Giving New Mexico farmers, producers, and local food retailers the tools to GROW.
Lordsburg was founded in 1880 as a Southern Pacific Railroad camp ( City of Lordsburg, 2025; Data USA, 2023 ). It is located in the Southwest “bootheel” of New Mexico and holds the county seat in Hidalgo County. Hidalgo county is named in honor of Miguel Dolores Hidalgo, a leader in the Mexican revolution in 1810 in which Mexico achieved independence from Spain (Hidalgo County, 2025 ). Today, Lordsburg sits within Hidalgo County with a population of around 2,100 people, and the population of the county is just under 5,000 . In 2023, the poverty rate was 25.3% and the median income was $33,899 ( Data USA, 2023) . The SNAP participation rate in Hidalgo County is 25% ( Federal Research and Action Center , 2019 ). Because of its location along I-10, Lordsburg is a common rest stop for those traveling through to Texas, Arizona, and California.
Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) was founded in 1980 as a National Health Service Corps site, but federal political tensions and an inability to recruit providers to Lordsburg and Hidalgo County caused the first iteration of HMS to close. In 1995, HMS was re-founded as a Federally Qualified Health Center with state funding and four family physicians operating outside of Silver City ( HMS, 2025 ). The system has since expanded to provide services at 7 locations throughout Hidalgo county, including the Lordsburg clinic, which provided the FreshRx bags to the patients ( HMS, 2025) . Because of the rurality and poverty, community health centers shoulder much of the responsibility of healthcare, with HMS acting as the primary source of healthcare for most areas.
The NMFMA and HMS have partnered to bring PPRs to SiIver City and Lordsburg for more than 5 years. The number of patients served has varied with funding, but in 2025, 40 patients were included in the program across the HMS service area. Patients are drawn from surrounding areas, including frontier and remote communities, such as Gila, NM. In past years, patients received vouchers to redeem at participating farmers’ markets, but since there is no convenient market for patients in Lordsburg, produce bags containing locally grown fruits and vegetables were delivered to the clinic weekly for the purposes of the current project. Patients would either pick up the bags at the clinic or the bags were delivered directly to patients by clinic staff at the end of the work day.
For FreshRx patients at the clinic in Lordsburg, food was provided in CSA-style produce bags and sourced from a food hub located in Silver City in southwestern New Mexico. Lordsburg is about 45 miles southwest of Silver City. In 2025, the hub sourced from 24 small-scale farms and ranches in 8 counties in the southwestern, southern, central, and north-central parts of the state. Many of these operations are in extremely rural and remote areas. For FreshRx, produce was sourced from 7 of the total 24 farms and ranches. For preparing the bags, the hub picked up product from the source farmers, and this was typically done during backhauling from other deliveries (i.e., picking up the food on a return journey from a separate delivery) . The hub then aggregated the produce and packed the bags at the hub warehouse, and then delivered the bags to the Lordsburg clinic. From there, depending on where the patients live, the patients either picked up their bags at the clinic, or staff delivered to their homes (or a meeting point) since patients often come from surrounding communities that can be as far as 45 miles from the clinic. A representative from the food hub and one of the source farmers were interviewed for this research project.
The short local food supply chain for the Lordsburg produce boxes is represented by the following schematic and map below. All map locations are approximate, i.e., none are exact.
As the legend for the map indicates, the light green-colored source farms are those located within 50 miles of the food hub, and the turquoise-colored source farms are located more than 50 miles from the hub. Green lines show food transport from source farms to the hub, and the orange line shows transport of produce bags from the hub to the clinic. Finally, the area in gray shows the approximate patient service area for the Lordsburg clinic.The two Photovoice participants in Lordsburg are sisters. Participant 2 enrolled in the FreshRx program first, around 10 years ago, and informed Participant 1 about the program. Both participants shared the food they received with their families, which includes spouses, children, nieces, and nephews. Both of the participants stated they learned about foods they had never eaten before, like oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane mushrooms, melons, and sunflower sprouts. Participant 2 said they usually do not like mushrooms, but they did like the lion’s mane mushrooms and used them whenever they received them. In this section with quotes from the participant interviews, P1 and P2 are the Lordsburg participants, and D is the research team member.
