Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration) states:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.^[1]

In food secure countries and continents, including Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., improving food and nutrition are parts of public policy, even when incompletely, inadequately or inconsistently undertaken through entitlements and social welfare programs.^[2]

In food insecure countries, economic and political problems and an absence of a social structure to treat hunger and its underlying causes is frequently missing or non-existent. While some of the international efforts of wealthier countries provide temporary and critical measures to alleviate the immediate causes of hunger and starvation, they do not always provide long-term solutions.^[2]

• ending hunger and ensuring access for all to safe, nutritious and sufficient food
• doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous people and family farmers, through secure and equal access to land and other market opportunities
• ensuring sustainable food production systems and implementation of resilient agricultural practices that maintain ecosystems while adaptating to climate change and natural disasters
• maintaining genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and through sound management at national, regional and international levels
• promoting fair and equitable benefit sharing of agricultural resources and traditional knowledge
• increasing investment through international cooperation, rural infrastructure development, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks
• modifying world agricultural market trade restrictions in accordance with the Doha Development Roundtrade negotiations among the World Trade Organization members to reform international trading systems through the introduction of lower trade barriers and revised trade rules
• adopting processes to share information about food commodity markets to limit price volatility.^[3]

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International Efforts

The Food Assistance Convention (FAC), preceded by the Food Aid Convention of 1991, was ratified by Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland and the U.S. and entered into force on January 1, 2013. Its primary objectives are saving lives, reducing hunger and improving food security through timely, effective, efficient and coordinated efforts.^[1]

It expanded the objectives of previous food aid conventions and includes food assistance products, cash and vouchers, livelihood support, access to nutritional food and guiding principles for ratifying parties, who each agreed to provide specific, minimal levels of annual support.^[1]

Partners in the distribution of food and finances include the World Food Program, Food and Agricultural Organization, International Red Cross Committee, United Nations Development Program, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Action Against Hunger, Emergency First International and Aga Khan Foundation.^[3]

In 2022, the top 10 receipients were Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, Ukraine, Sudan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[3] Countries confirmed their 2024 commitments during the 18th FAC session on December 13, 2023.^[4]

The U.S. Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) provides emergency food and nutrition assistance to vulnerable populations affected by conflict and other disasters by shipping food from the U.S. for distribution, directly purchasing food in the country where it will be distributed and supplying cash or food vouchers that can be used in local markets if food is available.^[6]

In 2021 USAID shipped 370,030 metric tons1,000 kilograms or 2204.62 pounds to its warehouses, with 98,700 metric tons stored in Djibouti, Durban and Houston. with 271,330 metric tons diverted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen. Partners received and additional 88,025 metric tons also distributed in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Haiti, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.^[7]

USAID also works with the UN World Food Program to maintain a world-wide warehouse network that facilitates rapid distribution in areas where food is needed most. Specific commodities include high-nutrition foods, including corn-soy blend cereals, lentils, fortified rice, pinto beans, sorghum, vegetable oil and yellow split peas, which can be easily packaged and quickly transported.^[7],[8]

In 2022 USAID and BHA collaborated with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Grain Inspection Service to improve food technology, safety, quality and packaging to prevent pest infestation. minimize food loss and preserve food nutritional value. In partnership with Michigan State University, they spearheaded a global network for sustainable food assistance packaging that resulted in innovations and progress in optimizing food assistance commodity packaging.^[8]

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USAID and BHA represented the U.S. Government at the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). CAC establishes food safety standards relating to maximum limits of mycotoxinstoxic compounds naturally produced by fungi in food commodities, adopts guidelines on the technical and nutritional aspects of ready-to-eat therapeutic foods (RUTF) for children ages 6 to 59 months experiencing severe acute malnutrition.^[8]

In 2023 the Micronutrient Forum identified 5 lessons learned by international organizations dealing with world food crises:

