CDFA Office of Farm to Fork

Happy #nationalfarmersday!A huge thank you to all the farmers, ranchers, and producers who work tirelessly each day to provide our food supply. In addition to this, farmers often act as educators, teaching California children where their food comes from. In fact 31 percent of California schools make ag education a priority and take their students on farm tours each school year. #farmtoschool

Milk Life along with Feeding America are supporting Americans affected by recent natural disasters through the Great American Milk Drive. Post a photo showing the Real California Milk Seal along with the #sealforgood tag and a donation will be made to Feeding America to provide milk to someone in need. More details on our blog. http://blogs.cdfa.ca.gov/TalesFromTheField/?p=1330

We Need Your Help! The Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) has been working around the clock to determine our most effective response to the devastating fires throu...ghout Sonoma County. And, while the situation is constantly changing, our response efforts began early this morning. The REFB has been asked to provide critical food to shelters throughout Sonoma County for our neighbors displaced by these fires. Truckloads of food have already gone out to various evacuation centers. In addition, we are working to ensure that those who needed food assistance before the fires are still able to access our help. In order for us to continue meeting the existing need and increase our provision of help, we need your support. Two ways to help right now: 1. Make a financial donation to support these efforts. We have the capacity to increase the amount of food we provide to the community - we just need the financial resources to make this possible. https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx 2. Bring food donations to the REFB at 3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA right now. We are in dire need of ready-to-eat, non-perishable foods that we can provide to the evacuation centers immediately. These foods should be easy to open and easy to eat - many shelters do not have kitchens for heating and preparing food. Please do not bring any glass containers or anything perishable. The REFB is working diligently to help respond to the devastation in our community and we need your help! If you can, please consider making a financial donation or food donation right now to help our neighbors in need. As the leader in hunger-relief in our region, we know that our work will continue to increase in Sonoma County. In an effort to ramp up our response, we are collecting food and financial donations earmarked to serve those impacted by the fire. You can help get food to those affected by these devastating fires. Donate Now: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx

Karen Ross, Secretary of Food and Agriculture, kicked off the California State Employees Food Drive with a fresh produce donation opportunity at the Capitol Mall Farmers’ Market in Sacramento. Nearly 400 pounds of produce were donated to the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, showing state employees commitment to giving back.

We are so impressed with the generosity of the California farmers and ranchers who donated over 245,000 pounds of California Grown food to the California Association of Food Banks' Farm to Family Program on Farm to Food Bank Day. Donations came in from Lundberg Family Farms, Yosemite Fresh, Monterey Mushroom., Foster Farms, Rivermaid Trading Co., Venida Packing Company, Wonderful Citrus, and California Olive Oil Council (COOC), Prima Frutta Packing, Veg-Fresh Farms, Frieda's Specialty Produce, Driftwood Dairy, and the Coman family. The donations were split between Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and the OC Food Bank For more details and a full list of donated products visit our blog http://blogs.cdfa.ca.gov/TalesFromTheField/?p=1285