Cultivating an Equitable and Sustainable Food System in Southern Arizona

Gigi Owen and Rachel Leih
When
Tumamoc Talks bring together University of Arizona research to the greater Tucson community.
Local food plays a vital role in Southern Arizona by fostering community resilience and improving food security. This presentation will provide insights from a collaboration with the Pima County Food Alliance, a local food policy council, to identify key policy priorities for strengthening our regional food system and driving positive change. We will highlight innovative initiatives connected to this work, including launching a new urban water rate for small-scale farmers and developing a unique approach to public engagement through collective art making.
Our speakers:
Gigi Owen is a research scientist with the Climate Assessment for the Southwest, a NOAA-funded research team at the University of Arizona. She is a qualitative human geographer with a background in political ecology, science and technology studies, and research evaluation. Her recent work involves partnering with a local food policy council to investigate societal, economic, and climate risk in southern Arizona’s local food system to support local planning and policymaking.
Rachel Leih (she/her) is a research scientist on the Community Research, Evaluation and Development (CRED) Team at the University of Arizona, a team focused on conducting community-based research and evaluation that promotes the health and well-being of children, youth, and families throughout Arizona and the Southwest. Rachel has a background in psychology, education, and public health, and is particularly interested in opportunities to center capacity-building and community engagement in research and evaluation.
Tumamoc Talks are located at the Boathouse at the base of Tumamoc Hill.
Learn more and RSVP at tumamoc-hill@arizona.edu.