Farm Bureau prepares to work with new senate committee

» January 13, 2009 «

Stressing that healthy families depend on healthy farms, the California Farm Bureau Federation said today it will work with the state Senate's Committee on Food and Agriculture to insure food security for everyone. California Farm Bureau President Doug Mosebar issued the following statement:

"Healthy families depend on healthy farms and we have always supported farm policy to promote both healthy families and sustainable farms.

"Sustainability is not just limited to the farm. There is a host of external factors that need to coalesce for our local food production systems to thrive. California must address the need for improved water infrastructure, including surface storage; a robust program to keep invasive pests out of our state; full funding of the Williamson Act to protect farmlands; a labor force adequate to meet demand; and a revamped regulatory program that promotes innovation and provides flexibility to farm productively and efficiently.

"The ability to produce food for our nation is a national security issue - a food security issue. That includes assuring that people have access to fresh and affordable food and farm products. By enhancing its scope of work, the California Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture is recognizing the contributions that California family farmers and ranchers make in assuring food security for all.

"Working farms and ranches contribute nearly $37 billion to the California economy. We encourage the committee to recognize that value as it crafts policy to protect our food supply and nourish consumers around the world, while maintaining the viability of California's family farms and ranches.

"We cannot replace productive soil once it has been paved over for strip malls and we cannot plant a crop if we do not know if there will be water available to nurture it. In 1935, California had 151,000 working farms and ranches - and that number has fallen to 75,000. Let's reverse this trend through leadership and innovative solutions that will benefit everyone," Mosebar said.

The California Farm Bureau Federation, the state's largest farm organization, works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of 85,000 members statewide.

Contact: Dave Kranz
Phone: 916/561-5550
news@cfbf.com

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