http://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18048

SACRAMENTO – With near record-low precipitation in California this year, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today (May 20) issued an Executive Order to streamline approvals for voluntary water transfers to assist California’s agricultural industry.

“Agriculture is vital to the health of California’s economy, and this order ensures we’re doing what’s necessary to cope with a very dry year,” said Governor Brown.

The Governor’s Executive Order directs the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to expedite the review and processing of voluntary transfers of water and water rights consistent with current law. Under the order, DWR will coordinate State Water Project operations to alleviate critical impacts to San Joaquin Valley agriculture.

The SWRCB and DWR share responsibilities for the transfer of water in California. The SWRCB reviews and processes water transfer petitions, while DWR has the primary functional responsibility for the actual transfer of water. Water transfers in dry years assist those who potentially have excess supplies by allowing them to sell to those who are short of supplies, providing a valuable economic incentive to both the buyer and seller.

DWR’s May 2nd snow survey found the Sierra snowpack at 17 percent of normal. State Water Project deliveries this summer will be only 35 percent of requested amounts. The federal Central Valley Project will deliver as little as 20 percent of requested amounts to some customers.

“I am grateful that Governor Brown is taking this early, important action to protect California’s agricultural industry,” said United States Senator Dianne Feinstein. “This Executive Order provides economic benefits across many regions of California. Willing sellers of water will benefit, as will those in the areas of greatest need, while retaining protections for fish, wildlife, and other environmental values.”

“With our current water crisis, Governor Brown recognized the need for immediate action and took it,” said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno). “His move to ease water transfers will reduce the pain facing farmers, farm workers, and our farming communities. This is a good step, but it does not solve our real problem: restrictions on pumping in the Delta. These regulations cost us precious water yet again this winter and may prevent critical transfers throughout the summer. The only way to end this cycle of uncertainty is to move forward with the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that will bring more water reliability for all Californians.”

“It takes water to sustain the farms that feed our growing population,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said. “In a year like this, voluntary transfers of water from areas that have a surplus give our system more flexibility so that farmers facing water supply cutbacks — especially those with permanent crops — may find alternative sources. We thank the governor for moving quickly to streamline California water transfer rules.”

“The supply of water available for farmers on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley is lower this year than in 1977, the driest year on record in California, and Valley communities like Mendota, Firebaugh, and San Joaquin are facing an economic disaster,” said Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District. “The transfers facilitated by this Executive Order will provide critically needed water to sustain farmers, the people they employ, and the communities that depend on irrigated agriculture.”

Text of Executive Order:

WHEREAS much of California experienced record dry conditions in January through March 2013, registering historic lows on the Northern Sierra and the San Joaquin precipitation indices; and

WHEREAS record dry and warm conditions resulted in a snowpack substantially below average, with estimated May water content in the statewide snowpack being only 17 percent of average and with the spring snowmelt season now being well underway; and

WHEREAS the water year began with adequate rainfall, but restrictions to protect Delta smelt prevented pumping water from the Delta to store in the San Luis Reservoir have resulted in substantial losses to the State Water Project and to the Central Valley Project; and

WHEREAS only 35 percent of State Water Project contractors’ and 20 percent of south-of-Delta Central Valley Project agricultural contractors’ requested amounts have been allocated because of these conditions; and

WHEREAS reductions in surface water deliveries will likely force San Joaquin Valley agricultural water users to extract additional groundwater from already overused basins, potentially resulting in additional land subsidence; and

WHEREAS the supply reductions will jeopardize agricultural production in parts of the San Joaquin Valley; and

WHEREAS the supply reductions will also impact millions of municipal and industrial water users across California; and

WHEREAS the Legislature has, in Water Code section 109, declared that the State’s established policy is to facilitate the voluntary transfer of water and water rights, and has directed the Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board to encourage voluntary transfers.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby issue this Order to become effective immediately.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) take immediate action to address the dry conditions and water delivery limitations, by doing the following:

1. Expedite processing of one-year water transfers for 2013 and assist water transfer proponents and suppliers as necessary, provided that the transfers will not harm other legal users of water and will not unreasonably affect fish, wildlife, or other in-stream beneficial uses.
2. The SWRCB shall expedite review and processing of water transfer petitions in accordance with applicable provisions of the Water Code.
3. The DWR shall expedite and facilitate water transfer proposals in accordance with applicable provisions of the Water Code.
4. The DWR shall coordinate State Water Project operations, in cooperation with Central Valley Project operations, to alleviate critical impacts to San Joaquin Valley agriculture.
5. The DWR shall continue to analyze trends in groundwater levels in the San Joaquin Valley, together with impacts of groundwater extraction on land subsidence.
6. The DWR and the SWRCB shall make all efforts to coordinate with relevant federal agencies, water districts, and water agencies to expedite the review and approval of water transfers in California.

