ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Today, farmers, producers and food entrepreneurs from across Arizona gathered in Oro Valley for Local First Arizona’s 12th annual Good Food Forum and Expo. Their goal is to build a strong and sustainable food economy not only in Southern Arizona, but across the entire state.

This year’s theme was “Building Arizona’s Resilient Food Future.” Nearly 100 vendors were in attendance and about 50 speakers spoke.

Kimber Lanning, founder and CEO of Local First Arizona, says Tucson is a leader in regenerative agriculture.

“Whether we’re restoring soil or growing foods that are less water intensive,” Lanning said, “we need to be careful about how and what we grow so we can be resilient in the future.”

The forum focused on topics such as “How to grow food in hotter and smaller places?”, with producers explaining the innovative methods they are using to tackle the problems of climate change.

“The chefs here in southern Arizona are leading the way,” Lanning said. “We also have our indigenous leaders who are very committed to desert-adapted crops that have been grown here for thousands of years.”

Revitalizing the local grain economy is the goal of keynote speaker Don Guerra, founder and owner of Barrio Bread and Barrio Grains.

“We do that by networking, by creating a grain cluster, a grain economy that involves a lot of people,” Guerra said. “And from there, we try to show the importance of why we farm in Southern Arizona and why we bake this bread for our people.”

At the event, Xochitl Torres Small, assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, presented an overview of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to improve local food systems and announced federal funding opportunities for local food producers and businesses.

The expo featured the latest local food products such as the San Xavier Mission Loaf from Barrio Bread.