CTR079064_Contractor_Response.pdf

ARIZONA FARM

TO SCHOOL

ASSISTANCE AND

SERVICES

APPLICATION PREPARED FOR: ARIZONA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (ADE)

Solicitation No.: BPM007053

By: Adrienne Udarbe September 3, 2025

Arizona Farm to School Assistance and Services Proposal

Table of Contents Letter of Introduction Attachment 1: Grant Application Attachment 2: Applicant Information Attachment 3: Narrative Response to Scope of Work Attachment 4: Experience and Capability Attachment 5: Proposed Costs and Budget Attachment 6: Deviations and Exceptions Attachment 7: Confidential/Proprietary Submittals Attachment 8: Designation of Confidential, Trade Secret and Proprietary Information Attachment 9: Participation in Boycott of Isreal Attachment 10: Forced Labor of Ethic Uyghurs Ban Appendices

Letter of Introduction

September 3, 2025

Arizona Department of Education Attn: LeAnn Wong, Senior Procurement Specialist 1535 W. Jefferson St.

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Dear Ms. Wong, Pinnacle Prevention is pleased to submit this proposal for assistance and services for Arizona Farm to School (F2S), solicitation number BP007053. Any questions regarding this proposal may be directed to:

Pinnacle Prevention Attn: Adrienne Z. Udarbe, Executive Director 484 W Chandler Blvd Chandler, AZ 85225 Office (480) 307 - 6360 Mobile (480) 415 – 4563 adrienneudarbe@pinnacleprevention.org

Sincerely, Adrienne Z. Udarbe, MS, RDN Executive Director, Pinnacle Prevention mailto:adrienneudarbe@pinnacleprevention.org

ATTACHMENT 1

GRANT APPLICATION

State of Arizona Department of Education

1535 W. Jefferson Street Phoenix, AZ 85007

RFGA NO.: BPM007053

The Undersigned hereby applies and agrees to furnish the materials, service(s) or construction in compliance with all the terms, conditions, specifications, and amendments in the Request for Grant Application and any written exceptions in the Application.

Pinnacle Prevention Adrienne Udarbe

Applicant’s Name Name of Person Authorized to Sign Application (Please type or print)

484 W Chandler Blvd. Executive Director

Street Address Title of Authorized Person Chandler, AZ 85295 9/2/2025

City State Zip Code Signature of Authorized Person Date

Telephone Number: (480) 307-6360

E-Mail Address: Adrienneudarbe@pinnacleprevention.org

Acknowledgement of Amendment(s): Amendment No. Date Amendment No. Date (Applicant acknowledges receipt of amend-ment(s) to the Request for Grant Application and related documents numbered and dated

ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATION AND GRANT AWARD

(For State of Arizona Use Only)

Your Application is hereby accepted as described in the Notice of Award. You are now bound to perform based upon the RFGA and your Application, as accepted by the State.

You are hereby cautioned not to commence any billable work or provide any material or service under this Grant until you receive an executed purchase order, Grant release document, or written notice to proceed, if applicable.

State of Arizona

Awarded this ________ day of ___________________________2025.

State Government Administrator

ATTACHMENT 2

APPLICANT INFORMATION

RFGA NO.: BPM007053

1.1. Notices, Correspondence, Reports from the ADE to the Grantee shall be sent to:

Organization: _____Pinnacle Prevention ____________________________________

Attention: __Jessie Gruner________________________________________________

Street Address:___484 W Chandler Blvd.____________________________________

City, State and Zip Code: _Chandler, AZ 85225_______________________________

Telephone: ___(480) 307-6360____________________________________________

E-Mail: __jessiegruner@pinnacleprevention.org_______________________________

1.2. Payments from ADE to the Grantee shall be sent to:

Organization: _____Pinnacle Prevention ____________________________________

Attention: __Adrienne Udarbe_____________________________________________

Street Address:___484 W Chandler Blvd.____________________________________

City, State and Zip Code: _Chandler, AZ 85225_______________________________

Telephone: ___(480) 307-6360____________________________________________

E-Mail: __adrienneudarbe@pinnacleprevention.org____________________________

ATTACHMENT 3

NARRATIVE RESPONSE TO SCOPE OF WORK

RFGA NO.: BPM007053

I. NARRATIVE RESPONSE TO THE SCOPE OF WORK

The Applicant shall provide substantive information about the service or assistance program and its implementation to align with the scope of work. The narrative shall provide a clear and concise description of the service or assistance to be provided, including the target population(s), and/or geographic area(s) to be served.

1. Describe a service or assistance program plan that will:

a. Increase local purchasing capacity for schools and institutions operating Child Nutrition Programs; and/or

b. Provide local food promotional activities and/or nutrition and agriculture education for participating children in CNPs; and/or

c. Strengthen connections and integration of Farm to School and ECE activities statewide.

