Local First Arizona Gathers Regional Food Producers, Ag Experts and White House Officials to Tackle Key Issues

Attendees at Local FIrst Arizona's 12th Annual Good Food Forum + Expo, held recently in Oro Valley

Local First Arizona’s 12th annual Good Food Forum and Expo recently took place in Oro Valley, attracting 300 attendees, over 50 speakers and close to 100 vendors from across Arizona’s food ecosystem. The day’s activities included educational programming sessions, a USDA roundtable and networking inspired by this year’s theme — “Building Arizona's Resilient Food Future.”

Presentations explored topics like how to grow food in hotter places, and applying Indigenous knowledge to shaping sustainable food futures, and featured local luminaries including Mayor Regina Romero and James Beard award winner Don Guerra. For the first time, this year’s Good Food Forum also included a USDA roundtable, hosted by Local First and bringing together Arizona farmers and ranchers with officials from Washington, D.C. including Deputy Secretary Torres Small, USDA Rural Development’s Senior Adviser for Food System Finance Gray Harris and USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs’ Senior Advisor for Food Systems Kate Fitzgerald.

State leaders in attendance included USDA Rural Development’s Arizona State Director Charlene Fernandez, USDA National Resources Conservation Service’s State Conservationist Keisha Tatem, Arizona Department of Agriculture Director Paul Brierley and USDA Farm Service Agency’s State Executive Director Ginger Torres Sykes. Tribal Nations were also represented, including Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose.

While in Tucson, senior leaders from the White House, including USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, recognized Local First Arizona’s leadership in transforming agricultural policy, food resiliency and financial investments throughout the Southwest. 

One of Local First’s goals is to improve Arizonans’ access to drought-tolerant, nutritious, locally grown food and reduce the risk of disruptions to our food supply chain by supporting small-to-medium-size farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers in our state. The importance of a self-reliant local food system was starkly demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic when rural and tribal communities with few grocery stores faced empty shelves.

 "Local First Arizona's work on food security is groundbreaking and will build more resilient local food systems throughout the state," said Deputy Secretary Torres Small. "USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration are committed to supporting partners like Local First Arizona by investing in work to expand market opportunities and improve farm income for small and mid-sized farming operations."

 Local First recently won a nearly $5 million federal grant to lead Arizona’s participation in the USDA’s new Southwest Regional Food Business Center with key priorities: attracting new loan and grant opportunities to support regenerative and desert-adapted farming, helping food producers expand their operations and rebuilding the infrastructure needed to grow local markets. The business center also will draw on expertise from the Arizona Department of Agriculture, University of Arizona and other partners.

 “As Local First works with local and national partners to build the innovative Southwest Regional Food Business Center, we are focusing on our heritage as a robust agricultural state,” said Local First Founder and CEO Kimber Lanning. “Local First is becoming a national model for success at strengthening rural and tribal communities, revitalizing our food system, responding to climate change and growing investment capital in our state to create a more prosperous Arizona.”

Grants available for Arizona farmers

Local First is harnessing the newfound attention to realize a future of food in the desert where the fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and cactus we enjoy from our grocery stores and restaurants are grown as close to home and with as little water and environmental impacts as possible.

Among the programs launching soon will be Business Builder grants up to $125,000 to financially assist local farmers, ranchers and processors, along with one-on-one business consulting, marketing and training support.

Farmers can benefit from two other grants Local First is helping to administer: up to $31,000 over two years from the Arizona Alliance for Climate-Smart Crops and up to $48,000 over three years from the Arizona Climate-Smart Practices Program.

Learn more at swfoodbiz.org and goodfoodfinder.com.