• All systems have the potential to be resilient in safeguarding nutrition during a crisis. Some governments supported and strengthened food, health and education systems delivering nutritious food via alternative platforms and school meals.
• Some countries implemented new nutrition interventions. In Ghana, health and education systems worked together to deliver iron-folic acid supplements to adolescents. In Peru, coordinated efforts between the food system and social protection system fortified food production and distribution.
• A renewed focus on reaching the most vulnerable through social protection systems to safeguard nutrition. In South Africa, the government expanded eligibility criteria for its Child Support Grant, benefitting an additional seven million people, nearly all of them women, who received child support. Because school meal programs shut down during the pandemic the Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia and Kenya used new food delivery methods.
• Expanding and strengthening local capacities and empowering communities. In Indonesia, the health system adapted child wasting screening methods by teaching community health workers and trained caregivers to recognize malnutrition.
• Shared management information systems, innovative technologies, collaborative platforms and responsive decision-making. In South Africa, the application process for social protection was digitized to manage the massive influx of applicants and expand the number people whose livelihoods or incomes were affected by COVID-19.^[5]

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Agriculture

Most international efforts are based on humanitarian assistance in response to conflict,^[1] based on two documents, in addition to the 2030 Agenda, that note the importance of reducing agricultural risk and creating sustainable development and resilience.^[13]

Priority 3 of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 aims for

Public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural measures are essential to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural resilience of persons, communities, countries and their assets, as well as the environment.^[14]

Parties recognize that adaptation is a global challenge faced by all with local, subnational, national, regional and international dimensions, and that it is a key component of and makes a contribution to the long-term global response to climate change to protect people, livelihoods and ecosystems, taking into account the urgent and immediate needs of those developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change... Parties acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a country-driven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and actions, where appropriate.^[15]

Food insecurity cannot be solved simply by growing more food. It requires creative agricultural solutions that must also address technological innovations, industrial agriculture, small farming practices, genetic modifications, crop variety and yields, agroecosystemecosystems supporting food production on farms and in gardens diversification, dietary changes, soil health,^[1],[3] fertilizer and chemical pollution, sustainability due to climate change, natural disasters, greenhouse gas emissions and labor markets.

Using more land and water or relying on processes that damage the environment will also not solve the problem:

• agricultural activities use 40% of Earth's land surface, threaten more than 5,000 species, account for 66% of total freshwater withdrawal and 85% of water consumption
• agriculture, forestry and related land uses account for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions^[2]
• the United Nations projects that food production from plants and animals will need to increase 70% by 2050, compared with 2009, to meet increasing food demand
• food production is already responsible for 90% of world deforestation
• food packaging and transportation are responsible for 11% of all food industry greenhouse gas emissions
• approximately 1/3 of all produced food is never eaten, with 14% of food lost between harvest and retail
• another 17% of produced food is thrown out by shops, restaurants and consumers.^[3]

Solutions that mitigate disaster risks, include improved small farming practices that optimize land and water use, decrease food waste, increase high nutrient crop yields and protect livestock are critical to world food security.

• Bangladesh and other countries. In 2011 the World Food Programme and Oxfam America started the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4). By 2021 the program helped 395,000 households in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.^[11]

  The initiative uses several risk-management strategies:

  • improved agricultural practices
  • insurance
  • increased investment
  • livelihood diversification
  • small loans and savings
  • investment in seeds, fertilizers and new technologies.^[11]

  The initiative has empowered women in Senegal, providing numeracy, literacy, business and insurance education. In Kenya, 87% of insured households were headed by women and 43% of households surveyed after the payout distribution were also headed by women.^[11]

• Belize. In northern Belize, agrochemicals, sugarcane production, conventional farming and cattle production have negatively affected the environment, resulting in deforestation, soil degradation, and water contamination. In 2017, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI)-Belize partnered with 90 rural families in Chunox, San Luis and Patchakan, training farmers about reforestation, safe crop production methods, soil fertility restoration and pest and disease management in 68 new agroforestry initiatives.^[5]

  SHI-Belize methods have produced 12,210 chemical-free fruit trees, 1,590 hardwood trees, 5,580 root tubers and 175 spice plants, nearly $3 million in income for 90 families.^[5]

