Tighter federal SNAP rules are sending more New Mexico veterans to food pantries at a time when food banks are already stretched, Source NM reports.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in 2025, veterans lost an exemption from SNAP work requirements and now must log 80 hours a month of work, volunteering, training or job searching to keep benefits beyond three months. Jill Dixon, executive director of The Food Depot in northern New Mexico, told the Legislature’s interim Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Oct. 16 that more veterans are seeking food help because they can no longer get SNAP, and that rural veterans have been hit hardest, according to Source NM.
Roadrunner Food Bank reported a 40% to 60% jump in 2026 in people seeking help, while it received half as much food through a federal emergency program as it did two years earlier and paid 70% more for fuel than the year before, one of its executives told lawmakers.
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At a veterans’ food pantry in Albuquerque, an operator told Source NM that the clientele has shifted toward people who have jobs but still cannot afford enough groceries.
Lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Gabriel Ramos, R-Silver City, and Rep. Art De La Cruz, D-Albuquerque, criticized the situation and called veterans’ food insecurity a priority.
Why It Matters
Veterans must now log 80 hours a month to keep SNAP beyond three months, and Roadrunner Food Bank says demand rose 40% to 60% in 2026 while its federal food supply was cut in half.
About This Story
Daily Reports is Brant.One’s news roundup. Each day we gather the New Mexico stories worth knowing from newsrooms across the state, sum them up and point you to the source. This one comes from Source NM’s reporting, and their original story has the interviews and full details.
Editor’s note: Updated Oct. 31, 2026. This story is now part of Daily Reports, our New Mexico news roundup, and was revised to credit Source NM’s original reporting. Learn how Daily Reports works in our editorial standards.
