Phoenix Celebrates Milestone in Food Equity

The City of Phoenix published its 2025 Food Action Impact Report to share the City’s progress in building a resilient and equitable food system. The report highlights 90 percent completion of the actions detailed in the five-year Phoenix Food Action Plan (PFAP), adopted by the City Council in 2020, which charts an ambitious path to improve access to healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food.

The PFAP is guided by five goals:

1. Healthy Food for All,
2. Strengthen the Local Economy,
3. Celebrate Local and Diverse Agriculture,
4. Maintain a Sustainable Environment and a
5. Resilient Food System

Since the plan was adopted by the Mayor and City Council, the Office of Environmental Programs (OEP) has worked alongside numerous local partners to actualize these goals through a variety of community-focused programs. Those strategies included programs for local food distribution, increased food production, reduction of food waste and the installation of backyard gardens. The plan’s framework has been vital for expanding innovative food models and influenced the 2021 Phoenix Resilient Food System Initiative, which helped the City quickly 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,” Mayor Kate Gallego said. “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.”

“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 local small food businesses, and initiated agri-food tech innovation in Phoenix,” said Deputy City Manager Alan Stephenson.

Key achievements in the report include the distribution of more than 22 million pounds of food, the delivery of 5 million meals during the pandemic, the production of more than 51,000 pounds of food, 95,000 pounds of food diverted from the landfill, and more.

Xavier Jones, a resident of South Mountain Village who received an aquaponics garden system through the Backyard Garde Program said, “Literally, I can go outside, and harvest whatever I need and use it to cook that night. That’s convenient and inexpensive.”

The City of Phoenix is currently developing the 2030 Phoenix Food Action Plan, which will define the next phase of food systems work in Phoenix. The planning process will further develop the vision for the future of the local food system, with new strategies and actions based on community-identified priorities.

Outreach for the 2030 Food Action Plan began in March 2025, with estimated completion in the first quarter of calendar year 2026. Information on how to get involved can be found on the OEP website.