events

California Food Producers’ Starting a Specialty Food Business Course will cover the basics of product development, food safety, processing options, marketing, and cost analysis. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with university and industry specialists to learn the fundamentals of how to create a successful specialty food business. Participants will receive a course manual, USB flash drive with additional resources, and a certificate of completion from the University of California, Davis department of food science and technology.  

Join the CCOF Foundation and the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) for a webinar on December 10 that provides a practical introduction to Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), a crop insurance option for diversified organic farms and ranches. In this webinar you will learn what information you need to apply for WFRP, assess if this crop insurance product is right for your farming operation, and learn how the documentation you keep for organic certification can support your application.

Monday, December 2 is the final day to purchase tickets to attend the CCOF Foundation Feast at the Organic Grower Summit (OGS). If you’re attending OGS, you will not want to be without a seat to this beautiful event. 

Since the 2018 Farm Bill made industrial hemp legal, there has been a lot of excitement about the growing hemp marketplace. Hemp is an incredibly sustainable crop that builds soil, requires little to no pesticides, and only requires about a third of the water that is used to grow corn. The right varieties of hemp can even offer producers two harvests from one crop—the seed can be processed for oil, and the fiber can be used for textiles and manufacturing. Hemp has the potential to provide a lot of opportunities for growers, processors, the economy, and the environment.

The organic community on the Central Coast of California and beyond are gearing up for a fruitful exchange of ideas, contacts, and networking at this year’s Organic Grower’s Summit (OGS), hosted by CCOF and the Organic Produce Network, in Monterey, California on December 4-5, 2019. This year is lining up to be a great one with an action-packed line up of speakers, dinners, and extensive exhibition trade show floor. If you haven’t registered, now is the time to reserve your spot! 

Register now for the GLOBALG.A.P. IHT, Capacity Building, and Farm Assurer Workshop-HPSS, hosted at the CCOF office in Santa Cruz, California on December 17-19, 2019.

Growing organic agriculture relies on supporting the next generation of organic farmers, and this is your opportunity to learn more about what a future organic farmer’s journey looks like. You’ll be able to meet Future Organic Farmer Grant Fund recipient Ignacio Mendoza when he speaks at the CCOF Foundation Feast at the Organic Grower Summit on December 4. 

Healthy soils are key to organic farming and reducing soil disturbance is a cornerstone to improving soil health. No-till methods have spread to vegetable production on some small farms, but how can larger acreage be farmed to minimize soil disturbance? 

Have you heard conflicting information about how the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) applies to small produce farmers? Has a buyer asked you to be “FSMA Compliant?” Have you heard contradictory information about food safety from different people?