How much produce is not eaten?
• Brazil. According to the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Environment more than 140 million hectares of the country's land has been deforested due to agriculture. Grain cultivation land surface increased by 80% between 1996 and 2006, resulting in lower crop yields, biodiversity loss, degraded soil, unstable water supplies and struggling local communities no longer able to support themselves using degraded land.^[7]

  The SLB Group and Mirova will restore 1,400 hectares of land in the state of Paraná while employing more than 300 local workers. The project, aligned with the Principles for Ecosystem Restoration to Guide the United Nations Decade, has already restored 2,500 hectares of plantations and 1,500 hectares of preserved forest. Each plantation has an average of 40% of managed land dedicated to the conservation and regeneration of native habitats.^[7]

  The project is increasing biodiversity on palm oil and soy plantations, preserving existing natural resources, replanting areas that were deforested and overgrazed, increasing availability of high quality wood and improving CO₂ capture. SLB also developed a patented organic, biochar-based fertilizer that reduces the use of agrochemicals while supporting tree growth, soil health and soil organic carbon levels.^[7]

  Mirova is providing a $12.6 million through its Land Degradation Neutrality Fund. The partnership plans to restore up to 20,000 hectares of degraded land.^[7]



• Colombia. Colombia's Sierra Nevada National Park is the home of the highest coastal mountain range in the world and many threatened species. The RioSierra Project encourages sustainable local coffee production through agroforestry and is funded by Ūrapi Sustainable Land Use.^[8]

  The project was designed with Red Ecolsierra, a collective of 22 coffee farmer associations established in 2001 which has 394 members. Red Ecolsierra created a partnership with the honey cooperative Apisierra, and purchased a warehouse and small-scale facilities to facilitate coffee and honey production.^[8]

  The partnership also experiments with organic fertilizer and pesticides, funds agroforestry, generates carbon credits, runs a state-of-the-art processing mill and a compost production plant. The project will increase incomes of 1,500 growers, convert 4,500 hectares of degraded farmland to sustainable agroforestry, conserve 70,000 hectares of forest and avoid 1,300,000 tons of CO₂ emissions.^[8]

• Nepal. Mushrooms, usually collected during the country's rainy season, are an important part of the diets of lower income citizens. An affordable and nutritious source of fiber, minerals and vitamins, they have been commercially produced for a few decades.^[12]

  Farmers like growing mushrooms because they grow easily and in small spaces. But keeping up with demand is difficult. Improper handling, contamination, poor inventory management, inaccurate measurement and climate change create problems for growers and distributors.^[12]

  Feed the Future is teaching local farmers to safely grow and handle their crops. Some of the women involved in the program have started their own companies, selling mushroom spawn and educating other farmers about new methods.^[12]

• Nicaragua. As cotton plantations grew in Nicaragua deforestation spread in the 1950s and 1960s. Small farmers own and operate most of the country's farmland, much of which can be reforestated. Most farmers make less than $2 per day, so can't afford to change current farming methods without help.^[4]

  Taking Root's CommuniTree Carbon Program, founded in 2010, works with Nicaraguan farmers to reforest their land by growing trees next to their crops. The tree planting project, the largest reforestation initiative in Nicaragua, provide timber and shade for coffee beans, adding an additional income stream for the farmers.^[4]

  The project has planted more than 13 million trees and distributed more than $9 million to farmers. The new forests have absorbed more than 2.5 million tons of carbon, restoring more than 8,000 hectares of land, which is expected to increase to 20,000 hectares by 2025.^[4]

Food production is responsible for what percent of world deforestation?
• Nigeria. In 2021, farmers in northwestern Nigeria lost 65% of their crops due to delayed rainfall. When the rain finally arrived, it flooded fields, destroying remaining crops.^[10]

  Two hundred local farmers, including many women, are now working with Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) , the University of Ibadan and the University of Georgia to sustain crops through climate events by growing rice and fish in rice paddies in a symbiotic relationship.^[10]

  Fish waste includes nitrates,a nitrogen-based chemical used in fertilizer potassiuma soft silvery-white reactive metal and phosphorusa poisonous, combustible nonmetal that are used as fertilizer for the rice. This decreases chemical waste, reduces greenhouse gases and produces two food sources at the same time. Farmers also share what they have learned with others to help them adopt this new method.^[10]

