Alva Review-Courier -

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (AP, Aug. 28, 2016) – Fresh chile, watermelons, zucchini and other vegetables were up for grabs as La Semilla Food Center debuted its mobile market in southern New Mexico.

Elena Acosta, the center's community and donor relations manager, says the Farm Fresh Mobile Market is the only one of its kind in the region, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported (http://bit.ly/2btkACx ).

"We're pushing for a healthy food financing initiative," Acosta said. "Part of the financing initiative is demonstrating to consumers the need for healthy foods in their lives."

Mobile market coordinator Alex Bernal said farmers grow most of the produce locally and sell it on consignment.

"We'll have seasonal food, like eggplant, summer squash, melons, and chile," Bernal said. "We will also offer local eggs. The prices will be comparable with other stores, and might be cheaper because there would be lesser cost to us to sell it."

The market is housed in a refurbished bus and can be found in different locations depending on the day.

U.S. Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich attended the recent ribbon cutting.

"We've been getting food wrong for 40 years," said Heinrich, at Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mobile farmers market. "We changed our agricultural focus. We lost that focus on horticulture. This project ... is turning us back to what we need.

"It's a model of how we can bring fresh healthy foods back into our neighborhoods."

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com