Participant 1 also shared that she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy , a heart condition which causes issues with blood circulation . She has been working diligently to change her diet to improve her health, which includes reducing her meat consumption . She was able to use the lion’s mane mushrooms she received in the FreshRx bags as a meat substitute. She emphasized the importance of FreshRx to help support her new dietary requirements for her condition.
“I've seen the sunflower sprouts, I've never really had them. But so putting them on a salad and my, me and my daughter, we just like to eat them like that just like a snack cuz it tastes like sunflower seeds. It's so good... I didn't know about the squash either till [P1] said, "Did you know these are squash?" I'm like, "What?" Yeah. So they are very unique looking. ” - P2 Lordsburg
“So one thing I did learn about mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, they're very meaty and they kind of replace meat. So I have a hard time processing or digesting meats. So, if I can stay away from any kind of meat, whether it's poultry or beef or any kind of any kind of meat, it just hurts my stomach. Even fish, I have to be delicate with fish, so having the mushrooms, whether it's the oyster mushrooms or lion's mane, it just made it easier for my body to absorb.”
- P1 Lordsburg
“After being diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy (issues with my heart muscle) I decided to research how to heal my own body with natural foods. I now eat foods that are anti-inflammatory. The stomach houses our immune system. Therefore eating clean foods is vital for me. I had received fresh vegetables and oyster mushrooms. I stir-fried them and made vegetable wraps.”- P1 Lordsburg Photo Comment
Both participants mentioned incorporating the food into their normal meals, and both participants stated their families enjoyed the food as well.
“So, just cooking them [oyster mushrooms]...I also put it into a green salad after stir-frying it. And I think I've had it for breakfast and then incorporating some other vegetables. And not just as a meat, but just as a side like a side of protein... And so I wanted to try it in other things like instead of like a chile relleno, I wanted to do like a mushroom type just because I just get curious like what's this going to taste like?”- P1 Lordsburg
“Never a new recipe. Never. I just feel I don't know like I just have like the same meals I cook over and over again so it's easier just to incorporate it.”- P2 Lordsburg
P1 Lordsburg Photo Comments: Photo 1 and 2: I used an Instapot for 2 pounds of beans and seasoned with bay leaf, salt, pepper and half an onion. Photo 3: I cooked up some red chili in which I got from a local farmer here in town. Photo 4: I diced up some onions and sautéed them till they were caramelized and added in the oyster mushrooms and seasoned with salt and pepper till toasted. Photo 5: The final result. It was very, very tasty!
Both participants used the foods in both meals and drinks, such as smoothies and infused waters. One participant mentioned using the infused water as a substitute for soda. While both participants were able to research recipes for items they were unfamiliar with, they stated that receiving recipes in the food bags would have been helpful for educating them on how to use unfamiliar food items. Providing cooking demonstrations was also a suggestion to help participants learn how to use new foods. One participant said there used to be a website associated with the program that had recipes they would refer to. However, they also mentioned that some people may not have internet, so including recipe cards in the bags would be ideal. Participants also mentioned desiring to know where they could get food items similar to the items in the bags.
