SAFFORD — The entities involved with growing, producing and providing food in the Gila Valley are starving for data.
That was one of the conclusions at the first meeting of the Gila Valley Food Coalition Thursday at the Graham County Chamber of Commerce.
The coalition brought together those involved with food production and distribution in both Graham and Greenlee counties, and the meeting was facilitated by Liza Noland with Local First Arizona.
Attendees talked about the needs of the area — everything from more water for growing, to staffing at food banks and farmers markets, to making more people aware of healthy eating options currently available.
Based on the input offered, it sounded to Noland like the area could use a community commercial kitchen, as a way to avoiding wasting produce, as a distribution center, and as a way to help educate the public on what’s available and how to cook it.
However, she added there are issues to deal with before a community kitchen becomes a reality.
“First there’s funding — what you have to have for space and to have the equipment. And then you have to have programming,” Noland said. “So it’s a matter of where would it be, who would participate, who would manage and who could fund?”
Noland said Local First Arizona would take the information offered from the first meeting and compile a report that would be available for stakeholders before the next meeting.
The Gila Valley Food Coalition is a collection of community partners that grew out of Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry’s strategic plan, which showed the need for more data on food needs in the Gila Valley. Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry was then joined by the Graham County Chamber of Commerce, the Graham County Health Department, Local First Arizona, and the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties to form the coalition.
