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Tucson’s community of food & beverage lovers

News | Guides | Events | Clubs + more

Tucson Foodie is a community-backed media and events organization dedicated to helping locals and visitors discover, support and experience Tucson, Arizona's deep-rooted and fast-growing culinary scene. 

Through curated guides, breaking news, long-form storytelling, membership clubs, events, festivals and experiences, our mission is to:
Highlight the diverse food and beverage offerings in our region
Encourage exploration and enhance the dining experiences of individuals within the Tucson community
Bring people together over a shared love of food
Support locally-owned restaurants and artisans
Foster collaboration and partnership within the food and beverage industry
Help Tucson step into its growing reputation as a foodie travel destination

Who is Tucson Foodie?

Core Team
Shane Reiser - CEO
Sam Jump - COO
Matt Sterner - Editor
Hannah Hernandez - Social Media
Addie Ibarra - Community
Feng-Feng Yeh - Video
Dalton Voss - Videography
Daniel Clarke - Growth
Kim Johnston - Social
Taylor Cooley - Events
Taylor Thoenes - Staff Photographer
Pilar Andrade - Everything
+ dozens of writers, photographers and contributors
Advisory Board
Janos Wilder - Chef
Liz Pocock - Startup Tucson

Todd Hanley - Agave Heritage Festival
Sean & Tiffany Denlinger - Nova Home Loans, Donut Bar
Jonathan Mabry - Tucson City of Gastronomy
Jackie Tran - Writer, Photographer, Food Truck Owner/Operator
Norma Gentry - ProVentures
Adam Lehrman - Founder/Previous Owner of Tucson Foodie
Manish Shah - Maya Tea & Transit Tea
Kate Marquez - SAACA
Ray Flores - Flores Concepts / Charro
Sally Kane - The Coronet

How does Tucson Foodie make money?

In a world teeming with paywalls and intrusive pop-ups, Tucson Foodie has chosen a different path. We've made all of our mouth-watering content completely free, and we're saying ‘no’ to sponsored content. Instead, we're placing a confident bet on the power of community – something that resonates deeply with our core values.

Tucson Foodie makes money when you:
join one of our member communities
attend one of our events
- view an ad running our website
buy something from our store (coming soon)
- click an affiliate link in an article (and then buy that product)

Tucson Foodie does not make money from:
- paid articles ("sponsored content")
- paid social media

Our Partners

We're honored to have strategic partnerships with key organizations including SAACA, Visit Tucson, Local First, Tucson City of Gastronomy, and Lotus Media.


Tucson Foodie is also a proud member of Tucson Originals, Tucson Metro Chamber, Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce and The Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Commitments

Our team cares about a lot of stuff.

#local
Tucson Foodie's support for the local community extends beyond showcasing food establishments. We also spotlight local food-related events, culinary news, and initiatives promoting sustainability, charitable endeavors, and the honoring of ingredients native to our region. By engaging with the community through this platform, Tucson Foodie aims to cultivate a strong local food community and encourage people to explore the diverse culinary offerings in Tucson while supporting local businesses and in turn, growing and strengthening our local economy.

Sustainability
Sustainability is a big word. Here's how we're trying to make a difference:
- Local and Organic Sourcing: Encouraging the use of locally sourced ingredients and promoting organic farming practices to reduce the environmental impact of food production and support local farmers.
- Reduced Food Waste: Implementing strategies to minimize food waste throughout the supply chain, including initiatives such as composting, food recovery programs, and raising awareness about the importance of reducing food waste at the consumer level.
- Sustainable Agriculture: Promoting sustainable farming practices that prioritize soil health, water conservation, and biodiversity. This can include supporting regenerative agriculture techniques, agroforestry, and organic farming methods.
- Accessible and Healthy Food: Strive to ensure that all members of the community have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. This can involve initiatives like community gardens, farmers' markets, and educational programs on nutrition and cooking.
- Support for Local Food Businesses: Fostering a thriving local food economy by supporting local restaurants, food producers, and entrepreneurs. This can involve highlighting local food businesses, providing resources and mentorship, and advocating for policies that support their growth.
- Education and Awareness: Increasing public awareness about the benefits of sustainable food practices, educating consumers about the impact of their food choices, and providing resources to help individuals make more sustainable decisions.
- Collaboration and Partnerships: Encouraging collaboration between various stakeholders, including farmers, chefs, policymakers, and community organizations, to work towards a common vision of a sustainable food system. This can involve partnerships to address challenges such as food insecurity, climate change, and sustainable land use.

