Albuquerque’s new Backyard Harvest Share is meant to turn backyard surplus into possible pantry donations. The City announced the program on Sunday, Oct. 18, asking home growers to share whole, unprocessed food through its Health and Social Services Centers and community events.
The arrangement is simple by design. Residents can bring eligible donations to a City Health and Social Services Center during its regular hours, or to a City health and social services fair or community event. The City says no sign-up is required for produce donors. Staff from the Department of Health, Housing and Homelessness will collect the food and distribute it through the City’s pantry network.
The City’s current program page lists fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, dried chiles, dried beans and other legumes, garlic, onions, potatoes, and bouquets made from homegrown flowers. Everything donated must be homegrown, whole and unprocessed. Store-bought produce, jams, preserves and prepared foods are not accepted, according to the City. The page also links separate safety guidance for backyard eggs; growers should check that guidance before bringing eggs because the main list does not include them.
Mayor Tim Keller described the program as a way to connect people who have extra garden produce with neighbors who can use it. In a KOB report published the day of the announcement, he noted that “a lot of folks do have small gardens in their backyard.” The program gives those growers a route for sharing more than they can use themselves, while the City handles collection and delivery into existing food-distribution channels.
That connection matters at the neighborhood level: a few extra tomatoes, onions or herbs from one home garden are not a pantry delivery by themselves, but a shared collection system can gather contributions in places already serving residents. The City says its broader pantry network serves hundreds of Albuquerque individuals and families each month. That figure describes the existing network, not a measured result of Backyard Harvest Share, which had just been announced.
KOB reported that Central New Mexico Community College is involved in the program. The college already runs its own food pantry for currently enrolled students, offering bags that may include fresh fruits and vegetables alongside nonperishable items. A CNM manager of student basic needs told KOB that nutritious meals matter for students. The City has not said on its program page whether CNM is a drop-off site or how donations will be divided among partner pantries.
CNM’s public pantry page says currently enrolled students must register through its check-in system and may access the pantry or a basic-needs distribution once a week. It lists pantry locations at four Albuquerque campuses. That shows the college already has food support for students, but it does not establish where the City will route Backyard Harvest Share donations. The City page does not name a CNM campus as a drop-off site.
The distinction between a new collection route and an established pantry network is useful for readers. The launch announcement described a way for growers to contribute; it did not report how many residents had signed up, how much food had been collected, or when the first donation would be distributed. No program-specific totals were available in the City’s instructions or the Oct. 18 local reports reviewed for this story.
People interested in taking part can find current donation instructions and four Health and Social Services Center locations on the City’s Albuquerque Backyard Harvest page. The City lists Rachel Petroff at 505-761-4050 for questions about upcoming donation opportunities. Donors should check the page before a trip, especially if they plan to bring items such as eggs that have separate safety guidance.
Backyard Harvest Share is built around a modest idea: food grown at home can travel farther when neighbors have a clear place to leave it and a local network ready to distribute it. Albuquerque’s first step is now public. Its impact will depend on what residents bring and how the City’s pantry partners put those donations to work.
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