Southwest Regional Food Business Center
The Southwest Regional Food Business Center (SWRFBC) will accelerate a resilient, diverse and competitive local and regional food systems by improving opportunities for food and farm businesses across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. The Center’s three pillars of service are coordination, technical assistance and capacity building.
UC Santa Cruz - Center for Agroecology is a key partner in the SWRFBC serving 14 counties across California. The Center for Agroecology lead, Tim Galarneau and new Regional Food Systems Specialist, Héktor Luis Calderón Victoria will work with a range of partners and affiliates including farmers, food enterprises, food hubs and aggregations entities, while deepening engagement across the North Central Coast, Bay Area, Monterey Bay, and South Central Coast
Counties include:
- North Central Coast (Mendocino, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Solana),
- Bay Area (San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, & Santa Clara),
- Monterey Bay (San Benito, Santa Cruz, & Monterey), and,
- South Central Coast (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura).
In addition to advancing partnerships across the subregion through technical assistance with producers and enterprises we will be elevating attention to farmer/rancher/fisherfolx to institution efforts across schools, hospitals, and colleges & universities. In our first year we are working across 15 health centers and college campuses to advance small producer and enterprises inroads through supply chain sourcing and direct market opportunities.
In addition, in spring 2024 our sub-region will be uplifting and recognizing innovative producers and enterprises with a nomination and award process for Field to Fork Change-Makers to connect, network, and advance emergent efforts.
Schedule an appointment with Héktor Calderón-Victoria, Regional Food Systems Specialist, to ask questions and learn more.