This order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.

I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Executive Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given to this Executive Order.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 20th day of May 2013.

______________________________
EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California

ATTEST:

______________________________
DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/rice-125229-california-seed.html

Rice farmers are running about a week ahead of schedule this year because of dry conditions this spring.

SAN DIEGO — The United Fresh Produce Association’s campaign to put 350 salad bars in California schools has gone well over that mark, reaching 436 by the start of the United Fresh trade show.

About 300,000 students in 71 districts are expected to benefit from the donations under Let’s Move Salad Bars to California Schools.

About 130 donors raised almost $1.2 million in a year to reach the mark, said Dick Spezzano, president of Spezzano Consulting. He co-chaired the initiative with Karen Caplan, president of Frieda’s Inc.; Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin, vice president of community development at Taylor Farms; and Lisa McNeece, vice president of foodservice and industrial sales at Grimmway Enterprises.

DiSogra presented an award to Rodney Taylor, director of child nutrition at the Riverside Unified School District (and also a member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture), for his efforts in food service.

“He has really inspired all of my work on salad bars,” she said, crediting training programs Taylor has overseen in the state and nationwide.

“They started in California a long, long time ago,” DiSogra said. “Rodney’s had this passion and vision for all these years.”

State superintendent of public instruction Tom Torlakson said the California salad bar effort is ongoing. He has overseen the Team California for Healthy Kids effort.

Similar efforts have gone on for three years in the host city and state for United Fresh’s annual show. In the lead-up to the 2012 show in Dallas, 101 salad bars were donated in Texas. These are part of a broader effort.

“With all of our partners on the national level, we have donated more than 2,500 salad bars to schools that are benefitting more than 2 million kids across the country,” DiSogra said.

Carpinteria, Calif.-based Hollandia Produce LLC recently donated three salad bars destined for the Santa Barbara Unified School District. The Dos Pueblos, San Marco and Santa Barbara high schools are recipients.

The California Table Grape Commission, Fresno, issued a release on its donation of 27 salad bars to California schools.

“We all want the best for our kids and when it comes to school lunches, nothing is better than a healthy salad bar full of fresh produce, including grapes from California,” Kathleen Nave, president of the commission, said in the release.

Sixteen organizations each donated 10 or more salad bars, totaling about 250 between them. The top donors were:

Apio Inc.
California Table Grape Commission
Duda Farm Fresh Foods
DuPont Crop Protection
Fresh Produce & Floral Council
Grimmway Farms
Grower-Shipper Association Foundation
The Health Trust
Pacific Tomato Growers
Paramount Community Giving
Produce Marketing Association
Rabobank N.A.
Safeway Foundation
SaveMart Cares
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Whole Kids Foundation

http://www.dansvilleonline.com/lifestyle/x1213305601/A-growing-commodity-Female-run-farms-on-the-rise

The changing economy and Americans’ newfound interest in local, organic and artisanal foods are driving a revival of farming in this country, and the ranks of new farmers include more women than ever.

The number of female farmers has been on the rise for more than a decade, and experts expect that new census figures from the USDA this year will show even larger numbers of women turning to agriculture for a career.

Beth Holtzman, outreach education coordinator at the Women’s Agriculture Network at the University of Vermont, said changes in the way we count farmers and consumer food trends are contributing to those statistics.

“The census now recognizes that people don’t farm alone,” she said. “Farm operations aren’t typically just one farmer, and that left room for more women to be counted.”

The United States Department of Agriculture conducts an agricultural census every five years. Results of the 2012 survey aren’t available yet, but the 2007 information shows a growing trend in women-run agricultural operations.

– About 30 percent, or more than 1 million, of the country’s 3.3 million farmers were women in 2007. That was a 19 percent increase from 2002.

– Of America’s 2.2 million farms, about 14 percent were run by women.

– Between 2002 and 2007, the number of farms that had women as principal operators increased by almost 30 percent.

– Women farmers are much more likely than their male counterparts to operate specialty agricultural businesses that the USDA classifies as “other livestock farms.” For instance, women are more likely to have horse farms or hay farms. Men are more likely to have farms that specialize in grain or beef cattle.

In response to the growing number of new farms, The University of Vermont offers classes and other resources for rookie farmers, both male and female.

“We have seen a high percent- age of beginning farmers who are women,” Holtzman said. “A beginning farmer is anyone who has been in the business for 10 years or less, so that can mean daugh- ters who are taking over the family farm from their parents, or people who are choosing farming as a second career or a retirement career.”