• Sahel. In 2018, WFP and partners launched the Sahel Integrated Resilience Programme to help individuals, communities and governments in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The program has expanded, reaching 3.2 million people in more than 3,190 villages. In Niger, 80% of villages that participated in asset development did not require humanitarian aid in 2022.^[9]

  The project is restoring ecosystems to increase local food production, providing school meals, delivering nutrition education, supporting small farm food distribution, strengthening sustainability, developing processes to ensure resilience when food supplies are low and working with Sahel University Network for Resilience (REUNIR) to share information among farmers to share with future generations.^[9]

• Suriname. Pomeroon Trading is a sustainable agriculture and carbon offset company operationing in the Coronie District of Suriname. In September 2023, the company started a coconut seedling nursery and tree planting on a 1,200 hectare farm site leased from the government. The company is also analyzing mangrovetree or shrub that grows in tropical coastal swamps flooded at high tide, have numerous tangled roots above ground that form dense thickets protection and restoration activities in the Coronie and Commeweijne Districts to generate carbon credits.a permit which allows a country or organization to produce a certain amount of carbon emissions and which can be traded if the full allowance is not used^[6]

  The goals of the agroforestry and carbon offset projects are restoration and rehabilitation along Suriname's coastline, while collecting data that can be used to benefit local communities.^[6]

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Federal and State Programs

Working with state governments, the federal government offers several kinds of direct and indirect access to nutritious food. Some programs are aimed at helping women, infants and school children. Others assist seniors and Native Americans by providing food subsidies.^[11]

In Arizona, for example, citizens can apply for federal food assistance through the Arizona Department of Economic Security Food Assistance and Health-e-Arizona Plus websites.

One of the largest federal food programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often referred to as food stamps, operates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands.^[11]

SNAP costs more than some federal benefits and far less than others. In fiscal 2022, the government spent $119.4 billion on SNAP, with $113.9 billion to benefits and $5.5 billion to administrative expenses. During the same year the federal government spent $747.2 billion on Medicare, $591.9 billion on Medicaid, $161.2 billion on veterans' benefits, $58.8 billion on Supplemental Security Income and $33.1 billion on unemployment compensation.^[11]

A household qualifies for SNAP if its gross monthly income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty level and the net monthly income is at or below 100% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four in 2023, that meant that a gross monthly income below $3,007 and a net monthly income below $2,313 qualified a family for benefits. Households with those aged 60 and older or people with disabilities only have to meet the net income requirement.^[11]

Households receiving other types of aid, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), may be eligible for SNAP automatically. States may also have additional eligibility requirements.^[11]

In April 2023, the national average benefit was $181.72 per person and $343.00 per household, lower than the February 2023 averages of $245.44 per person and $464.36 per household. The decline was due to the expiration of benefits implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

There is substantial variation in benefits based on residence. In April 2023 New York beneficiaries received an average of $212.09 per person and those living in Oklahoma received an average of $127.32.^[11]

SNAP benefits are based on the Thrifty Food Plan, an estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of the costs for nutritious groceries for a family of two adults and two children. That amount is adjusted for other household types when determining benefit levels. The Thrifty Food Plan was updated in 2021 for the first time in 15 years and will be reevaluated in 2026.^[11]

There are also work requirements. Most Americans between 16 and 59 years of age who are not disabled must register with their state SNAP agency or employment office, meet work, job search or job training requirements set by their state, accept a suitable job if offered, and work at least 30 hours a week.^[11]

SNAP participation changes depending on eligibility rules. Between 1980 and 2008 between 7% and about 11% of households received benefits. In April 2023, 41.9 million people in 22.2 million households, 12.5% of the U.S. population, received SNAP benefits.^[11]

During COVID-19 lockdowns Congress suspended the work and training requirements. The number of recipients rose from 37.2 million in March 2020 to 40.9 million in April 2020, to 43 million in September 2020, 13% of the U.S. population.^[11]

