Congratulations Cindy Gentry: Climate & Health Champion!
Congratulations to Cindy Gentry for being selected as a 2019 Maricopa County Climate and Health Champion!
Cindy Gentry has been a fixture for more than two decades in local farmers markets and is widely recognized for her work in food access and healthy food systems development. Cindy has been a champion for Arizona small growers, asserting they are best suited to deliver locally grown fruits and vegetables to families living in the many food insecure regions of Maricopa County. She also deeply cares about the health of residents, especially vulnerable populations. To help increase accessibility and improve health outcomes, Cindy helps growers qualify for SNAP benefit electronic processing so that low-income families could use their benefits to purchase local food. Cindy also plays a key role in the formation and management of the Community Exchange Table, which provides small and micro growers access to sales by offering a cooperative selling option. Community Exchange is active at 4 local farmers markets in Maricopa County, three of which offer the WIC, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) and Double Up Food Bucks programs. As president of Sun Produce Cooperative, the first agricultural cooperative of its kind in Arizona, Cindy works with nine Maricopa County growers to market, aggregate, and distribute their produce to institutional buyers such as school districts, mobile markets, corner stores, employee wellness programs, and others.
Cindy’s efforts not only help to preserve existing green space but also improve air quality by reducing fossil fuels associated with food transportation.
You might have seen Cindy as she drives her personal truck around the Phoenix metro area – from Litchfield Park to Tempe and everywhere in between – to deliver fresh produce on time with a smile. Or you might have gotten to know her cheery personality through the Sun Produce Co-op facebook page. Despite all she’s done already, Cindy continues to be a fierce advocate for Arizona’s small and mid-size growers, and we are proud to work with and learn from her whenever possible. Thank you for your incredible leadership, Cindy!
Learn more about Cindy and her current work with Sun Produce Cooperative here.
ABOUT THE CLIMATE AND HEALTH CHAMPIONS RECOGNITION PROGRAM
The Maricopa County Climate and Health Champions Recognition Program was established in 2017 as part of the Bridging Climate Change and Public Health (BCCPH) Strategic Plan in an effort to build community awareness and knowledge about climate health and share information about successful interventions.
Projects eligible for nomination under this recognition program include a wide variety of activity types, such as adopting a specific policy within an organization; advocating for a policy to be adopted more broadly outside of a specific organization; or implementing a tangible solution within a community or environment that are aimed at improving the health of our community and are linked to climate-sensitive hazards. We encourage consideration of risks that affect one group of people more than another.
Learn more and meet the other 2019 winners and nominees here.