Kimber Lanning founded Local First Arizona in 2003—not because it was easy, but because it was necessary. Ever since, she has been relentlessly pushing, building and advocating for a more resilient and equitable Arizona.
We are thrilled to announce that Kimber Lanning, founder and CEO of Local First Arizona, is the recipient of the 2026 Edible Communities Sustainability Award!
Each year, the publishers of Edible Communities, a network of more than 75 hyper-local food and drink publications across the United States and Canada, nominate an individual, business or organization within their local Edible community to receive the annual Sustainability Award. Nominations are vetted by Edible Communities and the winner is selected based on their scope of work, community impact and how the work relates to sustainability. Kimber Lanning was nominated for this year’s award by Edible Phoenix.
Sustainability, through the lens of Kimber Lanning and Local First Arizona, is not a buzzword—it is a lifeline. It is the belief that thriving local food systems, resilient local economies and empowered entrepreneurs are not separate pursuits, but one unified movement that must reach every corner of Arizona, not just its urban centers.
A native Arizonan, Lanning has grown Local First Arizona into one of the most impactful, place-based economic nonprofit organizations in the American Southwest. Her dedicated staff of just more than 60 works across the entire state—from metro Phoenix to rural and tribal communities—to ensure that local food access, entrepreneurial opportunity and economic self-determination are available to people of every background and every zip code.
Lanning has been at this for more than two decades. She founded Local First Arizona in 2003—not because it was easy, but because it was necessary. Ever since, she has been relentlessly pushing, building and advocating for a more resilient and equitable Arizona.
The efforts span local food systems, rural community investment and hands-on support for small and emerging entrepreneurs in historically underserved communities. It is work that is at once deeply practical and profoundly visionary—meeting people where they are while developing and strengthening the infrastructure for a more fair and sustainable Arizona for generations to come.
Local First Arizona’s commitment to food access is not a program; it is a core philosophy and woven into everything they do.
Through the Good Food Finder AZ, the organization maintains a statewide online directory of local foods, placing the power of local sourcing directly into the hands of Arizona consumers and businesses alike.
Their Community Kitchen network takes that commitment even further: Four locations across Maricopa County encourage and assist small local food businesses to grow, while supporting neighborhood residents by offering a community food pantry, cooking and gardening classes, food waste diversion programs and community garden collaborations such as Heart & Soil People’s Garden.
In 2025, Local First Arizona programming rescued over 2,700 pounds of food that would have otherwise been wasted, and 75% of the food businesses that went through the Community Kitchen Incubator Program are still operating today.
As the state’s federally designated Rural Development Council, Local First Arizona partners with rural cities, towns and counties along with other nonprofits, economic development organizations, tribal nations and federal agencies to help build robust, self-reliant and sustainable economies.
The Council acts as a neutral facilitator connecting stakeholders with shared goals, most notably through the Rural Policy Forum. Now in its 19th year, the Forum unites rural and tribal economic stakeholders and advocates—tackling conversations such as creating more economic opportunity, disaster readiness and healthy food access, while connecting tribes, small towns, cities and nonprofits with the grant-writing assistance and resources they need to thrive.
Farming in Arizona is an act of courage; Local First Arizona is making sure it is not a solo act.
Through the Ag Business Boot Camp, the organization is equipping the next generation of Arizona farmers with the business fundamentals they need to build sustainable, viable agricultural enterprises. They offer step-by-step guidance, peer feedback and an agricultural lens that makes the business of farming accessible rather than overwhelming. In 2025, through the Ag Business Boot Camp, 28 new farming businesses emerged.
Sustainability, in the eyes of Kimber Lanning, has never been an abstract ideal. It is a daily practice—achieved grant by grant, farm by farm, kitchen by kitchen and community by community.
For more than two decades, she has worked passionately to prove that thriving local food systems and resilient local economies are not competing pursuits, but the same priority. That the entrepreneur in Tucson, the farmer in Camp Verde, the family in Phoenix facing food insecurity and the tribal community in a rural Arizona food desert all deserve the same investment, the same advocacy and the same belief that their future is worth fighting for.
It is from that place—of shared mission, deep partnership and unwavering admiration—that we are proud to present Kimber Lanning and the entire Local First Arizona team with the 2026 Edible Communities Sustainability Award.
Learn more about Local First Arizona.
Words from Shannan Perciballi, publisher and editor of Edible Phoenix
We’d also like to recognize the good work of all of the finalists for this year’s Edible Communities’ Sustainability Award. Read about them below and support the winner and nominees in whatever way you can.
- Fishing for Success, nominated by Edible Newfoundland & Labrador. Read their story.
- Jim Strickland & Julie Morris, Lost Girl Prairie, nominated by Edible Sarasota. Read their story.
- Stewardship Pemberton Society, nominated by Edible Sea to Sky.
- Urban Tilth, nominated by Edible East Bay. Read their story.