Include what needs to exist and what is already in place for the service or assistance plan that ensures it will be successfully implemented to benefit multiple entities and/or communities.

According to the 2023 Farm to School Census, 64% of School Food Authorities (SFAs) reported participating in at least one farm to school activity, which is lower than the national average of 74%. In 2024, the Arizona Department of Education launched their Try it Local Program, funded USDA’s Local Food for Schools (LFS) program. Try it Local reimburses Arizona schools for purchasing locally produced, minimally processed food for school meals.

The program aims to strengthen local food systems, support local farmers and businesses, particularly those that are socially disadvantaged, and encourage sustainable procurement practices for school meals. The Try it Local Program has provided a unique opportunity for schools and farmers to engage in local procurement activities at relatively low risk. Funding for the Try it Local program is set to expire in June of 2026. Additionally, the passing of the 2025 reconciliation bill, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), eliminated all funding for the educational component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as SNAP-Ed. SNAP-Ed is an evidence-based program designed to help families receiving SNAP stretch their food dollars through nutrition education; implementation of policy, system and environmental initiatives; and social marketing. The loss of SNAP-Ed in Arizona will translate into the loss of 150 jobs across the state, and the loss of critical farm to school technical assistance for each county. SNAP-Ed administrators worked in schools to promote school gardens, implement Smarter Lunchroom initiatives, and provide training and one-one-one support for school districts looking to implement local procurement into their school meal programs. Without the SNAP-Ed program, there will be little, if any, one-on-one support offered to farmers and producers for farm to school programming, especially for local food procurement and promotion of the Try it Local program for the 2025-2026 school year.

Pinnacle Prevention, in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Education Food and Nutrition Services, aims to help maximize participation in the Try it Local program and ensure that school procurement practices remain strong and sustainable once the program funding expires. Pinnacle Prevention is currently working with the Arizona Department of Education in the evaluation of the Local Food for Schools (Try it Local Arizona) program and the development of a resource guidebook that will highlight program success and best practices.

This guidebook is projected to be completed by September 2025. The current proposal aims to implement effective strategies and best practices for local food procurement.

Pinnacle Prevention proposes providing the following to farmers and school meal operators engaging in local procurement for child nutrition programs :

(1) technical assistance and training,

(2) evaluation of a local food processing pilot study (Try it Local

Regional Processing Pilot),

(3) local procurement promotion, and

(4) resource development.

Technical assistance and training will focus on stakeholder facilitation with those that are directly and indirectly involved with the creation, implementation, and promotion of local food procurement in child nutrition programs and food literacy educational activities for preschool, pre-K, and K-12 students in Arizona. Activities will include holding biweekly office hours and monthly topic-specific and general technical assistance virtual sessions to address key barriers to local purchasing capacity for schools/ECE, institutions, and food producers/aggregators; one-on-one technical assistance around implementation challenges;

discovery meetings or initial meeting and planning sessions between school food buyers/administrators and food hubs/producers to support innovative and accessible first steps towards local procurement partnerships. Participants will be led in some values identification activities and determine potential for future partnership.

Evaluation will focus on carrying out the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot, in which we will test up to three local food processing models across three different regions in the state and assess their successes, challenges, and best practices for making locally-grown produce more accessible to child nutrition programs. Procurement pilot projects will take place with food hubs located in northern, central, and southern parts of the state, and will focus on procurement with schools not currently participating, or schools that have lower levels of participating, in the Try it Local program. Working collaboratively with hub partners, we will balance existing capacity with opportunities for innovation, encouraging exploration of approaches that expand local procurement opportunities while addressing the critical barrier schools face when fresh produce requires extensive preparation time and labor. Through a structured 12-month implementation, we will recruit 15-24 schools serving approximately 15,000 students to participate in testing one processed product per region.

We will work collaboratively with planning teams in each region to select products based on the local production capacity, availability, and compatibility with school menu needs. In addition, these planning teams will be able to determine which processing model best fits within their contexts. Processing models may include a region utilizing local processing centers, community kitchens, or school kitchens to produce local products that can readily be incorporated into school menus, such as coined carrots, broccoli florets, and value-added products like salsa. This will be a thoughtful and transparent planning process between food hubs/producers and schools that can determine ideal products for their unique contexts. All processing activities will be coordinated regionally to maximize the use of resources, quality standards, and sustainable implementation pathways for statewide replication. To amplify Arizona’s peak growing seasons and align with school menu needs, we project a late winter/spring timeline for pilot implementation. We will explore and finalize processing pilot items during the Fall (October-November) in collaboration with school nutrition professionals to ensure processed products match operational needs and student acceptability.

