Staff Reports | Community Updates
Phoenix has published its 2025 Food Action Impact Report, detailing significant progress in building a resilient and equitable food system.
The report shows that 90 percent of the actions outlined in the five-year Phoenix Food Action Plan (PFAP), adopted by the City Council in 2020, have been completed. The plan aims to improve access to healthy, affordable and culturally relevant food across the city.
Guided by five core goals—Healthy Food for All, Strengthen the Local Economy, Celebrate Local and Diverse Agriculture, Maintain a Sustainable Environment, and Build a Resilient Food System—the PFAP has served as a framework for community-focused programs and emergency response efforts.
Since its adoption, the Office of Environmental Programs has collaborated with local partners to implement strategies such as food distribution, increased food production, food waste reduction and backyard garden installations. The plan also influenced the 2021 Phoenix Resilient Food System Initiative, which helped the city respond to urgent food security needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone deserves access to healthy food, and I’m proud the Food Action Plan is helping to deliver,” said Mayor Kate Gallego. “Cutting food waste, bolstering local supply chains and expanding access to fresh food are not only essential to the health of our residents, but also strengthen our economy.”
Alan Stephenson, deputy city manager, added, “The work completed over the past five years by the Food Systems Team in the Office of Environmental Programs set a solid foundation that effectively fed our community, helped our local farmers increase production, assisted small food businesses and initiated agri-food tech innovation in Phoenix.”
Highlights from the report include:
•Distribution of more than 22 million pounds of food
•Delivery of 5 million meals during the pandemic
•Production of more than 51,000 pounds of food
•Diversion of 95,000 pounds of food waste from landfills
Mr. Xavier Jones, a South Mountain Village resident who received an aquaponics garden system through the Backyard Garden Program, said, “Literally, I can go outside and harvest whatever I need and use it to cook that night. That’s convenient and inexpensive.”
