Agriculture impacts every California resident; everyone who lives in the state is a stakeholder in the industry that in so many ways, defines our state's character, and what our future holds.  Now there is an opportunity for every resident to share their vision of California agriculture.  The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) invites every Californian to join CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura and members of the CDFA board at public listening sessions to "develop a more productive, competitive and innovative agricultural sector by 2030."  Listening sessions will be held all over the state between May 29th and July 8th. 

A session will be held in Ventura County, in Oxnard, on July 7th.  Stakeholders (and that means YOU) are invited, in five minutes or less,  to address four questions posed by the CDFA.  To participate, you must RSVP to AgVision@cdfa.ca.gov and indicate whether you are listening or speaking.  If speaking, you are asked to send an email summary of your comments, so that they may be accurately captured and included in the visioning process.

What I will be sharing with Secretary Kawamura and the CDFA Board is my vision: that the success of agriculture in California is of the utmost importance to our state, to the nation, and to the world, now and in the future.   Agriculture must be sustained, and Californians of all ages and walks need to understand how important a successful and sustainable food system is to our individual and collective futures. 

A key to sustaining and supporting agriculture is educating the public – and particularly youth – about its importance, how it works, what the issues are and likely will be.   To accomplish this monumental task (and it is monumental: California has more than 6 million youth enrolled in its public schools, alone) will require a concerted effort of agricultural, educational, private organizations and individuals converging to offer a massive school-based and public education/outreach effort.   Part of any educational and outreach effort should incorporate gardening. 

Why gardening?  Gardening provides an excellent way for youth to understand the basics of plant cultivation, and our food system.   Research indicates that youth who garden tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, which has positive implications for public health AND for those that produce fruits and vegetables.  Research also indicates that gardening programs in schools may lead to improved academic performance and greater achievement in science, things which benefit all of us.  Gardening is agriculture writ small in physical terms, but agriculture writ large in our hearts. 

California agriculture in 2030?  Every Californian understands it, values it, and works to sustain the best aspects of it.  Thousands of young people are entering the field with innovative ideas and energy, in part because they were introduced to agriculture and gardening during their public school education.   Californians have a much lower incidence of preventable chronic diseases such as Type II diabetes, because our increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and physical activity is making all of us healthier.  My “must have” for California agriculture?  Universal food systems education that provides essential information about how agriculture in California works and which provides hands-on gardening experiences for every student in California public schools.

That’s my vision.  What’s yours?  Consider these four questions, contact the CDFA, and commit to being there.   

• What is your vision for California agriculture by 2030?
• What will be the biggest challenge in achieving that vision?
• In 2030, how has public perception of agriculture changed?
• What is a “must have” in an Ag Vision for California?

“A Garden for Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden.”

In an effort to increase readership, the VictoryGrower blog will now be included on Technocrati.  If you are able to subscribe to VictoryGrower via RSS, please do so, or use our UC blog administration to sign up and receive notification of new postings.  And tell your friends about this blog, and the linked website.

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Thank you!

"A Garden for Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden."

http://ucanr.org/blogs/VictoryGrower_Blog/

Our family recently began subscribing to a CSA (community supported agriculture) venture.  We live in Ventura, and have ready (and enviable!) access to an amazing array of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables.   We buy strawberries from a local farmer who operates across the street from my husband's office, or at our local farmer's market.  We buy oranges from a farm stand near Santa Paula.  We have our regular go-to people.  But we wanted more, and we wanted to be more intentional in our purchases, to make an ongoing financial commitment to a particular group of local farmers.

So we joined an established CSA that was willing to extend their service a little south, if we could find a handful of subscribers.  It was easy to do, and through various email lists and via word-of-mouth, a group of us found each other and began this experiment.

Wednesday is CSA day, and all of us look forward to it with excitement.  Last week, my daughter Natalie had a minimum day at school, and joined me for the pick-up at Patagonia's corporate office.  (Nice company...for no charge, willing to let boxes of produce be stacked in their lobby, under the stairs.  The receptionist even offers to help us carry out the box!).

As we carried the box to the car, Natalie's eyes sparkled.  As I drove home, she pulled every item out of the box, examined it with delight, and radiated excitement.  Literally beaming.  Eggs from cage-free chickens and fresh-baked organic bread are add-ons we've gotten, and Natalie is delighted. She tears off pieces of the bread in the car.  When we arrive home, she wants a "snack."  This ends up becoming a golden omelet seasoned with fresh basil, toasted cinnamon-cranberry bread, sliced sun-kissed strawberries and pieces of pixie tangerines, so succulent and sweet.   Oh, and a tiny salad of the tastiest butter lettuce sprinkled with shredded cheese.

Dinner the next night is easy, thanks to the recipes provided with the box.  Natalie helps to prepare wheat pasta with sauteed zucchini (flavored with the elephant garlic, which she says is the best thing she's ever smelled). 

The next day, I've invited Natalie, a six-year veteran of school garden programs, to speak to our local Master Gardener trainee class about why it might be important for them to volunteer with youth in garden settings.  She does talk about it, so eloquently that I am moved.  She is particularly concerned about the oil situation, and the implications for her generation.  She sees gardening as one part of the solution.  What is the most moving aspect of her talk, however, is what she tells these adults about our family's subscription to the CSA.  She describes the contents of this week's box lovingly.  Many of them don't know what a CSA is, so she explains, very articulately.

While Natalie admits she doesn't want to be a farmer yet, I'm working on her.  And she is becoming more interested in gardening and food systems: her summer crop this year will be cucumbers, her absolute favorite.  And I definitely feel that the connections Natalie is making about farming and where her food comes from are becoming more real to her, and helping her to understand the larger context of the food system, what is sustainable, and what is not.  The connections are made real several days a week, when she helps prepare and eats the good food produced by her neighbors, and can recite the memory of the taste, the smell, the feel of that good food to others.

"A Garden for Everyone. Everyone in a Garden."

UC Advisor Emeritus Dan Desmond (he was also a Food and Society Policy Fellow, Class IV) and I co-authored an op-ed that appeared last Sunday (May 4th) in the Ventura County Star.  Since then, it's been referenced in a few blogs.  Here's the link, and I hope you'll read it.  Gardening and the food system are big news these days, and there is certainly a political aspect to that.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/may/04/food-will-win-the-war/

I recently returned from the Kellogg Food and Society Conference in Arizona.  There, I met a number of incredible people who are doing important work towards a more sustainable food system.  I'll be writing about them in the weeks ahead.

Several of those who made the greatest impression upon me were bloggers dedicated to their message and their craft. They've inspired me to commit to blogging at least 2-3 times a week.  Stay posted.

"A Garden for Everyone.  Everyone in a Garden."