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Phoenix outlines food‑systems grants, urban agriculture fellowship and cooperative training
Summary
City presenters described ARPA‑funded trainings, food‑system transformation grants and local partnerships that supported food forests, composting, restaurant waste pilots and a farms‑to‑food‑banks program, aimed at growing local producers and improving access in food‑insecure neighborhoods.
City presenters told the Community Services and Education Subcommittee that pandemic relief and ARPA funding seeded a suite of programs intended to strengthen Phoenix’s local food economy and support new farmers.
Hannah Layton, director of an Arizona benefit corporation working with entrepreneurs on values‑based business models, described a 10‑week cooperative business development training that targeted sustainable food enterprises and helped entrepreneurs form member‑owned cooperatives. "Over the past 3 years, we've been able to work with the Office of Environmental Programs with this ARPA funding to host...training programs that focus on sustainable cooperative business development," Layton said.
Speakers described a food‑forest project in South Phoenix with moringa, peaches, pomegranates and other edible plantings that organizers said now operates as Arizona’s first member‑owner cooperative. JD Hill, founder of Recycled City, described a complementary model that collects food waste from homes and restaurants, partners with the City of Phoenix Compost Facility, and redistributes fresh produce to households in food deserts.
The Human Services presentation noted three program types that will continue: the backyard garden program, Project Reduce (a restaurant food‑waste pilot), and the Food System Transformation Grants. Project Reduce worked with about nine restaurants on composting, donations and prevention strategies; the city is now distributing up to $10,000 microgrants to six downtown restaurants to adopt waste‑prevention measures.
Officials said the Food System Transformation Grants have funded equipment (examples cited: a Tilmor cultivating tractor), infrastructure at community garden sites (shade structures, solar, water catchment) and market connections such as a local outlet that accepts SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks. The city framed these investments as both economic supports for small producers and a way to put fresh produce into food‑assistance channels.
Why it matters: presenters and advocates argued the programs address a dual problem — an aging farmer population and entrenched food insecurity in parts of Phoenix — by investing in workforce development, local processing and distribution, and targeted outreach to neighborhoods with limited grocery access.
What’s next: staff signaled continued emphasis on sustaining the most effective pilots as ARPA funds draw down and on partnering with community groups to scale delivery.
