Sinnery Lynne Begay looks at a spiral garden at the Sheep Spring Senior Citizen Center demonstration garden, which was created in 2018 to demonstrate how to raise vegetables to help address the food insecurity and poor health of Diné people of the Navajo Nation. Researchers from New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico are conducting a survey of New Mexico to learn more about food insecurity and food access issues in the state due to COVID-19. (NMSU photo by Jane Moorman)A group of researchers from New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico have launched a survey to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the food system, food access and affordability in the state.

The survey was originally developed by a research team at the University of Vermont and Johns Hopkins University, and adapted for New Mexico to better understand the impact of the global pandemic on food security and access among New Mexicans.

The survey is open to all New Mexico residents 18 and older. The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, and participants will be entered into a raffle to win one of 50 $25 grocery store gift cards. The researchers' goal is to reach as many people in New Mexico as possible in order to understand how residents are responding to the pandemic, how the food system has been affected, and additional needs in order to inform pandemic-related policy efforts.

The survey may be accessed in English at https://foodaccessandsecurityenglish.questionpro.com, or in Spanish at https://acesnmsu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_87VroW6YXbFqqyx. More information may also be found at the survey's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/New-Mexico-Survey-Impacts-of-the-Coronavirus-on-Food-Security-and-Access-105470201150461/.

For questions or more information, contact principal investigator Stephanie Rogus at srogus@nmsu.edu or 817-253-9624.