SNAP benefits can be used to buy most household groceries, including breads and pastries, meats, poultry and fish, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, snack foods and plants and seeds to grow food.^[11] SNAP benefits cannot be used to purchase alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, nutritional supplements, medicines, pet food, paper towels, cleaning products, toiletries or gasoline.^[11]

• more than 254,000 establishments accepted SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2021
• supermarkets and superstores, including Walmart and Target, constitute about 15% of SNAP-accepting retail venues, but they account for about 80% of SNAP redemption
• more than 44% of all SNAP-accepting establishments are convenience stores, but account for only about 5% of SNAP redemption
• only 89 internet retailers, including Amazon, were authorized to accept SNAP benefits, but they accounted for nearly 4% of redemption.^[11]

SNAP recipeients in 2020:

• 63% were adults, 36% were children
• non-Hispanic whites accounted for 44.6% of adult SNAP recipients and 31.5% of child recipients
• about 27% of both adult and child recipients were Black
• Hispanics accounted for 21.9% of adult recipients and 35.8% of child recipients
• nearly 62% of households reported that there were no children living in the residence
• 34% lived alone
• more than 40% lived in the Southern U.S, the highest percent of any U.S. region.^[11]

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is designed to help low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children younger than 5 at nutritional risk. The program is administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and at 89 WIC state agencies, located in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., 33 Indian Tribal organizations, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth Islands of the Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.^[12]

WIC applicants must have a family income at or below 185% of the federal poverty level or demonstrate income eligibility through other programs including SNAP, Medicaid, or TANF. Applicants must also be at nutritional risk, determined by a WIC authority through a comprehensive nutrition and breastfeeding assessment.^[12]

Each month of fiscal year 2022, at a cost of $5.7 billion, WIC served about 6.3 million participants, including an estimated 39% of all infants in the U.S. WIC provides seven nutritional food packages designed to meet the needs of different categories of participants.^[12]

The program provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school day. To help food preparers meet federal nutrition guidelines, the Team Nutrition resource library provides web-based resources to educate children and school nutritionists.^[13]

In emergencies, the government suggests obtaining nutritious food by:

• contacting government or private organizations
• calling 211 to find agencies and community organizations that can assist with finding food in an emergency
• calling the USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273)
• using HUD's Find Shelter tool to find local food pantries^[10]

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Local Solutions

In 2012 the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy drafted 6 principles of food justice:the right of communities everywhere to produce, process, distribute, access, and eat good food regardless of race, class, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, ability, religion or community

• historical trauma
• local foods
• community development and public investment
• food sovereigntythe right of people to define their own food, agriculture, livestock, and fisheries systems
• land
• toxic-free and climate just food systems.^[4]

Urban agriculture is often seen as a venue for white gentrification, language, culture and service delivery that patronizes those of color who lack economic, social and political advantages, leaving poor communities suspicious of the motives of outsiders.^[4]

White-led and professionalized organizations can take advantage of funding opportunities that poorer organizations cannot. While many urban organizations claim to understand the need for diverse representation, nearly 80% of respondents in a national survey of food justice organizations agreed that issues of race and class bias were an important part of their work.^[5]

The Arizona Department of Agriculture, responsible for farming practices and food policies, has failed to include Native American, Hispanic, African, or Asian members, reinforcing existing inequalities.^[7]

Although Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds helped thousands of Pima County residents during the pandemic, those funds have expired, leaving 17,000 households at risk of eviction and hunger because 40% of ERAP recipients were already dealing with food insecurity.^[6] Financial instability and unstable living conditions make purchasing nutritious food extremely difficult.

