ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Healthy food can be hard to come by and expensive, especially for seniors living on a budget. When you add in taking care of children, like many of our seniors do, then fruits and veggies really seem out of reach.

The Railyards Market and City of Albuquerque partners have a program to address this concern.

“It’s kind of like a weekly grab bag, we aggregate produce from farmers from all over New Mexico, mostly in the central New Mexico region,” said Alaska Piper, director for the Railyards Market.

Every Tuesday in April and May, volunteers meet at the Railyards and put together veggie boxes for low-income seniors caring for children.

“We work with several surrounding schools and senior centers and every week we aggregate 120 shares of produce together and then deliver to the schools, deliver to the senior centers,” said Piper.

Their partnership with DoorDash allows them to deliver boxes to seniors within a 10-mile radius.

“We are focusing and prioritizing our neighborhood residents that live close to the Railyards. So seniors in Barelas, South Broadway, San Jose, can apply online through our website railyardsmarket.org,” said the Director.

However, this program doesn’t just help seniors, it also helps farmers get more of their produce out into the community.

“The fact that we can contribute to this, and have it delivered straight to them, that is a really big deal for us,” said Mago whose farm contributed beans to the boxes this week.

“It is really beneficial to the community in the surrounding areas to get access to fresh produce that is grown by us local farmers,” said Adrian Casaus, a local mushroom grower with New Mexico Fungi.

The Railyards Market will be selling veggie boxes to the public once the market opens in May. People on food assistance programs can also get discounts.