Food Insecurity and the Use of Food Pantries in Periurban New Mexico: The Case of Silver City

Abstract

The following is a study about food insecurity in a periurban area of southwestern New Mexico (USA), in the city of Silver City. Through a mixed, quantitative and qualitative methodology with the use of questionnaires it was found that the region shows high rates of food insecurity and poverty, this is confirmed by the high rates of the use of food stamps and the use of the food pantry. The organizations that operate these pantries are often nonprofits themselves that fill a gap in the missing services provided by the United States government. These settings in particular are important for observing and analyzing changing patterns in American social well-being, especially as it relates to mitigating food insecurity.