Best Practices for the Arizona Department of Agriculture to Support Local Food Systems

The Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) has an opportunity to increase participation within Arizona's local food system, and this report provides recommendations on how AZDA can best meet the needs of existing local food system stakeholders while promoting Arizona-grown food. The focus of the report was to demonstrate the benefits that locally focused programs offer farmers in other states and to increase the programmatic activities related to local food system efforts throughout Arizona. To ensure recommendations were made within the context of the existing local food system landscape, the research team conducted interviews with a variety of stakeholders currently active within Arizona's local food landscape. Secondly, the research team conducted interviews and performed quantitative research on various state departments of agriculture including Idaho, Minnesota and Vermont. Combining the insights shared by all interviewees and gleaned from reviewing state codes, budgets and Department of Agriculture websites, the research team formulated four recommendations for the Arizona Department of Agriculture: Pursue legislative action to expand department purview, Increase budget and staff capacity, Enhance Arizona Grown® programmatic activities, and Expand collaborative efforts.