Ethics
Since its establishment, Tucson Foodie has been committed to upholding high ethical standards that preserve our editorial independence and ensure the integrity of our journalism. Our editorial team abides by the following guidelines, which often exceed industry standards, in order to earn and maintain the trust of our audience.

- Editorial Independence: We cherish our independence, which allows us to publish stories without fear or external influence. We maintain a strict separation between our editorial team and any advertising or corporate departments to safeguard our autonomy.
- Transparency and Trust: Transparency is crucial in a world where information is distributed across various platforms. We believe in promoting clear ethical guidelines to help our audience understand the source and reliability of the information we provide. We are accountable for the content we produce and strive to build trust with our readers.
- Integrity in Reporting: Our editorial team is dedicated to reporting the truth, protecting sources, minimizing harm, and striving for accuracy and honesty in all our publications. We adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics as a foundation for our professional conduct.
- Sourcing Standards: We maintain high standards for sourcing information, ensuring that our reporters clearly explain our sourcing practices and respect the confidentiality of sources when appropriate. We strive to provide clear attribution and maintain the distinction between on-the-record, on-background, and off-the-record conversations.
- Unbiased Coverage: At Tucson Foodie, we are committed to providing unbiased coverage of Tucson's vibrant food scene. Our reviews, recommendations, and articles are based on fair assessments and evaluations, free from personal conflicts of interest or external pressures.
- Advertising and Sponsorship: Our advertising and editorial departments operate independently. We do not accept anything of value from companies or their PR firms that may compromise our objectivity. Sponsored content (which we don't do anymore) and advertising are clearly labeled to maintain transparency, and they do not influence the integrity of our editorial content.
- Corrections and Updates: While we strive for accuracy, errors can occasionally occur. In such cases, we promptly issue corrections and updates, clearly indicating the changes made to the original content. We also remove any content that infringes on intellectual property rights or breaches applicable laws.
- Giveaways: From time to time, Tucson Foodie will conduct contests and giveaways for our audiences. We will post rules for each contest and giveaway. While giveaways or contests may be sponsored by an advertiser or partner (or in most cases, we're just trying to help 'em out and there is no compensation for running the giveaway), they are not and should never be considered endorsements of the entities involved or their products.
- Partners: The Tucson Foodie team engages with other businesses, brands, and organizations whose activities resonate with the company as a whole, or with one or more of our teams, and therefore has a number of strategic partners, including, but not limited to, Visit Tucson, SAACA, Local First, Tucson City of Gastronomy, and Lotus Media. These partnerships do not impact the content that our editorial teams independently publish; however, our editorial team may create content as part of these partnerships, and we may publish this content on our editorial sites. 
- Affiliates: Tucson Foodie has a number of affiliate partnership, including, but not limited to, PaleoValley, Amazon, and more. Our content is created with total editorial independence from these affiliates. None of our affiliates have influence on the content we publish or access to our editorial and publication process unless we have an agreement with an affiliate that specifically contemplates a content creation partnership. If such a partnership exists, then this would be clearly disclosed to the Tucson Foodie audience. We will also remind audiences of our relationship with major affiliates when we write directly about the business or other activities of such affiliates.
- FeedbackWe’re always interested in hearing from you if you have a concern about our ethical standards. If you see something that doesn’t look right on TucsonFoodie.com, please let us know.

Land Acknowledgement

Tucson Foodie acknowledges that we live and work on the ancestral and occupied lands of the Tohono O'odham, Pascua Yaqui, Ak-Chin, Hohokam, Akimel O'odham, Hia-Ced O'odham, and many more who may call this place home. We pay respects to their elders past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today.

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