database at bit.ly/GFCFoodAssistance for the complete list.
Feed Kids: Pledge to vote “yes” in November on Ballot Measures LL & MM at bit.ly/GFCHSMA to continue free school meals statewide, create a $12 million annual fund for schools to buy local food and raise wages for our school dining staff.
Farmers Food Into Food Pantries Contact Rep. Jeff Hurd at hurd.house.gov and urge him to co-sponsor the Local Farmers Feeding Our Local Communities Act (H.R. 4782), which would invest $200 million annually through 2030 so pantries, schools, and senior centers can buy from local producers.
We proved during the pandemic that Montezuma County can mobilize – fast, locally and together. The shelves may look fuller today, but too many tables are not. Let’s make sure every neighbor can love where they live with a full plate and a stable future.
Rachel Landis is the executive director of The Good Food Collective, a nonprofit organization that strengthens Southwest Colorado’s food system by connecting people, resources, and ideas – ensuring everyone has access to nourishing food, supporting local producers, and empowering communities to shape their own food future. Get involved and learn more at goodfoodcollective.org or by contacting Rachel at rachel@goodfoodcollective.org.
