Michael Hodgins Oral History Interview

Interview with Michael Hodgins, Director
Sustainable Foods Systems/Café @ Rio Salado College


Michael Hodgins is the Director of Sustainable Foods Systems at the Café at Rio Salado College. His experience working within the kitchen at a young age gave him exposure to seasonal and local foods. This experience shaped Michael’s passion toward food as well as his approach to food economies. The primary focus for Michael over the past 10 years has been to connect local farmers to businesses in order to create the infrastructure for a working food economy. Education of the community has also become a priority so the growth of the local economy can continue to grow. Business within the food industry is a large part of the change that Michael focuses on addressing whether it be federal subsidies that prevent smaller business from purchasing local grown food or the competition small farms face from national conglomerates. His perspectives focus on changing how we view all aspects of the food industry.