{"id":139544,"date":"2026-07-17T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/food-insecurity-impacts-la-plata-countys-residents-in-range-of-ways\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T11:00:00","slug":"food-insecurity-impacts-la-plata-countys-residents-in-range-of-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/food-insecurity-impacts-la-plata-countys-residents-in-range-of-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"Food insecurity impacts La Plata County\u2019s residents in range of ways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Judy
Judy Rector shops at the Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. She is one of many residents across Southwest Colorado experiencing food insecurity. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Manna soup kitchen\u2019s campus is bustling at 10 a.m. on a weekday. A group of women, each with a shock of orange hair that suggests familial relation, energetically loads groceries into bags at the community food market. The youngest among them \u2013 appearing around middle school age, judging by her height and soft, rounded features \u2013 expresses excitement about the snacks she\u2019s placing in a bright pink backpack.<\/p>\n

Outside, people eat breakfast. They\u2019re congregated under trees, on the benches by the building and perched on the side of the parking lot. Some of them are unhoused. Most of them are not.<\/p>\n

\n

About this series<\/h4>\n

Thousands of La Plata County residents struggle to consistently access enough nutritious food. This series examines the impacts of the growing affordability crisis and looming cuts to many New Deal-era nutrition and social service programs on the county\u2019s fragile food safety net, the widespread impact on the community and the local efforts working to build a more resilient food system. In this series:<\/p>\n

Today<\/strong>: A broad range of people experience food insecurity in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n

July 24<\/strong>: A look at how the conditions and circumstances unique to the moment contribute to food insecurity and how communities are bracing for looming challenges.<\/p>\n

July 31<\/strong>: There are more ways than one to keep people fed and healthy. We examine some of the solutions communities are undertaking, and some areas that still need improvement. Also, learn how Pine River Shares is executing a grassroots approach to address the root of the problem by producing food locally \u2013 and keeping it local.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEveryone is struggling right now,\u201d one volunteer stacking egg cartons said.<\/p>\n

Food insecurity can impact anyone \u2013 the person sleeping at the bus stop, your middle-class neighbor with a big family or the farmer down the road, said Rachel Landis, director of the Good Food Collective, a Durango-based nonprofit that works to provide connection, resources, policy support and strategic leadership to build a more just and thriving food system across Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really is an issue affecting many of our friends and neighbors down here in this region, and this is not something that is limited to our folks who are within our kind of lowest socioeconomic status,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is also really impacting the middle working class \u2013 (and) I think that\u2019s the other thing, is understanding that this could be any of us, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Items
Items available at Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. In La Plata County, recent estimates from the Durango Food Bank suggest around 7,000 people struggle with food insecurity and miss at least one meal a day. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In La Plata County, recent estimates from the Durango Food Bank suggest around 7,000 people struggle with food insecurity and miss at least one meal a day. Other nonprofit leaders believe that number is likely much higher based on what they are seeing in their communities, although those estimates are difficult to quantify.<\/p>\n

What is clear is the need. In the Pine River Valley, lines at the food bank have doubled in the past two years, and organizations across the county dedicated to helping families afford groceries or put fresh fruit and vegetables on the table remain as busy as ever amid an affordability crisis that hits rural areas particularly hard.<\/p>\n

The conflict in Iran has driven up fuel and fertilizer costs, pushing grocery prices higher. Beef prices continue to climb as the U.S. cattle herd sits at its smallest size in more than half a century. Housing costs and expensive childcare add on, and looming above it all are next year\u2019s changes to federal assistance programs.<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, local food organizations have built an increasingly sophisticated network of support and begun focusing on a more community-driven approach to addressing food security \u2013 but the issue still persists, and its impacts can be diverse, far-reaching and long-term, Landis said.<\/p>\n

These are some of the stories of the region\u2019s food insecure residents.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth
Elizabeth Brittain shops at Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. Brittain, who takes care of her 94-year-old father, says the pantry helps them out a lot. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Judy Rector<\/div>\n

Seventy-five-year-old Judy Rector, who lives near Ignacio with her 84-year-old husband, said the Pine River Shares free market in Bayfield is a main source of food for her household.<\/p>\n

Rector\u2019s husband has macular degeneration and dementia, and the pair live off of social security, she said. The two had a 401(k), but sustaining themselves after retirement in a difficult economy eventually drained their savings.<\/p>\n

She sometimes buys groceries from stores like Walmart \u2013 but without the help of Pine River Shares, she and her husband would be unable to reliably feed themselves, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Judy
Judy Rector shops at the Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe normally get a pound of hamburger every two weeks, and then quite often the eggs \u2013 a dozen eggs \u2013 and they throw some of their own vegetables and things in there,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes we get potatoes or onions, or things like that too. \u2026 It\u2019s a big help.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said seeing all the different types of people who visit the market reminds her that anyone can end up food insecure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be living on the streets to use (the free market),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Doris<\/div>\n

Doris, who asked to go by her first name because of negative perceptions associated with food insecurity, is 77 and \u201cfeeling it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many senior citizens in La Plata County, she lives on a fixed income and a small amount of money through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get $24 a month in SNAP benefits. Except, you can\u2019t even walk into the grocery store for $24,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d had a 30-year career as a social worker, a dual-income marriage with a savings account and a 401(k).<\/p>\n

