Looking Ahead: 2024 and The Future of Food & Farming in Arizona

As the new year begins, many opportunities and developments will be coming to Arizona’s food and farming landscape. With historic funding being invested from the federal government to build, improve, and expand local and regional food systems, new initiatives, projects, and funding streams will be rolling out in 2024. Additionally, several important pieces of legislation that affect the food system - including the next U.S. Farm Bill - will be moving forward this year.

Photo Credit: The Southwest Regional Food Business Center

Southwest Regional Food Business Center

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Regional Food Business Centers Program to support a more resilient, diverse, and competitive food system. The regional centers will support producers by providing localized assistance to access local and regional supply chains, including linking producers to wholesalers and distributors. They will provide technical assistance needed to access new markets, facilitate access to federal, state, and local resources, and will assist small and mid-sized producers in overcoming barriers to market access, with a focus on underserved farmers, ranchers, and food businesses.

The Southwest Regional Food Business Center will improve opportunities for food and farm businesses across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Center’s three pillars of service are coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building. Local First Arizona, along with the Arizona Department of Agriculture and University of Arizona, are serving as Arizona partners on the regional hub, which will engage with a diverse network of partners to develop and implement strategic and funding plans for technical assistance and capacity building that serves the Southwest region’s underserved communities and businesses. The Southwest Regional Food Business Center will also provide financial assistance through Business Builder subawards of up to $100,000 to support projects focused on regional needs and businesses that are working towards expansion and other investments.

Climate-Smart Agriculture Projects

Last year brought record-breaking heat - with temperatures over 110 degrees 30 times - and with days where 90 degrees was the “low” temperature. In response to climatic uncertainty and needing to adapt to drier, hotter conditions, agriculture-centered solutions play a crucial role. Organizations around Arizona have come together to create collaborative approaches to changing how and what we grow and to help producers transition to climate-friendly farming practices.

Photo Credit: Oatman Flats

Last year several USDA “Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities” grants were awarded for two separate Arizona projects: Climate SMART (Specific Management for Arizona Resilience and Transformation) Agriculture Best Management Practices and Arizona Partnership for Climate-Smart Food Crops. 

The first project, funded for $4.9 million, is led by the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts and involves a collaboration between 13 organizations, other entity and tribal partners and 40 Arizona producers. It focuses on incentivizing climate-smart practices and cross-cultural knowledge sharing, as well as marketing development for climate-smart commodity crops. The second project, funded for $4.7 million, is led by the University of Arizona and focuses on promoting innovative climate-smart food production practices that reduce water use and greenhouse gas emissions and providing market development for the food crops. 

Local First Arizona will be participating in these grants by helping to develop markets for food and valued-added products that are grown using climate-smart practices. A key to ensuring the success of farmers and ranchers implementing climate-smart agriculture will be to create public awareness and consumer demand for climate-smart products. By generating higher value for climate-smart products, farmers and ranchers will benefit from new revenue streams and diverse market channels. And we all will benefit from a more healthy ecosystem and resilient food supply. 

Stay connected and follow us to learn more about these grants as the efforts begin to roll out.

Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program 

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced last year a cooperative agreement with Arizona under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI) that will bring over $3.2 million in grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain for Arizona-based food and farm businesses. These funds will support expanding capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of local food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products, excluding meat and poultry. 

Applications for this RFSI grant funding are being accepted through March 1, 2024, and the funding will begin rolling out in late spring/summer. Farmers, ranchers, and food businesses can learn more and apply here. 

Purchase Local AZ & Try It Local

Two USDA programs help to fund Purchase Local Arizona and Try it Local:  1) the Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Program and 2) the Local Food for Schools (LFS) Cooperative Agreement Program. These USDA programs are designed to strengthen supply chain resiliency by supporting local, regional, and socially disadvantaged food producers by purchasing local food to distribute in rural, remote, or underserved communities.​ 

The programs provide Arizona producers with an opportunity to gain access to more local and diverse market channels such as food bank programs, schools, and organizations that reach underserved communities. The Arizona Department of Economic Security and the Arizona Department of Education will disburse Arizona’s allocation of funds from these programs, approximately $15 million, over fiscal years 2023-2025. 

Arizona producers can apply here to participate in Purchase Local AZ, and schools can complete this online interest form to receive one-on-one assistance or to participate in the Try It Local program.

Farm stand at HonorHealth Desert Mission

Farm to Institution Market Channels

Institutional food procurement, or sourcing the food for institutional market channels like schools, hospitals, and government agencies, holds more power to benefit farmers than any other local food market. This year, some Arizona organizations will be implementing grant projects aimed at increasing access to locally grown produce and reducing on-farm food waste by expanding and creating institutional markets. Pivot Produce’s proposed project, Arizona Planned Production and Logistics Expansion, or APPLE, will utilize the successful southern Arizona Farm to Institution model to increase local food sales to Maricopa County-based institutions. Their proven Farm to Institution model uses a value chain approach to coordinate farmers’ planning with institutional purchasing demand. 

APPLE will provide in-person training on food safety and value-added products for 15 small farmers and will also provide transportation of produce from farms to markets. In addition, the project will expand and create connections to institutional markets, including hospitals, schools, and food banks. The project will also implement purchasing commitments, reduce on-farm food waste by 20%, expand and create 10 institutional markets, and increase sales for small farmers in six counties in southern and central Arizona.

Upcoming Food Systems Policies  

Several food system-related pieces of legislation were introduced last year, and in 2024 there will be important updates and tracking of their progress. 

In July 2023, Representatives Chu, Scott, Adams, and Grijalva, of Arizona, introduced the “Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2023” in the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to address safety and health concerns around excessive heat exposure. Protecting the health and rights of farmworkers is integral to the discussion of how Arizona grows, harvests, and distributes food.  

Before the close of last year, lawmakers in both the House and Senate introduced a piece of legislation - Enabling Farmer, Food worker, Environmental, and Climate Targets through Innovative, Values-aligned, and Equitable (EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act) - aimed at transforming the USDA’s food purchasing processes by directing the agency to seek out not only the most cost-effective foods, but also to weigh factors including supply chain resiliency, environmental impact, and labor policies when awarding companies the billions of dollars it spends on food each year.  

Last year the 2018 U.S Farm Bill was extended through September 2024, giving Congress an additional 10 months to pass a new farm bill. The U.S. Farm Bill is a critical package of legislation that is passed every five years and determines how nearly $1 trillion in tax dollars will be spent on our agricultural and food system. It greatly impacts what is grown, how it is grown, the livelihood of farmers and ranchers, and the funding that goes into nutrition assistance programs. Nothing has a greater impact on food policy and our food system than the U.S. Farm Bill. 

Stay tuned for 2024 updates on these newly introduced pieces of legislation and on the next U.S. Farm Bill.

To Learn More and Be Involved:

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