The economic impact target for the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot is $25,000 in local food purchased per region by participating schools. This is not budget grant funding, but rather the economic activity we estimate to create. The number of schools participating in and utilizing Local Food for Schools (LFS) reimbursement will determine the actual economic impacts.

The pilot’s success will be measured not just by the volumes of local food purchased, but by the strength and sustainability of the collaborative systems developed. We believe the process is just as important as the end product. Through intentional documentation of our collaborative strategies, we will be able to offer insights and best practices around product selection, processing coordination, and supply chain coordination that will help to inform future farm to school practices in Arizona.

Local procurement promotion will focus on designing, printing, and disseminating resources for schools to utilize for Arizona-specific local food menu promotions, including stickers, food fact sheets, farmer profiles, and marketing and media tools. Menuing and recipe resources will also be developed and distributed.

Resource development will focus on working with farmers and meal service operators to generate three key resources to support sustainable expansion of Arizona's farm to school infrastructure:

• (1) Try it Local data mapping tools that will utilize Local Food for Schools (LFS) program data to create an interactive system that identifies participating schools, producers, and food hubs across the state, facilitating new partnership development by connecting stakeholders with shared geographic and procurement interests. These mapping tools will be incorporated into a Try it Local Dashboard, that will also house the Try it Local Resource Guidebook, which is currently in production. The Try it Local

Resource Guidebook will outline program successes, best practice, and purchasing patterns for the LFS program. We recognize there may be additional state-wide producer and school tracking programs, and we are open to exploring options for integrating LFS data into a state-level centralized database, as long as we can ensure the integrity and accessibility of the data can be maintained. Our goal with the data mapping tools it to make sure information on schools/districts participating in LFS is readily available to producers and partners, and that schools/districts looking to participate in LFS are able to locate producers in their area.

• (2) A comprehensive Local School Food catalog by working directly with regional food hubs and producers to identify 3-5 food items per region that meet the critical criteria of reliable production volumes, consistent quality standards for school food service requirements, and high student acceptability rates.

• (3) A Processing Partnership Playbook that will document successes, challenges, and best practices from the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot in order to make locally-grown produce more accessible to child nutrition programs.

Together these activities will increase local purchasing capacity for schools and institutions, promote local procurement efforts across schools and families, and strengthen farm to school connections and integration across the state.

What Exists and What We're Building Current Assets:

• Arizona Department of Education's established Try it Local program providing procurement experience

• Active food hub network across three regions with existing school relationships

• Pinnacle Prevention's ongoing evaluation work creating baseline data and relationships

• Try it Local Guidebook (completing September 2025) documenting current best practices and implementation strategies Critical Gaps We're Addressing:

• Processing capacity limiting local product accessibility for schools

• Lack of coordinated statewide procurement resources

• Insufficient technical assistance as SNAP-Ed support disappears

• No systematic documentation or sharing of successful local procurement models

Sustainability Beyond Grant Period Our approach intentionally creates permanent infrastructure rather than temporary programming. The data mapping system, catalog, and playbook will serve as ongoing resources. Participating food hubs will retain processing knowledge and capacity. Trained school nutrition staff will continue local procurement practices using established relationships and proven systems.

This comprehensive strategy transforms Arizona's current silo of individual school initiatives into a coordinated, sustainable statewide system that increases local purchasing capacity, strengthens educational connections to agriculture, and creates lasting integration across all child nutrition programs.

2. Detail the expected reach of the service or assistance program. Include a timeline or framework, if known or established.

The services and assistance proposed will have statewide and regional-specific reaches, depending on the activity. Technical assistance, training, and resources will be available statewide, with targeted outreach for utilization for farmers and schools not currently participating in, or schools with low participation in, ADE’s Try it Local program. Digital promotional material for highlighting local procurement in schools will also be available state-wide. Printed promotional materials will be supplied to schools participating in processing procurement pilot tests. Data from the current Try it Local guidebook project (expected to be completed in September 2025) will help determine which school districts to target for training and technical assistance and procurement promotion, and which schools and districts would be good candidates for the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot.

The Arizona Regional Processing Pilot will begin with intensive planning and relationship-building during the fall of 2025, working with each hub to identify products that offer the greatest potential for student acceptance, operational efficiency, and economic viability for producers. Implementation will roll out sequentially across regions from February through April 2026, with each pilot generating $25,000 in Try it Local Purchases. Throughout the active pilot period, we will provide continuous technical assistance, monitor progress through monthly check-ins, and conduct comprehensive pre- and post-pilot evaluations measuring student satisfaction, staff operational experience, food safety protocols, and likelihood of continued local purchasing.

An anticipated timeline for all activities for this project is provided below.

