CCOF seizes the opportunity to guide California towards a healthier, richer, and safer future.
Governor Newsom, the 40th governor of California, signed into law a $5 million fund earmarked to aid farmers and ranchers in switching to organic farming on June 30, 2022.
The new organic transition program included in the 2022–2023 state budget, and also a part of CCOF's AB 2499, will provide farmers and ranchers with subsidies, capacity building, training, and marketing to assist them in coping with the challenges that come with organic farming.
The main goal of this measure is to increase the tools and resources available to farmers and ranchers, according to Rebekah Weber, CCOF policy director. "It's great to see broad, bipartisan support for investment in the agriculture sector," states Weber. The highlights of the bill include listing the criteria for fund qualification and emphasis on seasoned organic growers' mentorship over new organic producers.
The organic transition program is a powerful step toward assisting many small-scale and underserved farmers in overcoming obstacles that would otherwise prevent them from going organic. Empowering small-scale and BIPOC farmers who work with limited resources with the crucial support needed for making organic farming more lucrative will also help in creating a more symmetrical agriculture system.
Bills and laws leveraging organic agriculture as a viable solution to addressing California's deficits are what the state needs the most at the moment. And following CCOF's $850,000 contract with the CDFA to support UC ANR's organic research (alongside CDFA's separate $1 million fund towards the institution), the latest achievement is another milestone towards increasing organic farming's equity in the state of California.
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