Access to nutritious foods during pregnancy and early childhood helps support healthy development and stronger outcomes for families across New Mexico.

When a program designed to support families becomes hardest to access for those who need it most, something isn’t working. In New Mexico, that gap is impossible to ignore. 

New Mexico ranks first in the nation for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) eligibility yet lags near the bottom in participation. That means thousands of pregnant women and families with young children are missing out on critical nutrition and health support, despite qualifying. 

For New Mexico Appleseed, that disconnect isn’t just a statistic, it’s a call to action. 

“We have one of the highest rates of eligibility and one of the lowest rates of uptake,” said executive director Jennifer Ramo. “That’s not because families don’t want help. It’s because the system isn’t built for their reality.” 

A System That Doesn’t Meet Families Where They Are 

At its core, WIC is more than a nutrition program; it’s a gateway to broader health and social support. It connects families to prenatal care, early childhood services, and critical health interventions. 

“WIC is not just about food,” Ramo explained. “It’s a protective factor. It helps improve birth outcomes, supports early development, and connects families to care they might not otherwise access.” 

Yet for many families, especially those in rural communities, the barriers are steep. Federal requirements still mandate in-person appointments for enrollment and recertification. For families living hours away from the nearest clinic, that can mean taking off work, finding child care; and traveling long distances for a single appointment. 

“Who’s doing that when you don’t have gas money or reliable transportation?” Ramo asked. “Families are being forced to choose between an entire day of travel or going without support altogether.” 

For some families, fear and uncertainty can become an additional barrier, preventing eligible children from accessing nutrition support.

A caregiver and young child select fresh produce at a grocery store, illustrating the importance of nutrition assistance programs that help families access healthy, affordable food.

Listening First, Then Building Solutions 

New Mexico Appleseed’s approach is grounded in community voice and systems-level change. Rather than starting with assumptions, the organization begins by listening, deeply, to families navigating these barriers. 

“We don’t go in thinking we know the answer,” said Ramo. “We start with the community, understand the barriers and then build solutions that actually work for them.” 

That approach has led to innovative solutions, including mobile WIC units that bring services directly to communities and new ideas like retail-based outreach, placing QR codes on pregnancy tests to connect women to WIC the moment they learn they’re expecting. 

“The goal is to engage moms as early as possible,” Ramo said. “That’s when behavior changes and when support can make the biggest difference.” 

Connecting Nutrition to Bigger Outcomes 

For Appleseed, improving WIC participation isn’t just about increasing enrollment; it’s about transforming outcomes across systems. 

Nutrition, Ramo emphasizes, is deeply connected to education, health, and economic stability. 

“If you’re trying to improve education outcomes, you can’t ignore hunger,” she said. “This is not just a food program; it’s a medical intervention that supports healthy development from the very beginning.” 

What Comes Next 

Looking ahead, New Mexico Appleseed is focused on driving deeper coordination across nutrition programs, from early childhood to senior services, ensuring families don’t have to navigate fragmented systems to get the support they need. 

“The goal is a whole family approach,” Ramo said. “From birth to grandparents, we need systems that are connected, coordinated, and accessible.” 

Because when families are eligible but still going without, the issue isn’t awareness, it’s access. And until systems are built around the realities families face every day, the gap will remain. New Mexico Appleseed is working to close it, one policy, one partnership, and one family-centered solution at a time.