The Tucson Family Food Project fights food insecurity through education

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – While meal kit delivery services have become a staple for many busy adults, a local non-profit is bringing the concept to middle school classrooms to combat food insecurity and teach essential life skills.

The Tucson Family Food Project (TTFFP) delivers weekly meal kits to local schools, reaching 250 students in grades 6-8 across five schools, including those in the Youth On Their Own program.

This week, TTFFP is partnering with El Guero Canelo to offer Sonoran hot dogs to their partner schools.

“The amount of confidence that kids get when they learn how to cook a meal kit for themselves is truly at the core of this,” said Steven Cota-Robles, founder and executive director of TTFFP. “When they make a meal kit for themselves, it opens doors for them in their mind. They’re like, man, if I can do that, what else can I do?”

Cota-Robles started the project post-Covid, inspired by the need to help young people and tackle food insecurity for students through lifelong skills.

“Our education system is built on this big assumption that all the kids have eaten, and when they haven’t eaten, the whole system falls apart,” Cota-Robles said. “We teach them nutrition, and the idea is that we’re fighting childhood food insecurity not just by handing out food, but by actually building life skills and teaching kids resilience.”

Each kit, which is provided free to students, contains ingredients and recipes that can feed a family of four. Students take the boxes home and follow along with YouTube tutorials that walk them through preparing the meals.

Despite the program’s impact, costs are kept low. The non-profit spends $4 to assemble each kit, allowing them to maximize their reach within the community and rely on donations.

The goal for the organization is to expand its efforts through partnerships with local restaurants and has plans to bring the program to additional schools in the Tucson area.

For more information on the project, and how to volunteer or donate, you can visit the Tucson Family Food Project website.

Be sure to subscribe to the 13 News YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@13newskold

Copyright 2025 13 News. All rights reserved.