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Local group With Many Hands proposes urban farmer training, will run Alamogordo Farmers Market in 2026
Summary
A local grassroots group told the City Commission it plans paid internships and to take over the city's farmers market in 2026 as part of a push to reuse vacant lots for micro farms and community gardens.
Courtney McCarry Squires, community organizer for the grassroots group With Many Hands, told the City Commission during public comment on Aug. 28 that her organization is working to convert vacant lots into micro farms, community gardens and training opportunities.
Squires told commissioners the group has been working on “economic development opportunity through micro farms throughout Alamogordo” since 2022 and plans an Urban Farmer Training Program with paid interns to teach residents to grow and sell produce and use benefit programs. “We will be taking over the Alamogordo Farmers Market in 2026,” she said.
Squires said she reviewed the Local Economic Development Act and the Alamogordo Municipal Code and found language that would allow the city to “partner with businesses or entities that facilitate the direct sales of growers of agricultural products, commonly known as farmers markets.” She urged commissioners not to “forget about us” when city policies affecting vacant lots are discussed.
Two other residents, Brandon Isenberg and Jasmine Bratton, supported With Many Hands during public comment. Isenberg, who said he volunteers with the group, said the area faces increasing food insecurity and “we need to build our local food system now.” Bratton, who also volunteers with With Many Hands and said she has lived in Alamogordo 17 years, urged the commission to use micro farms and gardens to increase fresh produce access for families and schools.
Squires described planned program elements as paid internships, training on growing and selling produce, and assistance to help growers accept nutrition benefits including WIC, SNAP and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and Double Up Food Bucks.
The commission did not take formal action during the public-comment portion; commissioners and staff did not enter a dialogue with speakers during the comment period, consistent with the meeting’s public-comment rules. The group’s proposals will likely intersect with later discussion in the meeting about vacant lots and city property disposal.
Squires left materials with the city and offered to answer follow-up questions from staff.
Why it matters: With Many Hands’ plans link neighborhood land use and economic development to food access; the group’s control of the farmers market in 2026 could change how locally produced food is distributed and how benefit programs reach residents.
What's next: The group asked the city to consider partnerships around sale or lease of city-owned land and said it is preparing an Urban Farmer Training Program for 2026. City staff did not commit to specific next steps during public comment.
