Dear CCOF Members and Supporters,
It is with great pleasure and honor that I write to you as CCOF’s new CEO. Since assuming the role in January, I’ve been continually inspired by CCOF’s many accomplishments over 2018, which you helped make a reality. I’m no stranger to the strength of CCOF’s incredible membership of organic farmers, professionals, and supporters, and I’m excited to harness the power of this unique community to continue laying the path to an organic future.
You helped us lay bricks in our organic path by enabling us to help 7,898 students and teachers get funding for organic education, get 383 members engaged with influencing policies for organic, and provide organic certification for 3,731 organic farmers and businesses.
One of our most exciting projects in 2018—which will carry over into 2019—was publishing the CCOF Foundation’s Roadmap to an Organic California: Benefits Report. This groundbreaking report reviewed over 300 scientific studies to analyze how organic agriculture impacts the United States, finding that organic provides evidence-based solutions to the nation’s complex challenges.
The second part of the project will convene diverse agricultural stakeholders to set forth a comprehensive menu of policies for expanding organic to at least 10 percent of California’s farmland by 2030. As the nation’s leader in organic, California has the opportunity to utilize organic as a strategy for increasing public health and prosperity while paving the way for other states to benefit from organic agriculture. The Roadmap to an Organic California: Policy Report will be unveiled at the beginning of 2020 at CCOF’s 2020 Annual Meeting in Sacramento on February 18 and 19.
How will you join us along the path to an organic future in 2019? If, like us, you’re driven to continue growing organic, consider joining us to work toward this goal together. Join your local CCOF chapter, get certified by CCOF, or . This all starts with our membership and our supporters, and we couldn’t do it without you.
Read our 2018 annual report for all the details on what you helped us accomplish in 2018.
Many thanks,
Kelly Damewood
CEO