How Pivot Produce Built Tucson’s Local Food Network

When chefs in Tucson wanted true farmers-market quality ingredients, the big distributors couldn’t deliver.Erik Stanford saw the problem firsthand while working in restaurant kitchens. In 2015, he started Pivot Produce to connect local farms directly with restaurants across Southern Arizona. What began with just four farms and four restaurants has grown into a regional food hub supplying kitchens, schools, and households.In this conversation, Erik explains how Pivot started, how the business survived when restaurants shut down during COVID, and why building a local food system is far more complicated than most people realize.If you care about where your food comes from, or how local businesses actually get built, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at Tucson’s food economy.If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with someone who cares about Tucson businesses.Two-Lane Tucson is where we share the stories of the people building Tucson’s local businesses.