Melody Wattenbarger, Roadrunner Food Bank president and CEO, thanked New Mexico farmers Thursday for their record-setting donation of 2.3 million pounds of fresh, local produce in 2015.

New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte stands next to a tote of New Mexico-grown potatoes, donated to Roadrunner Food Bank by Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.

ALBUQUERQUE) - New Mexico's largest food bank is reflecting on a record-setting year, thanks to the amount of fresh, local food donated by farmers in the state.

The Food Bank's president and CEO, Melody Wattenbarger, along with New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte, announced at a press conference Thursday that the bank received 2,358,641 pounds of fresh produce in from the following farms in New Mexico:
Barker Produce (Las Cruces) onions
Border Foods (Deming) chile
Chile River (Hatch) onions
Del Valle Pecans (Las Cruces) pecans
Gillis Farms (Arrey) onions
The Hatch Chile Store (Las Cruces) chile
J & D Produce (Deming) watermelons and onions
Lack Farms (Rincon) onions
Morrow Farms (Hatch) pinto beans and watermelons
Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (Farmington) potatoes
Organ Mountain Produce (Mesilla Park) pinto beans
Pico Bravo (La Mesa) chile
Seco Spice (Anthony) onions
Young Guns Produce (Hatch) chile

On top of all that fresh produce, Creamland Dairies donated 120,000 assorted dairy products to Roadrunner.

All of these fresh produce and dairy donations were received via Roadrunner's Food Rescue Program. Food rescue - also called food recovery or food salvage - is the practice of retrieving edible food that might otherwise be discarded as waste from places such as grocery stores, markets, growers, food manufacturers and other locations in the food industry.

"More than a million pounds of fresh, local produce and dairy products can go a long way to feed hungry people in New Mexico," New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said. "And it's out of the kindness of the agricultural community and the good work that Roadrunner does, that these donations came together and went on to help the less fortunate among us."

Roadrunner says its Southern Branch Food Rescue manager, Rudy Carbajal - himself a lifelong resident of southern New Mexico - has been instrumental in bringing in many of the new growers.

Roadrunner's Food Rescue Program has benefitted from other types of local produce donations in the past including tomatoes, cucumbers, honeydew melons, pumpkins, apples, oranges, potatoes, and more.

"Produce is an important source of healthy food for hungry New Mexicans," Wattenbarger said. "Rescued food helps us provide at-risk people like children, seniors, and families access to healthy food options they may not otherwise be able to afford with their own very limited food budgets."

People can help Roadrunner secure food to feed hungry New Mexicans by making a monetary contribution at www.rrfb.org or by texting any dollar amount to 505-933-7732. For every $1 given to the Food Bank, five meals are distributed to communities across the state.

Food and agricultural companies with excess food are invited to donate it by contacting the Food Bank at 505-247-2052. The IRS provides enhanced tax deductions to businesses to encourage donations of wholesome food to Roadrunner and other qualified nonprofit organizations serving those in need. Food industry donors are protected under federal and state law when food is given in good faith.