A recently released report by the Humboldt Food Policy Council, Roots of Change and the California Food Policy Council (CAFPC) unveils 2014 food and farm policy voting results by California elected officials. The 2014 Report on Legislation Related to Food and Farming illustrates how despite making modest progress on food and agriculture issues, the Legislature continues to miss the mark when it comes to passing the transformative — and often controversial — policies needed to address our state’s food, farming and economic challenges. Most importantly, it reveals the great representation of Humboldt Assemblymember Chesboro, and Senator Noreen Evans toward supporting an improved food system.
Read the article in The Redwood Times.
Two food advocacy groups have released a report on how California legislators voted this year on 15 bills related to food and farming.
The report, released last week in Petaluma, was produced by Roots of Changes, a program of the nonprofit Public Health Institute, and the California Food Policy Council, a coalition of 25 local food policy councils around the state.
“We’re pleased to see local legislators had very strong voting records on the bills tracked,” Steve Schwartz, executive director of the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative, said in a statement. The non-profit group works in Sonoma and Marin counties.
You can read the full story in the Press Democrat.
The organic farmer was introducing the Sacramento Area Council of Governments’ incoming chairman when the crowd at the brick-walled restaurant parted for the governor and his wife and their entourage.
Handshakes. Back pats. White-aproned staff poking their heads out of the kitchen. Patrick Mulvaney, the restaurateur, and Gov. Jerry Brown giving each other the sort of hearty hello you’d expect from a celebrity chef and a celebrity politician.
You can read the full story in the Sacramento Bee.
The 2014 Report on Legislation Related to Food and Farming [PDF], came from the California Food Policy Council, a relatively new coalition of 26 organizations from around the state. The report tracks 15 bills that made it through the legislature this year, identifying what changes the bills proposed to make, who voted for them and whether the bills were ultimately passed into law.
You can read the story at SF Gate.
When it comes to food and agriculture policy, “the important action today is most likely to occur within states, counties and cities,” says Michael Dimock, president of the Roots of Change, in a column written to accompany a 2014 grading of California’s state legislature by his group and the California Food Policy Council. “And most concrete food system innovations have been happening there anyway.” That’s why he says the CFPC began publishing its annual report on California.
You can read the story at Politico.
From the labeling of sugary drinks and genetically engineered foods to a proposed increase to the statewide minimum wage, California’s legislature has tackled no shortage of hot-button issues related to food policy in the past year. According to a new report, a total of 22 bills appeared before the state legislature that advocates believed would have a sweeping impact on making California’s food system more sustainable and equitable.
You can read the full story in the East Bay Express.
From the labeling of sugary drinks and genetically engineered foods to a proposed increase to the statewide minimum wage, California’s legislature has tackled no shortage of hot-button issues related to food policy in the past year. According to a new report, a total of 22 bills appeared before the state legislature that advocates believed would have a sweeping impact on making California’s food system more sustainable and equitable.
You can read the story at Politico.
By Justin Rausa, Roots of Change.
I live in Oakland, California, around the corner from a trendy bar that touts more than a dozen local beers on tap and even more craft brews by the bottle. Down the street from me is a homeless encampment under a freeway overpass, where people look for empathy, money and food.
You can read the full story in Al Jazeera America.
During an interview with Kim Kessler, former feader of the NYC mayor’s Office of Food Policy and host of NYC’s Heritage radio program Eating Matters, ROC’s President Michael Dimock talks about his latest projects as well as recent legislation concerning food, and what he has observed having been in the trenches lobbying for the food movement issues.
Heare more on Heritage Radio Network.
Michael Dimock, president of Roots of Change, a nonprofit working to assure healthy, ecological and affordable food in California, will share his perspective on how every person has a stake in the next phase of the food revolution.
Hear more on The Daily Journal.