Devour Phoenix is a city-wide, non-profit coalition of select, independent restaurants operating under the Local First Arizona umbrella.
Devour Phoenix is working to:
- Maintain a forum for sharing ideas, purchasing power, and marketing dollars to advance dining in the Phoenix area
- Create an image for Phoenix that is a respected destination for dining and culinary exploration
- Share resources to strengthen and grow restaurants in Phoenix
- Manage and host events such as culinary festivals and restaurant crawls that will strengthen business and build awareness for all Phoenix restaurants
- Identify and encourage the use of local agriculture and local artisans as a means for increasing sustainability in the region
Local First Arizona
Local First Arizona seeks to promote, support, and celebrate a vibrant and sustainable Arizona economy by educating citizens about local business ownership, social equity, cultural diversity, environmental kinship, and collaboration.
Arizona is part of a growing trend as organizations like Local First Arizona are starting up across the country. Studies have shown that for every $100 spent in a locally owned business, roughly $42 remains right here in Arizona, while for the same $100 spent in a national chain store, only $13 remains here. Consumers have grown leery of the false sense of savings promised by national chain stores, and are becoming acutely aware of the homogenization of our communities. As a result, an explosion of sorts is occurring here and everywhere, as people look to define a sense of place, community, and quality of life for their families and their futures.
Current environmental challenges facing the world are also driving local economies. Consumers can no longer afford to pay for tomatoes trekked 1,500 miles (at $4.15 per gallon) to the local grocery store. They are seeking out Local Farmer’s Markets to buy tomatoes grown right here at home. Spending on local foods has quadrupled in the past 2 years. Average Americans are beginning to understand the consequences of over-consumption and are seeking out and discovering the benefits of “going local.”
The Phoenix region is hoping to position itself as a world class entity that attracts and retains the most innovative jobs and workers in the country. City leaders are recognizing that the next generation wants more walkability and stronger neighborhoods with sustainable lifestyles. LFA is working to encourage density, infill, and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings as a way to ensure sustainability in the current economic climate as well as in the future. The sprawl of the past does not serve environmentally sensitive, educated, knowledge-economy workers who are choosing the cities they want to live in based on cultural interests, public transportation, and density. In order to remain nationally competitive, the Greater Phoenix region must re-examine its planning and building philosophies in ways that encourage, rather than discourage, walkable neighborhoods with unique, one-of-a kind businesses that make places feel like home.
LFA is currently the largest organization of its kind in the country with over 1700 members, and is a proud member of the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE). As a non-profit network of local, independently owned Arizona businesses and supporters, we facilitate sustainable economic development by providing:
- Education:
Facilitating technical assistance for businesses, citizens, and government that builds our community’s capacity to participate in the opportunities of a sustainable economy - Connections:
Connecting businesses to each other, and to the marketplace - Market Development:
Engaging in promotion and market development that opens opportunities for sustainable economy businesses