Month Key Activities

October 2025

• Goals/Metrics:

o Recruit three regional food hub partners and 5-8 schools per region (15-24 schools/ 15,000 students total) for processing pilot o Develop 3 model procurement bid templates for school-hub procurement o Complete a communication plan reaching 100+ potential

Key Activities:

• Procurement Resource development

(model contract language)

• Recruitment of Hubs and schools to participate in Arizona Regional Processing Pilot

• Communication Plan development (promoting 1:1 & discovery meeting, office hours) school and food hub participants

November 2025

• Goals/Metrics:

o Develop pilot promotional and educational materials o Identify optimal (high-volume, student-accepted, easy-swap) pilot product per region, plus 2-3 additional products for catalog development

Key Activities:

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot promotional and educational materials development

• Start 1:1 & TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

December 2025

• Goals/Metrics:

o Develop processing protocols and food safety standards for pilot o Distribute pre-pilot surveys to 100% participating schools o Launch data mapping system tracking local procurement opportunities

Key Activities:

• Launch Try it Local data mapping

(based on Try it Local Guidebook data)

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Distribute pre-pilot survey

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

January 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Distribute promotional/educational resources to schools to highlight upcoming pilot activities

Key Activities:

• Finalize schools and purchases for

Arizona Regional Processing Pilot

• Local school food promotion catalog

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

February 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Facilitate Procurement Pilot #1 implementation, providing TA and monthly progress monitoring, reaching up to 5,000 students in 5-8 schools, processing and distributing

Key Activities:

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot -central region

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting pilot product (goal:

$25,000 in Try it Local Purchases) o Achieve student acceptance and staff satisfaction (goal 70%) o Maintain on-time delivery rates of pilot products (goal: 90%)

March 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Facilitate Procurement Pilot #2 implementation, providing TA and monthly progress monitoring reaching up to 5,000 students in 5-8 schools, processing and distributing pilot product (goal:

$25,000 in Try it Local Purchases) o Achieve student acceptance and staff satisfaction (goal 70%) o Maintain on-time delivery rates of pilot products (goal: 90%)

Key Activities:

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot -southern region

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

April 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Facilitate Procurement Pilot #3 implementation, providing TA and monthly progress monitoring reaching up to 5,000 students in 5-8 schools, processing and distributing pilot product (goal:

$25,000 in Try it Local Purchases) o Achieve student acceptance and staff satisfaction (goal 70%)

Key Activities:

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot -northern region

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

• Try it Local office hours

• Processing Partnership Playbook development o Maintain on-time delivery rates of pilot products (goal: 90%)

May 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Collect post-pilot surveys from 75%+ of participating schools o Document 3 successful processing model case studies

Key Activities:

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot planning cohort meeting

• Collect post-pilot survey responses

• Processing Partnership Playbook development

June 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Present Processing pilot findings to 50+ farm-to-school stakeholders

Key Activities:

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot presentation

• Complete Processing Partnership

Playbook with replication protocols

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Processing Pilot cohort meeting

July 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Conduct 15+ discovery meetings between schools/hubs/producers, 20+ 1:1 TA calls, and reach 50+ stakeholders (unduplicated) during office hours over SY 26 o Identify 3+ products per region to include in the local school food catalog o Develop promotional and educational materials for catalog items

Key Activities:

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Arizona Regional Processing Pilot cohort meeting

• Local school food catalog development

August 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Achieve 80% of pilot participating schools expressing intent to continue local purchasing

Key Activities:

• 1:1 TA discovery meetings

• Try it Local office hours

• Processing Partnership Playbook dissemination o Distribute Playbook to an additional 4 AZ aggregators/hubs

• Local school food catalog development

September 2026

• Goals/Metrics:

o Complete comprehensive impact evaluation showing 30% increase in local procurement volume o Conduct an additional 5+ discovery meetings and 1:1 TA calls, engage with an additional 25+ stakeholders during office hours between July and September 2026 o Present project outcomes and lessons learned to 50+ farm-to-school stakeholders

Key Activities:

• Year in Review: a look back at F2S, local procurement activities in SY 26

• Local school food catalog dissemination

• Final evaluation and reporting activities

3. Identify the expected impact or result of the service or assistance.

The Arizona Regional Processing Pilot and comprehensive technical assistance program will generate both immediate and long-term impacts for Arizona's farm to school ecosystem. In the short term, we expect to directly serve 15,000+ students across 15-24 schools through our processing pilot while providing technical assistance to 75+ Child Nutrition Program operators statewide.

Beyond immediate participants, our comprehensive approach will create lasting systems change through resource development and knowledge sharing. The Try it Local data mapping system will connect hundreds of schools, producers, and food hubs across Arizona, facilitating new partnerships that extend far beyond our direct technical assistance. Our Processing Partnership Playbook will provide replicable models for other regions, while the Local School Food catalog will offer schools statewide access to vetted, student-accepted local products with reliable supply chains.

