A recent farmer- and rancher-led climate change solutions report from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) highlights the importance of organic agriculture as a climate solution. In stakeholder engagement meetings, farmers, ranchers, and relevant nonprofits discussed organic as both a climate solution and a mechanism to protect communities from pesticide exposure.
The resulting report reflects this input and includes recommendations for the state to further implement organic in California. These recommendations include (but are not limited to) supporting the transition to organic certification, paying for certification and inspection costs, and directing more public dollars towards organic procurement. Notably, CDFA’s report includes CCOF’s policy recommendations from the Roadmap to an Organic California Policy Report, which outlines a path for California to transition 30 percent of its agriculture to organic by 2030. These ideas were included in CDFA’s publication thanks to strong stakeholder affinity for CCOF’s recommendations. The state will continue to respond to public pressure to adopt these proven solutions while also achieving other critical goals.
CCOF strongly encourages members and partners to attend future regional stakeholder meetings to voice their support for organic. Please visit the California Natural Resources Agency’s website to learn more about upcoming regional stakeholder meetings.