Three Sisters Gardens is one of West Sacramento’s five urban farm sites and is located at 5th and C Streets. It is a 501(C)(3), nonprofit organization that brings youth and neighbors together to grow food. Led by Alfred Melbourne, Three Sisters Gardens incorporates sustainable, Native American farming practices, which are featured in this video for Indigenous Peoples Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qpJmY0vRMI

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross: “We are thrilled to welcome Christine Birdsong to the CDFA team, and I want to thank Governor Newsom for making this appointment. Christine’s leadership experience at the federal level as well as in the private sector is perfectly suited for the important work of CDFA and the many challenges and opportunities facing California agriculture.” 

News Release from Governor Newsom’s office: Christine Birdsong has been appointed Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Birdsong has been Senior Vice President,  General Counsel  and Director of People and Culture for the Sun Valley Rice Company since 2016. She was General Counsel for the National Cotton Council of America from 2011 to 2016, Counsel for the Committee on Agriculture for the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010, and Federal Government Affairs Leader for CropLife America from 2004 to 2005. Birdsong earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Today, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) joins the nation in celebrating the seventh annual National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, which marks the growth of the industry by raising awareness of the benefits fuel cell technologies and hydrogen energy provide in reducing emissions while driving economic growth.

National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day is observed on October 8 (10.08), in recognition of the atomic weight of hydrogen – 1.008. Hydrogen is already providing fuel, feedstock, and power to wide-ranging sectors of the U.S.

Since 2015, CDFA’s own Division of Measurement Standards has been testing and certifying hydrogen refueling stations for accuracy. 50 retail stations are open today, and to keep pace with continued growth, the Division maintains fuel quality laboratories in Sacramento and Anaheim.  Hydrogen must be very pure for proper vehicle operations, and the analysis detects impurities in the parts per billion.  So far, so good: 600 fuel samples show that hydrogen fuel sold in California is very high quality. Division staff have also facilitated and developed national and international hydrogen refueling and testing specifications.

Hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies offer a clear pathway toward low- and no-carbon emissions economic growth while creating high-quality jobs and spurring advanced American manufacturing. As countries around the world increasingly look to hydrogen as a clean energy pathway, the U.S. is uniquely well-positioned to take a leadership role. By leveraging abundant resources and a robust industrial sector, the U.S. hydrogen industry can spur American energy innovation and promote economic competitiveness.

For more information on National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day, please visit www.hydrogenandfuelcellday.org.

For more information on CDFA’s hydrogen related activities, please visit https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/dms/programs/zevfuels/

October is National Farm to School Month and CDFA joins thousands of schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations across the country in celebrating food education, school gardens, and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients.

Adding to the spirit of celebration this year is a $60 million appropriation in the state budget to sustain and expand the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program. This is part of a $127 million allocation for CDFA’s Office of Farm to Fork, including $20 million for the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), $20 million for the Healthy Refrigeration Grant Program, $15 million to create a Farm to Community Food Hubs Program; and $12 million to create an Urban Agriculture Program.

“This investment positions CDFA to be a bigger part of the nutrition security solution in helping all Californians access and consume California-grown fruits and vegetables to foster healthy lifestyles and avoid chronic disease,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “It also demonstrates our statewide commitment to connecting community members and school districts directly with our Golden State’s farmers and ranchers, which will increase demand for their wholesome products.”

Please visit the CDFA California Farm to School Program website for information and resources about the incubator grant program, and the Office of Farm to Fork web site for more information about the other programs mentioned above.

USDA news release

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a Request for Applications (RFA) for the new Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant program and encourages eligible entities to apply now for funds. Applications must be submitted electronically through the grant portal at https://usda-prs.grantsolutions.gov/usda by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, November 22, 2021. Approximately $650 million in funding is available for the PRS grants, which are funded by the Pandemic Assistance provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

The PRS Grant program will assist small businesses in certain commodity areas, including specialty crop producers, shellfish farming, finfish farming, aquaculture, and apiculture; specialty crop, meat, and other processors; distributors; and farmers markets.

Small businesses and nonprofits in these industries can apply for a grant to cover COVID-related expenses such as workplace safety measures (e.g., personal protective equipment (PPE), retrofitting facilities for worker and consumer safety, shifting to online sales platforms, transportation, worker housing, and medical costs. The minimum funding request is $1,500 and the maximum funding request is $20,000.

The RFA and the PRS Grant Portal provide more details about eligibility for the grant. Eligible entities are required to obtain a free DUNS Number from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) before applying for this program. USDA has created a custom PRS DUNS number portal at https://support.dnb.com/?CUST=PandemicResponse.

Application resources, including Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), tip sheets in English and Spanish on applying for a DUNS Number, videos on “How to Apply” and more, are available on the PRS Grant Portal.

For more information, you can also reach out to the PRS help desk, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. ET at (301) 238-5550 or usda.ams.prs@grantsolutions.gov.

From a USDA News Release

The USDA has announced the selection of recipients for more than $6.6 million in grants and cooperative agreements through the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. These grants and cooperative agreements build on $4.1 million in projects funded in 2020. Eight of the awarded projects are in California.   