The program's emphasis on evidence-based evaluation will contribute valuable research to the national farm to school field, particularly around processing partnerships as a solution for local produce procurement barriers. By documenting what works in Arizona's unique regional contexts—from small rural districts to large urban systems—our findings will inform both state policy development and program design in other states facing similar challenges.

Ultimately, this work will strengthen Arizona's capacity to connect local agriculture with child nutrition programs, creating sustainable economic opportunities for producers while improving student access to fresh, locally-grown foods.

4. Outline tools to be used and methods planned for measuring the results/outcomes and evaluating activities.

Our evaluation framework employs multiple data collection tools to capture both quantitative impacts and qualitative learning across all program components. For the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot, we will conduct comprehensive pre- and post-pilot surveys with participating schools, measuring baseline and end-of-pilot levels of local purchasing practices, staff confidence with local procurement, and student satisfaction with local products. These surveys will be complemented by monthly progress monitoring that tracks delivery volumes, costs, student acceptance rates, and partnership satisfaction throughout the implementation period.

Quantitative measurement tools include procurement tracking systems that document pounds and dollar values of local purchases, comparative cost analyses between local processed and conventional products, and participation rate monitoring for meals featuring local ingredients. We will maintain detailed records of technical assistance delivery, including numbers of 1:1 consultations provided, discovery meetings facilitated, and stakeholders reached through office hours and presentations. Our Try it Local data mapping system will generate analytics on partnership connections facilitated and resource utilization patterns.

Qualitative evaluation methods include stakeholder interviews with school nutrition directors, food hub managers, and participating producers to capture nuanced feedback about partnership development, operational challenges overcome, and sustainability factors.

We will conduct focus groups with students to assess acceptance of processed local products and gather insights about taste, appearance, and overall meal satisfaction. Throughout the program, we will document case studies of successful partnerships, capturing lessons learned and replicable strategies for different operational contexts.

Our evaluation approach emphasizes continuous quality improvement, with monthly reflection sessions among project team members and quarterly check-ins with advisory stakeholders to ensure programming remains responsive to emerging needs and challenges.

All evaluation findings will be compiled into comprehensive reports that contribute to Arizona's farm to school knowledge base while informing future program design and policy development.

5. Outline how the proposed services/assistance plans and anticipated results can be shared to benefit the public and Arizona’s Farm to School/ECE community.

Our dissemination strategy ensures maximum benefit to Arizona's Farm to School/ECE community and the broader public through multiple channels and formats designed to reach diverse stakeholder audiences.

Resource development and distribution will provide lasting tools for statewide use. Our Processing Partnership Playbook will be distributed to 4+ additional food hubs and aggregators beyond pilot participants, while our Local School Food catalog will be made available to all Arizona schools through our Purchase Local website. The Try it Local data mapping system will remain publicly accessible, enabling ongoing partnership development across the state. All resources will be designed with scalability in mind, including implementation guides and adaptation frameworks for different regional contexts.

We will leverage existing networks for broad dissemination, including the Arizona Farm to School Network, Arizona Department of Education child nutrition communications, and Arizona Department of Agriculture's producer outreach channels. Our findings will be shared through webinar presentations, conference presentations at state and national farm to school events, and written case studies distributed through professional networks. The project's emphasis on evidence-based programming will contribute to peer-reviewed publications and research presentations that advance national understanding of processing partnerships as a farm to school strategy.

Additionally, our ongoing technical assistance model ensures knowledge transfer continues beyond the formal grant period. The 1:1 consultations, discovery meetings, and office hours documented throughout our timeline create opportunities for real-time learning exchange among practitioners. By training local organizations and building capacity within existing networks, our approach creates sustainable mechanisms for continued learning and resource sharing that will benefit Arizona's farm to school community for years beyond the initial funding period.

ATTACHMENT 4

EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITY

II. EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITY

The Applicant shall describe how their organization is positioned to address the current issues or barriers to advancing farm to school programming amongst producers, food hubs, distributors, schools, and early care institutions.

6. Describe the applicant’s experience in designing and/or delivering effective evidence-based programming around your proposed service or assistance program.

Pinnacle Prevention is an Arizona-based nonprofit organization with a mission of cultivating a just food system and opportunities for joyful movement. Our team works to make this vision a reality by providing consultation, technical assistance, and training for those with a common interest in improving community wellbeing. Pinnacle Prevention's commitment to quality is guided by our mission-driven design that reflects the following core values in all aspects of our approach: compassion, respect, collaboration, accountability, and justice. As a statewide nonprofit, we understand the unique environment of Arizona and the importance of tailoring approaches with consideration for culture and needs within each unique region of Arizona.

