CCOF’s Director of Inspection Services Sean Feder has been appointed by California’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross to the alternate certifier seat on the California Organic Products Advisory Committee (COPAC).
COPAC advises the secretary on education, outreach, and technical assistance for organic producers in the state. The committee is comprised of 15 primary members plus alternates for each seat.
Term limits opened up a number of primary producer seats that were filled with alternate members. CCOF members who now fill primary seats on COPAC are Benjamin Diesl with Grimmway, Kaley Grimland de Mendoza of Sol Seeker Farm, Philip LaRocca of LaRocca Vineyards, and Blake Alexandre of Alexandre Family Farm.
Vernon Peterson of Abundant Harvest Organics and Karen Archipley of Archi’s Acres continue to fill primary producer seats and Jeremy Johnson of Traditional Medicinals continues to represent processors. John McKeon with Earthbound Farm continues to serve as an alternate producer representative.
The new appointments create numerous openings on COPAC for alternate members, especially for producers and processors. Some primary seats are also open, including retailer, technical, and consumer seats. If you are interested in learning more about serving on COPAC, contact Jane Sooby.
COPAC will hold its first meeting of 2020 on Thursday, January 23 from 12:30 – 3:15 p.m., in the Scripps Conference Room at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove during the EcoFarm Conference.
Discussion topics will include updates from the State Organic Program, processing needs of organic poultry producers, and how new state law affects employees and independent contractors. The full agenda is posted online.
For more information on the COPAC meeting, contact Mitchell King, Branch Analyst, CDFA, Mitchell.King@cdfa.ca.gov, 916-900-5210.