advocacy

CCOF is working to pass two organic bills in California this legislative session. AB 1870 will streamline the state program that oversees organic food manufacturers and handlers, and AB 2499 will create an organic transition pilot program to support socially disadvantaged growers in becoming certified organic.

Both bills moved forward during deliberations on the Assembly floor in late May, and next, they will be taken up by the California Senate Agriculture Committee. 

CCOF-sponsored bills AB 1870 and AB 2499 are headed to the California Assembly floor this week. Ask your assemblymember to vote “yes” on AB 1870 and AB 2499. Click here to find out who your assemblymember is.

Both bills sponsored by CCOF were passed out of the California Assembly Agriculture Committee at the hearing on April 27th. 

This week the agenda and all proposals and discussion documents for the fall 2021 National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meetings were posted online. Sign-up for public comment during October 13 and 14 online webinars is now open. If you want to make an oral comment, register now because the slots can get filled up quickly.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is accepting public comment through June 15 on the funding rules for its new Conservation Agriculture Planning Grant Program.  Please consider making a comment using the points outlined below.

An outcome of CCOF’s advocacy for CDFA support for organic farmers in its Climate Smart Agriculture programs, this new program received $20 million in Governor Gavin Newsom’s May revision of the state budget.

After three years of public hearings, numerous revisions, and intense deliberations, on April 15, 2021, the Central Coast Water Quality Control Board approved a new agricultural order regulating discharges from irrigated lands.