Our organization brings deep, hands-on experience in farm to school programming and local procurement systems development. One of our team members serves as Co-chair of the Arizona Farm to School Network's Local Food in Schools Community of Practice, providing leadership grounded in direct experience as a school nutrition innovator, having served in roles as food service director, wellness coordinator, and farm to school coordinator. This frontline experience in the school nutrition system enables our team to understand both the operational realities schools face and the systemic changes needed to increase local procurement capacity. Through leadership in the Community of Practice, we have helped to develop and facilitate local procurement learning series, provided group facilitation for multi-stakeholder partnerships, and delivered extensive 1:1 technical assistance to school nutrition operators navigating local purchasing challenges. Additionally, our team includes a staff member with over two years of direct experience managing a local food purchasing program, and a decade of experience working with local growers through technical assistance to small and mid-sized growers, supporting partnership connections for food distribution to underserved populations in Arizona, and maintaining strong reporting and program compliance practices. This combination of school-side and producer-side expertise ensures our approach addresses challenges and opportunities across the entire farm to school supply chain.

Our team has extensive experience designing evidence-based farm to school programming from the ground up. We supported the development of the Arizona Department of Education's Local Food for Schools state plan and the Arizona Department of Agriculture's Resilient Food Systems Program state plan, ensuring both initiatives were grounded in statewide needs assessment data and best practices research. We have participated in the Arizona Department of Education’s farm to school strategic planning process. As leaders in the Arizona Farm to School Network's Production & Procurement Workgroup, we co-created the comprehensive "Roadmap to LFS" series, designing curriculum and delivery methods based on documented barriers and learning needs identified through stakeholder input and evaluation data. Most notably, our team created the complete framework and implementation strategy for a federal Local Food Purchasing Agreement (LFPA) promotion program, developing everything from eligibility criteria and application processes to technical assistance protocols and evaluation metrics. This experience demonstrates our capacity to translate policy requirements and funding opportunities into practical, accessible programming that achieves measurable outcomes for schools and producers.

Pinnacle Prevention's approach to engagement is focused on working alongside communities and with partner organizations to evaluate roles and assets while seeking to understand needs and perceptions when working on complex issues. Our principal activities include needs assessment and evaluation, planning and strategy implementation, facilitation and community engagement, strategic planning, organizational training and professional development support, community health studies and research, advocacy and policy support, and programming. These attributes facilitate cooperation and valuable input from community residents, families, and stakeholders, ensuring our farm to school technical assistance is both evidence-based and responsive to local contexts, drawing from our track record of designing programs that achieve documented increases in local procurement capacity and sustainable partnership development. Our proficiency in best practices guiding the work of public, social, and education sectors positions us to effectively bridge the gap between agricultural producers, food system intermediaries, and child nutrition programs while building sustainable systems for long-term impact.

7. Describe the applicant’s experience and strategies in working effectively with the population your service or assistance intends to reach.

Pinnacle Prevention has extensive experience working with both key populations essential to successful farm to school programming: agricultural producers and child nutrition program operators. Through administering programs including Double Up Food Bucks, the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, Purchase Local Arizona, the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI), Seeds to Grow, and Local Food Movers, we have built relationships with approximately 300 small to mid-size farmers and growers statewide while gaining deep understanding of the challenges producers face in navigating different market channels, including the unique requirements of institutional purchasing.

Our strategies for working effectively with producers include providing culturally responsive technical assistance that recognizes diverse farming operations and business models across Arizona's regions, offering flexible communication methods (in-person visits, virtual meetings, phone support), and connecting farmers to peer learning opportunities that leverage the collective expertise within our network. We understand that successful farm to school partnerships require producers who are equipped with knowledge about food safety requirements, volume planning, and institutional purchasing timelines.

Equally important is our experience working with school nutrition professionals through our leadership role in Arizona's Farm to School Network, where we provide 1:1 technical assistance to CNP operators navigating local purchasing challenges. Our strategies include meeting schools where they are operationally, providing practical tools and resources that fit within existing workflows, facilitating discovery meetings between schools and potential supplier partners, and offering ongoing support throughout partnership development. We recognize that effective school engagement requires understanding budget constraints, labor limitations, food safety protocols, and student acceptance factors that influence purchasing decisions.

Our comprehensive approach leverages existing infrastructure, including our dedicated Purchase Local website that houses procurement tools, resources, and registration capabilities, ensuring both producers and schools have accessible, centralized support for developing sustainable local procurement partnerships.

8. Describe the qualifications, experience working with the proposed population, and previous experience with the types of services to be provided for each of the Key Personnel listed on Key Personnel Table of question 10. Applicant shall attach a resume for each of the key personnel proposed. Resumes or curriculum vitae (CV) that includes personal information such as home address, phone numbers, social security numbers, etc., should be redacted as documentation will become public information after award of a contract.