“We are pleased to announce these urban projects in California and look forward to working with our partners,” USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Gayle Barry, Acting State Conservationist in California said.   

The grants will support a wide range of activities, including operating community gardens and nonprofit farms, increasing food production and access in economically distressed communities, providing job training and education, developing business plans and zoning, and developing strategies for municipal compost operations and food waste reduction.   

The California grant recipients are as follows:

1. Food Waste Reduction and Composting, Blue Lake Rancheria, Humboldt County — This project will offer compost from a local brewery and coffee shop as a soil amendment for community garden members.
2. Food Waste, Organics Collection, and Composting, County of Mariposa — The Mariposa County Solid Waste and Recycling Department will utilize the full capacity of it existing composting system to generate composted materials, increase access of agricultural producers to composted material, reduce municipal food waste, and divert food waste from landfills. 
3. Farmers Market Food Waste Drop-off and Composting, City of Los Angeles — The City of Los Angeles, in collaboration with LA Sanitation and Environment, LA Compost, and Kiss the Ground, will establish a Farmers Market Food Waste Drop-off and Community Composting Program to collect food waste across 14 of LA’s 15 council districts.
4. Community Compost Network, Guadalupe-Coyote Resource Conservation District, Santa Clara County — This project will create a system of community-supported composting sites to intake organic waste and produce carbon-rich soil amendments which will increase access to finished compost for urban gardeners in underserved communities.
5. Growing Urban Agriculture, a Roadmap to the Future of Urban Agriculture in California, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) — In partnership with a dozen regional organizations and farmer leaders in six different city centers across California, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers will improve urban agriculture across California by creating opportunities for urban farmers to connect both regionally and statewide, increasing their access to mutual resources, knowledge, and tools and creating discussion around a collective vision for urban agriculture.
6. Urban Agriculture Assessment Plan, Fresh Approach, East Palo Alto — This project will develop a comprehensive urban agriculture assessment plan for the city of East Palo Alto. Fresh Approach will evaluate current assets (land access, job training, and business opportunities, innovation, and food access resources) and set goals and priorities for enhancing them.
7. Promoting Leadership, Agriculture, and Newcomer Training (PLANT), International Rescue Committee — The International Rescue Committee will scale up current school garden capacity with the overarching goal of providing fresh food for distribution and educational activities for the benefit of California communities.
8. Urban Solutions Farm, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County — This project will significantly increase the nutritious produce in the food/nutrition deserts of Orange County and their existing pantry network by building additional capacity.

For a complete list of recipients and project summaries, visit farmers.gov/urban.

The California Attorney General’s office has announced sentencing in a multi-year investigation of recycling fraud in Sacramento County. More than $80 million was paid out to Recycling Services Alliance, a redemption center for California Redemption Value (CRV) materials, based on fabricated weight tickets and fraudulent processor invoices. CDFA’s Division of Measurement Standards (DMS), in partnership with Sacramento County weights and measures officials, assisted in the investigation by identifying and collecting the false weight tickets.

The company pleaded guilty to recycling fraud and was ordered to pay restitution and a fine, and a former manager pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

As a result of this case, DMS and CalRecycle entered into a formal agreement to perform inspections at CRV processor locations, with a focus on weight tickets.

DMS serves Californians by ensuring the accuracy of commercial weighing and measuring devices, verifying the quantity of both bulk and packaged commodities, and enforcing the quality, advertising and labeling standards for most petroleum products, in partnership with county weights and measures jurisdictions.

Pumpkins are one of the most famous symbols of fall. According to the USDA, production is widely dispersed throughout the United States, with all states producing some pumpkins. However, about 62 percent of pumpkin acres were cultivated in only ten states, and California leads the nation in value of production at $22.8 million, according to annual surveys by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Don’t forget to look for a pumpkin patch near you!

Pumpkin Patches in Southern California.

Pumpkin Patches in Northern California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZhCTYrjqg

The US Forest Service and the California Conservation Corps (CCC) continue to use the fairgrounds as a base of operations. In this photo, Secretary Ross visits with CCC employees helping with bagged breakfasts and lunches for crews working on the incident. During the peak of the Caldor Fire, 8,000 first-responders were based at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, and the Amador County Fairgrounds served as an emergency animal shelter, housing more than 500 large and small animals.

For Joe Del Bosque, a California Central Valley farmer, planting and picking cantaloupes has been part of his entire life. His parents immigrated from Mexico to the United States and Joe learned what it takes to grow delicious melons by watching his father at work. Today, Del Bosque Farms is a family-owned company found on the west side of Fresno and Merced Counties in the San Joaquin Valley.

Cantaloupes are a popular seasonal fruit, and in 2020, California farmers produced 361,350 tons of cantaloupes with a production value of $184.3 million. California contributes 64 percent of the total U.S. production of cantaloupes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnmRHwE8R4k

NOTE — A video interview in Spanish with Joe Del Bosque is available on CDFA ‘s You Tube channel.