Bridging Food Insecurity and Health in New Mexico

According to Feeding America’s 2026 Map the Meal Gap study, over 380,000 people living in New Mexico face food insecurity, with nearly a quarter of them being children. Bloomberg Fellow, and 2026 Bloomberg American Health Summit Speaker, Louie Martinez is working to change this.

Martinez began his journey into food systems work in a research lab, not a food pantry. As an undergraduate Public Health Studies major at Johns Hopkins University, he wrote a thesis exploring whether people who experience weight regain may also face worsening mental health outcomes. His work framed health and wellbeing as tied to societal stigma and obesogenic food environments, which he came to see as symptoms of much larger flaws in the food system.

Today, Martinez applies that thinking at Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico, where he is Manager of Healthcare Programming for the northern part of the state. In this role, he oversees the day-to-day execution of the food bank’s healthcare programs, acting as the operational link between healthcare partners and community-based organizations. With his team, he designs referral pathways that connect patients to food, nutrition, and other health-related resources. He also recruits and manages healthcare organizations as referring partners for programs including Community Health Navigation, the statewide Food Is Medicine medically tailored groceries program, and a medical-referral home delivery program. 

In fiscal year 2026, Roadrunner distributed nearly 51 million pounds of food, reaching roughly 860,000 households and nearly 1.9 million individuals. But Martinez and his colleagues are also working to develop and pursue policy solutions. 

Roadrunner’s Healthy Eating and Living Program takes a person-centered, relationship-based approach, helping families navigate fragmented service systems, meet immediate needs, and build long-term stability. 

To improve this program, and the countless efforts like it, Martinez decided to apply to the Bloomberg American Health Fellowship. Through the program, Martinez hopes to learn more about the interconnected public health crises facing his community, including isolated rural healthcare systems, tangled webs of governance, built environments that limit access to critical resources, and economic instability that pushes families deeper into poverty.

Tune in to watch Louie, and other incredible guests, speak live at the 2026 Bloomberg American Health Summit on October 20, 2026. Click here to watch the livestream.