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A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report delivered the sobering news that our state now leads the nation in terms of households experiencing "food insecurity."

While most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living, a minority of American households experience limited food access due to a lack of money and other resources. About one-third of these "food-insecure" households experience "very low food security," the report says - meaning that, at times, the food intake of some household members is reduced and their normal eating patterns are disrupted.

We must wonder why in New Mexico more households became food-insecure, while in the nation overall, the trend was reversed.

Surely, a continued weak economy for the working poor, joblessness, underemployment, soaring health care, energy and other costs and falling family incomes are among the factors hindering families' ability to put food on the table in New Mexico.

While we have many safety nets and charitable programs in place, they require increased support. State agencies, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal food programs try to deliver nutrition services such as food stamps, commodity foods and Women, Infants and Children grants to needy New Mexicans. But they do so under ever-tightening budgetary constraints, with understaffed offices, and are faced with the challenge of attracting a public that still considers it a stigma to accept a handout.

We need public policy that repositions the American people as its priority.

The recent opening of income-support offices on the Navajo reservation is good news, but we still need increased program funding at the federal and state levels. This would alleviate the burden for overtaxed case workers, some of whom carry as many as 800 individual case loads. We also need to expand innovative outreach efforts, such as the Food Stamp Participation Pilot Project, which goes into the field and connects potential nutrition-assistance clients to programs.

The state's food-bank network has become a generalized source for far too many New Mexicans. Increasingly, we see working families becoming food-bank regulars. The food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and other facilities need more support so they can return to being emergency food providers.

New Mexico is a poor and largely rural state. A third of our counties are in persistent poverty, where access to affordable, health-supporting food is lacking. Long transportation distances, high fuel costs and a dearth of viable grocery stores make it challenging for rural New Mexicans. Where groceries are lacking, low-cost fast-food outlets proliferate, further distancing New Mexicans from the heritage foods that sustained their families for generations. This contributes to alarming increases in diabetes, obesity and skyrocketing public health costs.

The Legislature and the governor have an opportunity to act on several initiatives this forthcoming session that address school breakfast availability, increased food stamp and Women, Infants and Children benefits, programs that connect communities and farmers markets with local family farmers - thereby spurring rural economic development - as well as programs that support food transportation and delivery to hungry children and adults.

The public, too, can play a part in a reversal of fortune for New Mexico. By understanding what a huge issue hunger is in this state and by connecting with organizations, programs and initiatives that are working to combat it, citizens can take action.

In our Land of Enchantment, that so many go hungry is a cause for both alarm and action.

Pendley is a member of the New Mexico Task Force to End Hunger, executive director of the New Mexico Public Health Association and co-group leader for RESULTS-Santa Fe, and de Schweinitz is co-chairman the New Mexico Task Force to End Hunger.