CCOF Blog

What: Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Training to help your farm business comply with FSMA legislation, and a second on-farm training covering food safety best practices, business and marketing, and crisis planning at your operation as a follow-up session for interested farmers. 

When: Friday, January 24, 2020, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Where: Allan Hancock College, Room G106A/B

Cost: Free for small producers of leafy greens

To sign up or get more information, contact:

Join UCSC Farm Garden Manager Christof Bernau for a webinar on organic seedling production and greenhouse efficiencies for small farms. 

This session will focus on the management of environmental conditions to optimize germination and development of high-quality transplants, with an emphasis on system efficiencies that can improve seedling quality and your bottom line. From sowing, germination, and seedling development to hardening off and holding strategies, all seedling life stages will be explored.  

The session will begin with an examination of a typical seedling life…

I am of African American, Native American (Cherokee) and West Indian heritage. I was born and lived in the urban United States until just before my 9th birthday. I attended school in Senegal, West Africa in a small town, at a small school with modest facilities. It is here that I completed my childhood and my education. 

I spent about 3 years…

Photo by Liz Birnbaum

CCOF is hosting a reception to celebrate the release of the Policy Report for the Roadmap to an Organic California project. Join us at EcoFarm for organic beer and wine, snacks, and good company as we celebrate the project’s completion and launch a new decade of organic advocacy in California. 

When

January 24…

Join the CCOF Foundation and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) on January 14 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time for a webinar that reviews techniques for managing soil and irrigation during times of drought. Find out how to use your water resource most efficiently and hear about managing soil for best water absorption and storage.

This webinar is very timely in the context of both the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and preparing for climate change and drought conditions. The webinar will cover the important considerations of irrigation…

For Lehia Apana, farming is an act of cultural reverence. Generations of Native Hawaiians before her proved to be master agriculturalists who were able to feed themselves using their island resources, including the nutrient-dense staple crop known as kalo (taro). She and her husband are growing kalo and other traditional crops on their three-acre farm in Waiehu, on the island…

This season of giving, will you consider a gift to the Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund?

Ignacio Mendoza received two grants through the CCOF Foundation’s Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund. Mendoza is a young organic enthusiast preparing to build on the farming success of his immigrant parents. Coming from a family of farmers (his parents own…

Thank you for your support of organic in 2019! 

As you gather close to family this time of year, CCOF staff will be doing the same. Please note that the CCOF office will be closed from December 24 through January 1.

We’ll be sure to get back to your messages and requests right away when we return.

Happy holidays…

California Food Producers’ Starting a Specialty Food Business Course will cover the basics of product development, food safety, processing options, marketing, and cost analysis. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with university and industry specialists to learn the fundamentals of how to create a successful specialty food business. Participants will receive a course manual, USB flash drive with additional resources, and a certificate of completion from the University of California, Davis department of food science and technology.  

This course is for anyone beginning…

I am a double major with Organic and Sustainable Agriculture and Basic Medical Science at Washington State University. I have been farming regularly for seven years and helped on my family’s ranch even beforehand. I come from thirteen generations of American farmers, and I am proud to continue the legacy of producing food for the nation. I am currently working towards a…

The National Young Farmers Coalition released a produce safety video entitled “Not Going Viral!” on its YouTube channel earlier this year. The video spotlights several strategies used by small farmers, including Quail Hill Farm and Rock Steady Farm & Flowers, to ensure the wellbeing of their farm and consumers. 

The video reviews the different types of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens that live on farms. Some are good, even essential, but others are dangerous and can affect consumers’ health. It also discusses how Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)…

Developing and implementing food safety plans (required under the Food Safety Modernization Act) can be challenging. Knowledge related to the overall food quality assurance system can enhance the development and implementation of food safety plans by food processors. The goal of this webinar series is to connect concepts and components of food quality assurance programs to food safety. The webinars will be hosted live by Dr. Linda J. Harris, Dr. Erin DiCaprio, and Dr. Luxin Wang from the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis.

Four webinars…

I am currently a Dairy Grazing Apprentice on Moore Farms, an organic grass-fed dairy in southern New York. Over the last four years, I have worked on seven dairies in five Northeastern states, trying to learn as much as I can about different grazing systems and farming models. As an apprentice, I'm excited to be enrolled in a comprehensive farmer training program. Throughout…

This season of giving, I’d like to ask you to consider a gift to the Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund through an incredible matching opportunity in partnership with Patagonia Action Works. Your gift will be doubled, resulting in changed lives such as that of Celsa Ortega.

Thirteen years ago, Celsa was living in her home community in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her family farmed…

Join the CCOF Foundation and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) for a webinar on December 10 that provides a practical introduction to Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), a crop insurance option for diversified organic farms and ranches. In this webinar you will learn what information you need to apply for WFRP, assess if this crop insurance product is right for your farming operation, and learn how the documentation you keep for organic certification can support your application.

Crop insurance is just one of many tools to manage the risks of an organic…