“I would say infusing the water, it's really good in the summer because for my kids, and even for myself sometimes, you know if I have like sodas in the refrigerator sometimes we'll just tend to even for dinner just like have a Coca-Cola or whatever soft drink is in there. Whereas if I have these. and they're already in a mason jar, it just looks so pretty. And so I'll just set it out on the table, and then we'll just have that. So... I think in the summer, it's a really good summer drink. Especially, you know, my kids sometimes struggle to drink water.” - P2 Lordsburg
“So, one of the times I did take some of the cucumber and I threw it in a blender and I just added I think strawberry, some ginger and then I made it into just a a detox in the morning. And so I made a pretty big glass and then I drank like a quarter of it every morning and so it's finished. So but the last cucumbers that we got the little ones I also threw that into a smoothie uh with ginger just because you know any time I can detox my body I'll do it. And you know Fresh RX makes that possible like at your doorstep which is pretty amazing.” -P1 Lordsburg
“I would say it would be an opportunity if they included a recipe per bag... So I think it's a weakness. But I think if the program was a little bit more- I don't want to say organized- but a little bit more detailed I guess and put recipes with these new ingredients or all of them cause maybe some people haven't heard of some of the other ones that I recognize...” - P2 Lordsburg
“I researched the mushroom and how to cook it. And some homes don't have access to the internet or access to their phone. Like how are they going to access this information in order for them to use this product for the health of their bodies. So, I think it could be a weakness. It all depends on whether they've seen it or not because we don't carry them in our local grocery store here in town. So, unless, you know, somehow or they do like a cooking show or a cooking demonstration in the grocery store. I would love to see that. I've seen that in bigger cities or where they're demonstrating some kind of product or produce.” - P1 Lordsburg
When asked what they wish policymakers knew about programs like FreshRx, both participants said they wish policymakers would recognize the dangerous substances in our foods and emphasize the value of fresh foods. They also wish there was more education for people to understand the health benefits of food and how to use fresh foods. One participant also mentioned they wish policymakers would prevent larger food corporations from blocking out local, fresh producers from selling in larger markets.
“If you could imagine if there was no more additives, um if they would put really strict limitations like on McDonald's or these fast food restaurants where they have to have like some kind of wholesome kind of food, what that would look like, then I think uh in turn, you know, it might slow us down.” - P2 Lordsburg
“And I think a lot of the reasons why we're not getting lots of good fresh food is because it's more of a corporation that's a corporate takeover. You know, I get my fresh milk from a farmer who comes to town and he brings his fresh milk and that's how he has to sell it. He can't send his milk to Walmart or anything because the cost is ridiculous because then they will set their prices. And so we see these farmers coming through these small communities and they open the tailgate and when that happens, the entire community will show up just because it's going to be fresh and it's going to be healthy and it's going to take care of all of those health issues because it's not coming from a corporate store where all these additives are. That's my fight and I'd like to take that fight to DC.” - P1 Lordsburg
Lastly, when the participants were asked what they wished the producers knew about the food they received from the FreshRx program, they shared that the food has allowed them to eat healthier, with one participant sharing that it has played a role in helping address her health condition, which has allowed her to taper off her medication. Both participants also mentioned how the food they received in the bags was able to help them stretch their food in the household further, as they were able to stretch the food received in the FreshRx bags for several weeks.
“I wish they knew that it's such a healing... the healing aspect, what it does to the human body and how if I could tell the farmer that gave me all this food, I would tell them thank you, and come into my life and look at my medical reports now. Because it's so refreshing to be able to endure a whole day and not come home exhausted... just watching my reports change every six months or every year and my doctor even said you can stay on your medicine but it's time for you to start coming off and next year I'd like to see you completely off of your medicine.”- P1 Lordsburg
“I would say that they have introduced me to some foods that I've never heard of and that's a good thing, you know and I would also like to just say thank you even um, for the days that I was able to eat healthier, because that's not my norm, you know, my norm diet that I have because I don't go to the store looking for like the sunflower sprouts or anything like that, but I may now, you know, uh with cuz they're just so good, but like the other things like the purslane or something like that. I don't normally go looking for those, but I would say thank you for introducing me to these great herbs and foods.” -P2 Lordsburg
“I think, just speaking economically, some of the FreshRx they did have beans. So beans will stretch a long way and so will the potatoes... and I did all the yields and everything and it would cost my family of three under $10 to feed three of us. And that included some of the potatoes, the garlic, just add a little bit of oil and then some of the kielbasa sausage.”- P2 Lordsburg
“And then uh so that week, I think they gave us a huge bundle of spinach. And so I was able to spread that out for several weeks.” - P1 Lordsburg
More photos with comments from the Lordsburg participant group can be found in Appendix A.