Rachel Gomez-Acosta brings 14 years of farm to school experience to her role as Pinnacle Prevention's Farm to Institution Partnerships Manager. She serves as co-chair of the Arizona Farm to School Network's Community of Practice, co-chair of the Arizona Food System Network’s Food Access workgroup, and is a member of the Arizona Department of Education Strategic Planning process and Arizona Collaborative Advisory Committee, positioning her to coordinate statewide initiatives effectively.

• Direct Experience with Target Population: Rachel has 10 years of hands-on experience working with local food hubs to innovate and expand farm to school activities across four Arizona schools, providing deep understanding of CNP operator challenges and opportunities. She has 6 years of experience collaborating with school nutrition professionals and stakeholders through the Blue Watermelon Project's Feeding the Future Recipe Contest as both school site representative and event planning team member.

• Technical Assistance Expertise: Rachel is an experienced facilitator and presenter on local procurement practices, leading taste tests with students, local food promotion activities with staff, parents, and community members, and supporting schools in utilizing Local Wellness Policies to implement farm to school priorities. She has provided 76 hours of RFSI direct technical assistance to food producers, hubs, and stakeholders, demonstrating proven capacity for the one-on-one consulting central to this program. As a Life Lab certified Garden Educator and National Farm to School Network Partner, she brings both educational expertise and access to national resources.

Parker Filer serves as the Local Food Purchasing Program Manager at Pinnacle Prevention, bringing over 13 years of food systems experience and expertise in large-scale local food coordination and producer partnerships that directly supports the proposed program's procurement and technical assistance goals.

• Large-Scale Program Management Experience: Parker has over 2 years of experience coordinating the partnership between Purchase Local AZ, Arizona Food Bank Network, and Arizona Department of Education on local food purchasing promotional programs through the USDA. Through this program management, in collaboration with the Arizona Food Bank Network's Friends of the Farm Program, $9 million in local food has been purchased from 326 farmers and distributed to 209 community partners across the state, demonstrating his capacity to manage complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives at scale.

• Producer Network and Technical Assistance: Parker is responsible for managing daily administration of local food purchasing grant funds, supporting and expanding economic opportunities for local food producers, and providing technical assistance to increase purchasing opportunities. This includes nurturing relationships with farmers, providing technical assistance, as well as grant management and evaluation.

In his professional work, he has collaborated with a wide variety of farmers, farm workers, market managers, and volunteers in the US and abroad on food systems issues, bringing diverse perspective to producer coordination and relationship building essential for the harvest planning and production coordination activities outlined in the proposal.

Jessie Gruner is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with 13 years of experience working in public health sectors including child nutrition programs, social services, research, and advocacy. Jessie worked in collaboration with the Arizona Department of Economic Security, the Arizona Department of Agriculture, and the Arizona Department of Education to develop state plans for LFS, LFPA, and RFSI. She lends expertise in program design and implementation, as well as nutritional knowledge and regulation on federal meal programs.

Persephonie Devereaux is Pinnacle Prevention’s Communications and Outreach Manager. She promotes Pinnacle Preventions initiatives and programs with community members and partners. She emphasizes relationship building, and information sharing through multiple communications mediums. She is passionate about food, culture, and how they unite us.

9. Describe two major accomplishments that demonstrate the Applicant’s effectiveness and capacity to provide services or assistance as described in the narrative.

1. RFSI technical assistance and Supply Chain Coordination

To prepare for RFSI state-wide funding priorities, Pinnacle Prevention successfully conducted a Community Input Process, engaging 114 listening session attendees, and collected 54 survey responses to develop the Community Input Summary. Pinnacle Prevention provided TA to food businesses, producers, and hubs over a 3-month (Dec 2023-March 2024) grant application window, including 76 hours of direct TA support over 290 interactions, including webinars, office hours, 1:1 sessions, newsletters, and topic-specific resource development/distribution. These efforts helped boost a strong response from the community with 98 RFSI applications received by the Arizona Department of Agriculture, demonstrating effective technical assistance delivery that increased participation.

2. Implementation of Purchase Local Arizona Purchase Local Arizona, launched in 2023, is a local food purchasing program funded by USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). The goals of PLAZ are to support Arizona farmers, ranchers, and food producers, prioritizing those from socially disadvantaged groups, and to distribute fresh, nutritious foods to underserved communities across Arizona. Through this program, in collaboration with the Arizona Food Bank Network’s Friends of the Farm Program, $9 million in local food has been purchased from 326 farmers and distributed to 209 community partners across the state.

10. List all key personnel by name, position and/or title, responsibilities and percent of time to be assigned to this Grant. Key personnel is defined as staff involved in the planning, administration, operation, or monitoring of this Grant.

