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CCOF Press Releases
Press Release
October 7, 2010
For Immediate Release |
Contact:
Robin Boyle
CCOF Director of Marketing, Member Services and Development
(831) 423-2263, ext. 27
rboyle@ccof.org
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California Farmers and Consumers are Invited to Get to Know Each Other
(October 7, 2010) Santa Cruz, CA - Farmers are an endangered species in California. Land is expensive, water precious and government regulations onerous. A hundred years ago, 80 percent of the U.S. population was engaged in agriculture. Today, less than two percent can say they work in farming or ranching. As it becomes increasingly difficult for farmers and ranchers to communicate with a distant urban consumer base, www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com aims to overcome this problem by inviting farmers and consumers to get to know each other.
CCOF has partnered with a broad coalition of California ranchers and farmers that launched a web-based tool designed to reconnect producers with consumers. Launched on September 1, 2010, www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com provides a platform for farmers to tell their stories directly to the people who buy their products.
This interactive farm and ranch experience is created by hundreds of farmers throughout the nation’s number one agricultural state. Participants represent the gamut from small and large, organic and traditional, and north and south. They actually produce the food people eat, the fiber that clothes them, and the plants they grow in their yards. Farmers and ranchers can use this new website to post personal photos, upload videos, and share amusing and interesting stories or blogs.
The purpose of this new website is to put a face to California’s farmers and to increase consumer understanding of agriculture in the state. Consumers will learn about the multi-generational nature of California’s family farms, the value of the local food they produce, and the jobs they create.
To help kick-start this initiative, CCOF posted a photo album to www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com titled “California Organic Farmers,” which includes photos of several CCOF certified organic farm families. CCOF is encouraging all their certified operations to get involved with this new initiative and for the organic community to support this reconnection of consumers and voters to the heart of California agriculture.
Learn more about this initiative at www.KnowACaliforniaFarmer.com!
About CCOF
CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers), a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1973 and is one of the nation’s oldest and largest third-party organic certifying agencies. CCOF certifies, educates, advocates and promotes organic through:
• A premier organic certification program for growers, processors, handlers, and retailers.
• Programs to increase awareness of and demand for certified organic product and to expand public support for organic agriculture.
• Advocacy for governmental policies that protect and encourage organic agriculture.
CCOF certifies more than 2,160 organic operations in 34 states and four countries and serves over 350 supporting members - consumers, suppliers, businesses and individuals - interested in supporting its work.
More information: About CCOF, CCOF History, CCOF Fact Sheets and Statistics.
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