Steven Cota-Robles was working a grocery job during the pandemic when he realized he wanted to spend his skills on Tucson instead. So he sold his house, quit, and started teaching kids how to cook. Today the Tucson Family Food Project sends 260 meal kits a week to middle-schoolers across five Tucson schools — real whole-food recipes, built to be made by a kid, at home, with what they've got. We talk about the teacher who told him not to just hand out food, the wife who upgraded the whole mission, regenerative farms on closed school campuses, and why he aims at the base of the flames.
— Gregorio C., El Tucsonan
CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
3:09 "You teach kids how to cook"
3:35 The COVID grocery-job epiphany + a note from 2019
5:26 The teachers' rule: you can't just hand out food
8:41 Selling the house — and meeting his wife on Bumble
11:49 Getting into the first school (just ask)
13:02 20 kids, one kitchen: the proof of concept
18:30 Brownies, salad & minimum-equipment recipes
26:06 From 20 to 100: the church kitchen
33:46 "That's not a bag of food. That's a bag of love."
37:07 What surprised him: kids finding their voice
41:39 The new kitchen, 1,000/week, and 17,000 someday
43:57 Regenerative farms on closed schools
57:50 Why Tucson is the hardest — and the perfect — place
63:55 The poverty and food-insecurity cycle
67:11 Aim at the base of the flames
76:33 Producer questions: pushback, morale, advice
83:29 Financial transparency & the first 990
85:35 The student who changed everything
90:38 Guest recommendations & where to find TFFP
LINKS
• Support El Tucsonan (membership): https://eltucsonan.com/supporters/sign_in
• Sponsor El Tucsonan: https://eltucsonan.com/pages/sponsor
• Tucson Family Food Project: https://www.thetucsonfamilyfoodproject.org
• TFFP on YouTube — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject3055
• TFFP on Instagram — @thetucsonfamilyfoodproject
• El Tucsonan — IG @eltucsonan · TikTok @el.tucsonan
NAMES & PLACES MENTIONED
• Catalina United Methodist Church (Speedway) — donated kitchen space
• Oatman Farms (Gila Bend) — first certified regenerative organic farm on the West Coast
• Flowers & Bullets · Tucson Village Farm · Market on the Move — Tucson food/farm orgs
• Heifer USA (Arkansas) — holistic land-management course
• Marley Foundation (Phoenix) — $125K kitchen-equipment grant
• Ardmore Institute of Health — $125K grant; "full plate living" 12-week pilot
• Zuckerman College of Public Health & Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (U of A)
• "That Was Epic" (Juan, Phoenix) — positivity YouTuber referenced
• Guest recs: Chef Pablo Valencia (Gastronomic Union of Tucson) · Jennifer Ekstrom (TUSD School Board) · Dr. David Garcia (U of A / Andrew Weil Center)
Financial transparency: TFFP's Form 990 & IRS determination letter are public — look them up by name or EIN on the IRS site.
The Tucson Family Food Project is a registered nonprofit. This episode is a production of Self Media Productions LLC.