Her husband\u2019s hospital bill was a million dollars, and they were responsible for $200,000 of it. It took all of their savings to pay off, and Doris had to come out of retirement for several years before Social Security kicked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I would find myself in that position,\u201d she said of being worried about affording groceries, before discovering Pine River Shares.<\/p>\n

In her move from Seattle to the Pine River Valley to be near her son about four years ago, Doris said she accidentally left her entire spice rack behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember just standing in my kitchen crying, going, \u2018I can\u2019t afford to buy all this again,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the following weeks, she said having such a tight budget for groceries chipped away at the sense of security she felt as a younger woman. She found herself making the choice between purchasing her medication or groceries. More specifically, nutritious, fresh food.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the hardest part \u2013 the nutritious things that you absolutely need,\u201d she said. \u201cInstead of having the protein that I needed, I\u2019d probably have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a woman not immune to the regular ailments that accompany an aging body \u2013 Doris has arthritis \u2013 she can intimately feel the way fresh, whole foods make her feel compared to packaged, processed junk food.<\/p>\n

\"People
People shop at the Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fresh
Fresh eggs available at Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Luckily, she connected with Pine River Shares shortly after the move. There, she found the resources to meet her nutritional needs while still being able to afford her medicine. And by becoming an active volunteer, her main focus is now helping others struggling with similar insecurity, providing an outlet for her to address the county and nationwide issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being there on the food share days and helping people through the line, hearing their stories, it just makes all the difference in the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019d even still be here if I hadn\u2019t gotten involved in this program because, you know, my situation was pretty desperate, and I was pretty depressed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brook<\/div>\n

Instant oatmeal, packages of freeze dried dates, a box of cooked chicken, one package of frozen bacon and a breakfast burrito were some of the food items Brook, a 47-year-old Durango man, picked up at the Manna Food Market earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Brook, who asked to go by only his first name, has a home, a part-time job and is working to finish his GED. Until about four years ago, he worked as a professional tradesman in the building industry. After suffering a mental health crisis, he ended up one of the thousands of Americans whose housing situation collapsed out from underneath them after a single life upset.<\/p>\n

Much of what he picked up at Manna that day would not have been items he could have eaten while living out of a tent, he said, gesturing to his grocery haul.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t even take it because you can\u2019t have a (expletive) fire out there (in the wilderness),\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, this would probably spoil by the time I ate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Pine River Shares Market on June 16 in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Brook is doing well. He\u2019s back on his medication, housed and working. But he still is not at the place where grocery money fits smoothly into his budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis job is not full-time. It\u2019s only 20 hours a week, and now I\u2019m gonna probably lose my Medicaid,\u201d he said, referring to the new Medicaid eligibility requirements that go into effect in January.<\/p>\n

Under H.R.1 (the budget reconciliation bill that passed July 2025), Medicaid recipients must prove they are working, volunteering or in school for at least 80 hours a month, and instead of once a year, eligibility must be reviewed every six months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just barely hanging on. \u2026 It\u2019s going to cost me my meds, and I\u2019m going to lose food stamps, and yeah, that\u2019s going to (impact) my food security because, you know, rent is 1,000 bucks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alix Midgley<\/div>\n

Mancos farmer and Good Food Collective Rural Access Manager Alix Midgley feels like she\u2019s found stability now, but when she was first starting out as a farmer several years ago, being able to afford consistent meals was a struggle.<\/p>\n

\"Midgley\"
Midgley<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She experienced food insecurity as a master\u2019s degree holder while working two jobs and living with a working partner.<\/p>\n

Getting on her feet as a farmer wasn\u2019t easy economically or logistically, Midgely said, and impacted her ability to reliably access meals, even as she was attempting to grow her own food to sell.<\/p>\n

The stress and fear that came from not knowing where her next meal was coming from was significant, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of the first few years of being out here and starting the farm business and developing the land, my former partner and I hit some pretty hard times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Midgley and her former partner eventually accepted that they needed help, she said, and the two applied for SNAP benefits. Remembering the relief she felt when she was told she had been accepted still makes her emotional, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will absolutely never ever forget the experience \u2013 this is going to make me cry \u2013 of first getting the SNAP card and going to the grocery store for the first time,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 It wasn\u2019t even very much money, but the weight that was lifted off of my shoulders in being able to walk into the grocery store and know that I could afford the basic things that we were going to need to be able to get through the month was massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The storage room at Pine River Shares Market on Tuesday in Bayfield. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Food insecurity is often misunderstood or siloed into one non-encompassing definition, Landis said \u2013 but people\u2019s experiences run the gamut.<\/p>\n

People often perceive food insecurity to mean hunger, and an issue that doesn\u2019t touch the United States, the Southwest or a next-door neighbor, she said \u2013 but it\u2019s more complex and far-reaching than many people realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is insecurity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is, you don\u2019t necessarily have consistent access to the food that you need to support your well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a>; jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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