Dionne Washington

Friends of the Farm is a pilot farm-to-food bank program that helps Arizona’s small growers and food-insecure families. With seed money from the office of Governor Ducey, FOTF purchases Arizona-grown fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, and meat for distribution throughout its network of food banks and pantries. The focus is to plan contracts and purchase surplus from small-scale producers to provide a reliable market that pays a living wage, offer unique variety to food bank clients, and invest in a strong local food system.



Any Arizona-based farm, ranch, farm/ranch collaborative, or gleaning group with Arizona grown produce or protein is eligible to participate in the Friends of the Farm program. Entities may be for-profit, non-profit, and/or cooperatives. 
The focus is to purchase from small growers. "Small growers” is defined according to the USDA farm classification scale of annual gross cash farm income below $350,000 or 150 acres (both will be considered on a case by case basis).

A dedicated market or distribution channel provided by an organization that may include financial incentives.

List of Arizona Food Bank Network Funding Opportunities