Key Personnel Table

Full Name Position/Title Responsibilities % Time Assigned to Grant

Rachel Gomez Acosta Farm to Institution Partnerships Manager

• Lead primary technical assistance provider to CNP operators on local procurement practices

• Facilitate office hours and one-on-one consulting sessions with schools

• Co-lead processing pilot development and implementation

• Develop procurement training materials and resources

• Conduct regional workshops and webinars for school food service staff

50%

• Coordinate producer-school partnerships and relationship building

• Lead local food promotion and education programming implementation

Parker Filer Local Food

Purchasing Program Manager

• Provide primary technical assistance to food hubs and producers on school market opportunities

• Co-lead processing pilot development and implementation

• Support office hours and technical assistance delivery as needed

• Develop producer-focused resources and training materials

• Coordinate harvest planning and production commitments with producers

• Manage procurement data collection and analysis

• Support workshop facilitation

50%

Jessie Gruner Director of Policy and Community Innovation

• Oversee project implementation and ensure deliverable completion

• Provide strategic guidance on policy and implementation approaches

• Support office hours and technical assistance as needed

• Lead development of policy recommendations and sustainability planning

• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and partnership

10% development

• Oversee project evaluation and impact assessment

• Manage grant compliance and reporting requirements

Persephonie Devereaux Communications and

Outreach Manager

• Maintain project website and online resource library

• Develop and distribute communications materials and newsletters

• Support promotional activities and educational material creation

• Coordinate outreach to schools and producers for program participation

• Manage social media and digital engagement strategies

• Create marketing materials for program promotion

10%

ATTACHMENT 5

PROPOSED COSTS AND BUDGET

III. PROPOSED COSTS AND BUDGET

The Applicant shall provide sufficient detail to outline the costs associated with the service to be provided and explain the relative proportion of costs to the expected reach and impact on the target population.

11. Provide a detailed budget narrative that describes how category costs are derived and justifies the proposed costs over the period of performance for the grant.

This 12-month project aims to maximize participation in Arizona's Try it Local program and ensure sustainable local food procurement practices in schools through technical assistance, evaluation of regional processing pilots, promotional activities, and resource development. The narrative below reflects the funding levels outlined in the budget table in Question 13.

1. PERSONNEL - $104,500

The personnel budget supports four key staff members who will implement the project's four core activity areas: technical assistance and training, evaluation of the regional processing pilot, local procurement promotion, and resource development.

1a. Rachel Gomez Acosta - $42,500 (50% FTE, 12 months) Rachel will serve as the primary project coordinator, overseeing technical assistance activities including biweekly office hours, monthly virtual sessions, and one-on-one support for schools and food producers. She will facilitate discovery meetings between school food buyers and local producers, lead stakeholder engagement activities, and coordinate the recruitment of 15-24 schools serving approximately 15,000 students for the regional processing pilot.

1b. Parker Filer - $42,500 (50% FTE, 12 months) Parker will focus on evaluation activities for the Arizona Regional Processing Pilot across three regions (northern, central, and southern Arizona). He will work collaboratively with food hub partners to test up to three local food processing models, assess successes and challenges, and document best practices. He will also support the development of promotional materials and marketing tools.

1c. Jessie Gruner - $12,500 (10% FTE, 12 months) Jessie will provide senior oversight and guidance for resource development activities, including the creation of the Try it Local data mapping tools, comprehensive Local School Food catalog, and Processing Partnership Playbook. Her expertise will ensure quality deliverables that meet the needs of farmers and meal service operators.

1d. Persephonie Devereaux - $7,000 (10% FTE, 12 months)

Ms. Devereaux will support promotional activities and resource dissemination, including the design and distribution of Arizona-specific local food menu promotion materials such as stickers, food fact sheets, farmer profiles, and menuing resources.

2. PERSONNEL-RELATED EXPENSES/BENEFITS - $29,260

Fringe benefits are calculated at Pinnacle Prevention's established rate of 28% for all personnel, covering health insurance, retirement contributions, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and other mandatory benefits.

2a. Benefits for Rachel Gomez Acosta: $11,900 (28% of $42,500) 2b. Benefits for Parker Filer: $11,900 (28% of $42,500) 2c. Benefits for Jessie Gruner: $3,500 (28% of $12,500) 2d. Benefits for Persephonie Devereaux: $1,960 (28% of $7,000)

3. TRAVEL - $12,940

Travel expenses are essential for conducting on-site technical assistance, facilitating partnerships between schools and producers, and implementing the regional processing pilot across Arizona's three regions.

3a. Mileage - $7,440 Based on approximately 1,000 miles per month for 12 months at the federal mileage rate of $0.62 per mile. Travel includes:

• Site visits to participating schools and food hubs across northern, central, and southern

Arizona

• One-on-one technical assistance meetings with farmers and school administrators

• Discovery meetings between school food buyers and producers

• Pilot project…