Skip to content
We're Open Sign

RSS Local First Arizona – News Blog

  • SNAP Benefits Disruption Makes Case For Improved Local Food System Resilience November 4, 2025
    With household budgets already tight, nearly a million Arizonans will be forced to make tough decisions this month as the Trump Administration disperses only a portion of the funds allocated to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP. That disruption means many Arizona families will struggle this month to put food on the table. […]
    Kat Meyer
  • Standing Together Through Arizona’s SNAP Crisis October 30, 2025
    As the nation faces an abrupt suspension of funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, we know local organizations here in Arizona are rising to meet the moment. Across the state, food banks, mutual aid groups, farms, restaurants and community advocates are stepping in to fill the gaps — ensuring that families can access […]
    Kat Meyer
  • Crowdfunding a Capital Raise: How Cartel Roasting Co. Is Funding Expansion — and Keeping Growth Local October 29, 2025
    For most growing companies, raising capital means giving up control — and often, giving up local roots. But Cartel Roasting Co., the Arizona-born coffee company known for its fiercely independent streak, is taking a different path: growing through community investment.
    Lori Cothrun
  • Arizona’s Opportunity Frontier: New Data Insights for Tribal and Rural Economies October 28, 2025
    Eric Trevan Eric Trevan will admit that the phrase “economic leakage” isn’t that common and it’s one that sparks a bit of conversational curiosity. To the average individual, it sounds like something that needs to be cleaned up. And from an economic growth standpoint, it kind of is. “It's simply where people are leaving your area […]
    Kat Meyer
  • La chispa de Carmen Pérez: de la cocina al corazón de la comunidad October 22, 2025
    Cuando conoces a la Chef Carmen Pérez, es imposible no notar su energía y alegría. Su personalidad brillante y contagiosa, llena de fuerza y optimismo, es lo que la define y lo que finalmente inspiró el nombre de su negocio: Chispita Catering. Con una sonrisa constante y una determinación inquebrantable, Carmen ha convertido su chispa […]
    Paul Zapata