New Mexico Food Pathways Intelligence Hub
A statewide, self-service mapping and decision-support platform that identifies food access and nutrition desert risks at the census tract level, lets you filter to any of New Mexico's 33 counties, and surfaces contextual remediation guidance for policymakers, nonprofits, food system partners, and retailers. This is a planning-level screening tool for all of New Mexico — not a Doña Ana, Las Cruces, or Bernalillo-only application.
Statewide Snapshot
Planning-level disclaimer
Food Pathways is a planning-level screening tool. Results are intended to identify areas for deeper review and local validation. Scores and recommendations do not represent final site selection, funding approval, zoning review, parcel feasibility, operator commitment, or service availability.Interactive Statewide Map
Every New Mexico census tract, colored by public priority tier. Tracts with insufficient model coverage are shown in gray with a dashed outline — this means "needs validation," not "low need."
Geography
Priority Tier
Food Access
Nutrition Desert
Data Coverage
Point Overlays
Legend
Tract Detail
County Explorer
Compare all 33 New Mexico counties, or drill into one county's tracts, food assets, and priority breakdown.
County Comparison Table
Click any column header to sort. Click a row to filter the whole app to that county.
Food Asset Overlays
Statewide point layers for SNAP retailers, food retail stores, food access resources, and senior centers. Toggle layers on or off; click any point for full details.
Asset Counts
Data Coverage
Model coverage is not the same as priority. A tract with insufficient model coverage may still have real, unmeasured need — it should be flagged for validation, never treated as low priority.
Model Coverage by County
Methodology & Caveats
What this tool is
This is a planning-level screening tool built on statewide census tract boundaries, a food access model, and location data for SNAP retailers, food retail stores, and (in pilot areas) food access resources and senior centers. It is designed to move users from "where is the problem?" to "what kind of problem is it?" to "what intervention may help?" to "who needs to validate or act next?" It is a starting point for conversation, local validation, and due diligence — it does not prescribe policy, select final sites, or replace local planning judgment.
Food desert vs. nutrition desert
A food desert / food access gap reflects geographic or practical barriers to reaching a store at all — nearest store distance, stores within 1/5/10 miles, stores per 1,000 residents, and SNAP retailer availability. A nutrition desert reflects healthy food access pressure that can exist even when a store is nearby, since household budgets are also shaped by food prices, transportation, housing, and utility costs. A tract can have stores nearby and still have nutrition access concerns; a tract can lack stores but need mobile or food-support intervention before grocery recruitment; and a tract can simply have insufficient model coverage and need validation before any interpretation at all.
Store and centroid distance limitation
Distance metrics are calculated from tract centroids, which is a planning-level approximation, not a parcel-level or road-network distance calculation. Large or irregularly shaped tracts may have real distances that differ meaningfully from the centroid estimate.
Required Caveats
Global Caveat
Food Pathways is a planning-level screening tool. Results are intended to identify areas for deeper review and local validation. Scores and recommendations do not represent final site selection, funding approval, zoning review, parcel feasibility, operator commitment, or service availability.Data Coverage Caveat
Some tracts are included in the statewide boundary layer but do not currently have enough model coverage for reliable scoring. These areas are flagged for additional validation and should not be interpreted as low need.Location Caveat
SNAP retailer, store, food access resource, and senior center information should be validated for current operating status, eligibility, hours, services, and capacity before decisions are made.Pilot-Enriched Layer Caveat
Food access resources and senior center support layers are currently enriched for Doña Ana County / Las Cruces and are not yet complete statewide support infrastructure layers.Decision-Making Caveat
The platform identifies candidate tracts and planning-level signals. It does not identify final parcels, make funding decisions, prescribe policy, or replace community engagement, operator feasibility review, transportation analysis, zoning review, or local validation.Remediation pathways referenced in this tool
Tract detail pages surface a suggested remediation focus based on planning-level signals (priority score, distance to nearest store, poverty rate, nutrition desert score, and data coverage status). These map to six general pathways: grocery / retail feasibility review; mobile market or mobile pantry; SNAP retailer expansion or validation; nutrition quality and affordability intervention; senior food support; and, where coverage is incomplete, data validation before any other conclusion. These are directional starting points for conversation, not prescriptions — they require parcel review, zoning review, operator engagement, community engagement, transportation review, and field verification before any site or program decision.
AI-assisted workflow disclosure
Portions of this platform's data pipeline, scoring logic, and interface were developed with AI-assisted tooling. All outputs are planning-level estimates subject to human and local review.