Our area has the longest agricultural history in North America. Archaeologists digging near downtown Tucson discoverd layers of irrigation trenches and found charred corn carbon-dated to a 4,000 year-old farming village.^[14] Thousands of years ago, ancestors of the Tohono O'odham, the Hohokam, settled by the Santa Cruz River, irrigating and planting corn, beans and squash.^[15]

Parts of that ancient farming village are now part of the Mission Garden that includes more than 20 gardens, trails and exhibits, a chicken coop, a granary and an irrigation canal. The gardens celebrate early agriculture, the Hohokam and the O'odham, European and Spanish colonial crops, African, Mexican, Chinese and Yoeme traditions and future gardening techniques that incorporate environmental stewardship.^[25]

In 2020 a diverse team of ecologists, anthropologists, ethnobotanists,a scientist who studies the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, religious and other uses restoration ecologists and public health professionals suggested that farmers and gardeners plant resilient native species that are already adapted to our dry climate. They determined that agaves, cacti and nitrogen-fixing legume trees provided nutritious foods with minimal irrigation and identified 17 categories of desert plants that can reduce blood sugar levels and provide antioxidants that reduce chronic illnesses related to heat stress.^[24]

In 2015 our city was named the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the U.S. In part of its application our city aimed to:

• establish the Center for Food Justice, Security, and Innovation to increase access to healthy foods
• improve sustainable local food production and distribution
• expand job opportunities in food industry
• focus on promoting and consuming culturally-appropriate healthy foods
• cooperate with other Creative Cities of Gastronomy on developing resources and strategies for conserving and disseminating heritage crop varieties
• exchanging best practices on how to support artisanalrefers to products made in traditional ways or by hand local producers, development of cooperatives and public markets, urban food production, conservation and distribution.^[16],[42]

According to the Tucson's Daily Agenda, Arizona leads the nation in food waste, disposing of $9.5 billion of food annually. One in 10 Arizonans have difficulty meeting their daily food needs and Tucson city officials estimate that food scraps make up 20% of Tucson's residential waste.^[48]

More than 120 new desert food and beverage products have been created by 40 start-up microenterprises since our city received this designation.^[24]

The Creative Cities Network described Tucson:

It has a 300-year tradition of vineyards, orchards, and livestock ranching that have forged the wide array of the local heritage foods, a source of identity and vitality for the local population of 1 million inhabitants. The distinctive cuisine of Tucson has developed from a culturally layered history, a variety of heri tage food ingredients, and a continuity of traditional food preparation techniques. To maintain its thriving culinary sector, the city focuses particularly on innovative programmes and regulations for food security and sustainable local food production and distribution.^[16]

Life has changed for Tribal members since the Hohokam and O'odham cultivated the land. Native American food researchers reported that about 50% of Tohono O'odham adults over 35 and kids as young as 5 have been diagnosed with adult-onset type-2 diabetes. This is the highest rate in the world.^{[7],[16],[17]}

There are more than 2,000 edible plant varieties thrive despite our desert environment, but because of a shift from traditional diets, dependence on food produced off the reservation and on federal food assistance programs, lowering of the water table due to development and movement off the reservation Tribal members' life expectancy is 6 years less than the U.S. average.^[17]

The San Xavier Co-op Farm is trying to remedy this situation. The farm is committed to healthy farming practices, growing traditional crops and supporting Tribal cultural and environmental values. Its missions respect land, plants, water, animals and the traditions of elders.^[13]

Nearly 94,000 people, or about 18% of Tucson's population, live in food deserts, but local gardens, especially those that use reclaimed and rain water, could be used to as the basis of citywide food distribution systems that deliver fruits and vegetables throughout the city. This has not yet been done, but local gardens enable urban gardeners to share their crops with friends and neighbors. Sharing could potentially provide 80% of the food requirements for those living in Tucson food deserts.^[26]

Urban agriculture has many benefits:

• increasing food: growers can use their own food as well as selling or distributing it at no charge to those in need
• encouraging healthy eating habits: youth and adults who grow their own food are likely to have more nutritious diets
• building gardening skills: garden-related education teaches agricultural and leadership skills that can be used outside the garden
• creating community development, communication and cooperation: increased civic responsibility, reduced crime, trash dumping and mental illness have occurred in some neighborhoods with community gardens
• connecting efforts to other causes of social change: communal land management and engagement in efforts advocating for food systems change.^[2],[4],[30]

Dunbar/Spring, Tucson's first African-American neighborhood, bordered by Speedway on the north, Stone Avenue to the east, Sixth Street to the south and the Union Pacific railroad and Main Avenue to the west,^[28] held its first tree-planting event in 1996.

