www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com WANTS YOU! Farmers are an endangered species in California. Land is expensive, water precious and government regulations onerous. A hundred years ago, 80 percent of the U.S. population was engaged in agriculture. Today, less than two percent can say they work in farming or ranching. How can today’s ranchers and farmers connect and communicate with an increasingly distant urban public?
On September 1, a broad coalition of California ranchers and farmers are launching a web-based tool designed to reconnect them with consumers. This interactive farm and ranch experience is created by hundreds of farmers throughout the nation’s number one agricultural state. We represent the gamut from small and large, organic and traditional, north and south and actually produce the food people eat, the fiber that clothes them and the plants they grow in their yards. There’s room for more, so join the coalition. It’s free and fun.
“This is an important time and opportunity for California Agriculture to work together to tell our story,” explains California Cut Flower Commission Chairman and California Flower Farmer Hans Brand, owner of B&H Flowers. “I believe we can make a difference in the minds and opinions of Californians and how they regard us by better identifying the value we bring to California’s economy and culture. This new website allows us all to do a better job of that.”
At www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com, farmers and ranchers post personal photos, upload videos and write amusing and interesting stories and blogs. Jennifer Thompson blogs in her second language –grape talk – and explains why California grapes make the best wine in the world. Former roadie-turned-dairy-farmer Dino Giacomazzi shares his passion for the family business, which has been around since 1893. Readers learn how a farmer makes the decision about what kinds of pesticides to use, how much and why. It’s a two-way street in the world of New Media at www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com. So start a conversation with some of the people who think their food comes from the supermarket. Take 20 minutes to get started, but do it sooner rather than later.
For more information please call Kasey Cronquist, 805.696.5000, kcronquist@ccfc.org
Ford’s quote captures the most basic effort and focus underway by any organization or association working to improve conditions within its sphere. Over the past several years, the CCFC has been able to see this “coming together” on many fronts, efforts and projects and now are working towards that success. However, more can be done, with more coming together.
MONTEREY BAY, CA
Its cheap!
Despite the busy Mother’s Day push on their farms at home, several members of the CCFC Board of Commissioners and Transportation Committee traveled to Washington, D.C. on April 19-21, to impact the political process on Capital Hill and to increase USDA’s attention to the needs of domestic cut flower farmers. CCFC Chairman Hans Brand, CCFC Finance Chair Lane DeVries, Transportation Committee member Winston Moore and Transportation Committee Chair Rene Van Wingerden made up the delegation of representative flower farmers from California. The team completed 18 meetings on Capitol Hill during their whirlwind day and a half in Washington and worked very hard to make the case for funding to support the “New Model” Transportation plan recently approved by the Board of Commissioners. The trip created a much-needed buzz for our industry in the halls of both the Congress and USDA. By taking the time to come to DC, these CCFC leaders have laid the necessary groundwork for a promising year for California cut flower farmers in DC.
In my time as the Executive Director/Ambassador, the Commission’s involvement with the “sustainability” subject has been mostly participatory. Meaning we’ve participated in a variety of events, meetings and discussions to help our farmers better understand and be better informed on where California flowers fit among these discussions. At our May 12th meeting in Ventura, we are moving from our “participatory” role to a “leadership” role and hosting a meeting to discuss exactly what the sustainability movement means for the California Flower Farmer, where our flowers fit and what can we be doing collectively to highlight our “sustainability.”