Before neighbors united, the neighborhood suffered from crime, abandoned properties and approaching commercial development that was destroying its spirit. The commitment of new neighbors and the historical values of long-term residents has energized the neighborhood which now has more than 1,700 shade and food-producing trees, including pomegranates and figs, that rely heavily on water harvesting and curb cuts. On one block there are more than 100 plant species, including native goji berries,a dark red, tart berry of a thorny Asian shrub, typically dried and used in beverages desert ironwood with edamame-like seeds and chuparosa bushesa small desert shrub of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico that has red, yellow or orange tubular flowers with cucumber-flavored flowers.^[29]

In 2012, to promote native agriculture, the Pima County Public Library system began distributing heritage seed packets to anyone with a library card. The seed library is one of the largest in the world, serving more than one million Pima County residents.^[7]

Tucson Community Supported Agriculture (TCSA) is a partnership between a local, socially-responsible farm and community members who pay in advance for a season by buying shares of the farm's diverse future harvests. Growers can sell their products at lower prices than other sources because they don't have marketing costs. Members also share farming risks due to low harvests caused by poor weather and plant pests.^[31]

Locally-grown food is usually fresher, healthier, more diverse and tastier than industrially grown and shipped produce. Participation in this program creates new relationships between growers and consumers.^[31]

Tucson's Food Conspiracy Co-op began on 4th Avenue in 1971 when a group of residents started a high-quality natural food buying club. The store has expanded in the last 50 years, has about 20 employees and a management team.^[39]

In partnership with local organizations, the University of Arizona (U of A) School Garden Workshop program connects public school students with Tucson's agricultural history.^[9] Students at Brichta Infant and Early Learning Center, Blenman, Davis Bilingual, J.B. Wright, Manzo, Mission View, Ochoa and Tully Elementary, Drachman Montessori Magnet, Mansfeld Magnet Middle, Pueblo Gardens and Roskruge K-8 and Rincon, Tucson and University High Schools build and cultivate gardens, while learning about native plant species and growing their own food.^[10]

Students learn these new skills from experts at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Biosphere 2, Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Flowers and Bullets, Food Conspiracy Co-op, Garden Kitchen, Mission Garden, National Park Service, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Tucson Audubon Society, Tucson Village Farm and Women in Science and Engineering. ^[11],[12]

In 2012 U of A Students for Sustainability (SFS) founded the campus Community Garden at 1400 East Mabel Street,^[22] adjacent to a campus bike path. In 2016 a 20,000 gallon cistern was installed in the garden to collect about 100,000 gallons of rainwater per year from the top floor of the Highland Garage. Gardeners use a seasonal watering schedules and installed smart irrigation controllers, fix leaks and avoid overwatering.^[23]

The garden has several pollinator beds that include desert penstemons, globemallows and other plants that attract birds and bees. In 2017 more than 100 milkweed plants were planted to support monarch butterflies. During the spring 2018 semester, on the west side of the garden, students dug out and planted a pollinator basin that collects rainwater that waters more pollinator plants.^[23]

• where food comes from
• planting, growing and caring for plants in their school gardens
• healthy food options
• eating what they grow
• gardening in the Sonoran Desert
• connecting with nature
• taking care of planet Earth.^[20]

According to Ward 3 chief-of-staff Katie Bulger, Vice Mayor Kevin Dahl has been working with the Community Food Bank and Pima County Food Alliance (PCFA) to create a reduced water rate for small and local farmers. A pilot program was recently passed by Mayor and Council after members of the Food Bank reported to the Council that small local farms were growing produce for the Food Bank's Farmer's Market. Lower water rates help decrease the cost of producing locally grown food.^[44]

The Ward 3 office is also working with CGT to facilitate more gardens in low-income neighborhoods.^[44]

PCFA is the county's food policy council, consisting of community members, farmers, market managers, agency staff, community organizers, university students and researchers and others addressing food system-related issues through policy, advocacy, community building, education and outreach.^[45]

CSFA is a member of Feeding America, a national network of food banks and hunger relief organizations. In 2018, CFSA was named Food Bank of the Year, because of its innovative work rescuing fresh produce from the Mexican border and redistributing it to local families and other food banks.^[32]

CFSA provides many resources to our community:

• the Additional Food Assistance and the Monthly Food Assistance TEFAP directories for those in immediate need
• more than 35 school pantries in the Tucson Unified, Sunnyside, Flowing Wells, Amphitheater, Baboquivari and Tombstone districts^[33]
• Caridad Community Kitchen offers free meals and partners with other organizations for home-delivered meal program for seniors, a culinary training program that teaches new skills to increase employment opportunities^[35]
• Cooking Matters at the Store guided grocery store program to teach parents how to shop for nutritious food, read food labels and compare prices^[34]
• Santa Cruz Farmers' Market in the Mercado District
• the Abundant Harvest Cooperative helps local backyard growers and farmers sell their fresh produce at farmer's markets^[36]
• garden workshops, the Nuestra Tierra Learning Garden, the 6-acre Las Milpitas Community Farm
• the Farm to School program supporthing educational garden spaces in low-income public schools where students learn about science, nutrition and gardening^[37]
• grant and loan opportunities from $100 to $250,000 for small businesses, nonprofits and other southern Arizona organizations.^[38]

The Tucson Food Project works with Mission Coffee Imports, The Local Food Box and other local businesses to deliver fresh local seasonal produce, bread, entrees and dessert to those that have limited access to quality fresh food.^[41]

All 41,000 Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) students at 87 schools now have access to free school breakfasts and lunches because of the expansion of a federal free school meal program. The expansion is the result of U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation changes that made more families eligible. School qualification depends on the percentage of students automatically qualifying for free meals through SNAP benefits, the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Program, foster child status and Medicaid data.^[46]

The University of Arizona is a temporary home to tens of thousands of students from August to May. About a third of those students experience food insecurity during their time in college due to lack of funding or inadequate transportation. The UA Campus Pantry, started in spring 2012, provides food assistance to food insecure students with nutritious supplemental groceries that encourage a healthy lifestyle.^[43]

In 2021 Tucson began participating in Food Waste Prevention Week, with 600 partners in 48 states and 11 countries. The program includes food, business, government and environmental education sectors that educate the public about food waste reduction.^[49]

In January 2024 the City of Tucson Environmental and General Services Department (EGSD) began the FoodCycle At Home Program. Residents can drop off their food scraps at local gardens, including Blue Moon, Highland Vista, Little Leaf, New Spirit, Pio Decimo and Ward 4. The food waste will be composted by EGSD and used at the composting facility at the Los Reales Sustainability Campus.^[8]

USDA's Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program aims to meet the needs of low-income community members through:

• distributing nutritious food via community cooperation
• increasing individual and community self-reliance
• promoting local food access and farming
• meeting Tribal and local agricultural needs by providing funding for markets between growers and low-income consumers.^[3]

The grant provides funding for leadership training, planning, project evaluation and technical assistance.^[3]

Borderlands Produce Rescue, founded in 1996, has rescued more than 780 million pounds of produce, supplemented more than 1.3 billion meals with fruits and vegetables and diverted 58 million pounds of methane gas.^[50] Composting can help reduce greenhouse gasses by 50%.^[48]

Sources:

 
Observations and Conclusions

• Food security is an international human right.
• To permanently reduce hunger and food insecurity, international efforts must provide adequate resources with agricultural and nutrition information enabling communities to grow their own food and maintain balanced, healthy diets.
• Agricultural solutions that reduce disaster risks, improve farming practices, decrease food waste, and increase high nutrient crop yields and protect livestock are critical to world food security.
• When state and federal programs for the most needy are reduced or or eliminated, the lack of nutritious food creates health problems that are far more expensive than the resources required to maintain those programs.
• In food insecure communities in food secure countries, local efforts that meet the specific needs of a community are more effective than state and federal programs.

 
Resources

Denise Meeks, dmeeks@arizona.edu / tucsonkosmicgirl@gmail.com