Many new farmers — men and women — who are going in- to the field as a second job or a retirement career are choosing niche, specialty farming over large-scale, traditional commodities farming, Holtzman said. They launch small organic produce operations, goat dairy farms or other niche operations that let them sell directly to consumers, she said.

Many women who already participate in family-run conventional commodities farms are adding complementary niche operations to supplement the farm’s revenues in tough times, Holtzman said.

Some women, however, are still drawn to the large-scale, more traditional types of farming, she said.

“Female farmers are as diverse as agriculture,” Holtzman said.

The next segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is “Onion Power,” a story of a California onion producer and its pioneering steps in waste reduction and renewable energy production.

The latest segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is a look at the upcoming cherry season.

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/28/5375458/where-farm-to-fork-falls-short.html

By Elaine Corn

No sooner was the transcontinental railroad completed in 1869, than Sacramento began shipping oranges from Fair Oaks across the country.

By 1911, Sacramento County was shipping cherries and Flame Tokay grapes to New York.
If you lived in California, that food was local and still is. New Yorkers and anyone in areas that froze part of the year didn’t care that the food came 3,000 miles to delight the palate and improve human nutrition.

In the Midwest and anywhere there’s a long winter, it’s difficult to eat locally all year. That’s geography for you. But at the right time of year, farm-to-fork festivals have been held all over the country – Chicago and Naperville, Ill.; Roanoke, Ind.; and in cities in Northern Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania – in areas not exactly possessed of California’s Mediterranean climate nor Florida’s eternal yet humid growing season.

So you’d assume with so much food growing in our fertile region, and with the mantra of eating locally spreading like a new religion, that the rest of the world is getting less of our good stuff because we’re keeping it for ourselves.

It might come as a surprise that in the six-county area hubbed by Sacramento, of all the food grown here only 2 percent stays here. The rest ends up across the United States and around the world.

If the imperative to buy local flushes you with a twinge of guilt if you walk into a store and buy a cantaloupe from Guatemala, the pitch is twisting its way into your consciousness. Those not living in a “loca-bore” straitjacket might be curious what a Guatemalan cantaloupe tastes like and take one home. I would be malnourished were it not for the avocado. I’m sure throughout the year I’ve eaten dozens from Mexico.

The local food movement has been a long time coming, from fringe land worshippers to grocery store chains that now tout the phrase “farm-to-fork” in ads. Back in 1999, a huge nationwide food service and catering entity called Bon Appétit Management Co. required all chefs in its kitchens nationwide to purchase at least 20 percent of their ingredients from small, local growers.

That went for Minneapolis or Palo Alto, where Bon Appétit is headquartered (and not to be confused with Bon Appétit magazine). Of its 500 locations in 32 states, it mattered not whether the food was for a Midwestern university cafeteria or corporate dining rooms at Oracle, Genentech and Lucasfilm, or the restaurant at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

The company defines a small grower as having under $5 million in sales. Local has no official distance, but Bon Appétit defines it as within a 150-mile radius of where the food will be cooked and served.

That leaves 80 percent coming from anywhere. And that’s pretty much how it works. Unless you get strident.

Nearly 20 years ago I was at a conference for the International Association of Culinary Professionals. In a workshop one afternoon, Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse said from her chair in the audience that we should be eating only the food grown in our ZIP code.
“Hey!” I said, springing out of my chair. “That’s not fair! A person in Minneapolis would never get a glass of orange juice.” Privately I wondered how I would use Waters’ statement in a joke.

What’s not fair is how we in California insinuate our climate expectations on others. Midwesterners and Northeasterners are never going to grow citrus, pomegranates or enough peaches to meet demand. California and other temperate states fill in.

It’s impossible to be all local, all the time, even in Sacramento. Any restaurant that bills itself as a farm-to-fork restaurant is working percentages, just like the Bon Appétit Management Co. Kurt Spataro, executive chef of the Paragary Group, twice attempted to sustain a company garden, but it needed constant staffing. A chef has a lot to do besides cook, and supervising a garden takes as much time as running several restaurants. With more than 80 boutique farms in the Sacramento area, deliveries now come direct from growers and through alternative distribution systems.

Compared with the 20 percent edict on local ingredients at Bon Appétit Management Co., Sacramento’s Ella Dining Room reports that, depending on the time of year, its locally driven menu can come in at an astounding 80 percent local for produce, dairy and such ancillary ingredients as honey, but not for mirepoix – the carrots, onions and celery needed every day for stocks.

And for obvious reasons, there’s no local chocolate, coffee, saffron, salt and pepper. At Mulvaney’s Building & Loan, the vinegar, olive oil, herbs, summer chiles, beer and wine are local, but not garlic – not yet.

Local protein is a problem. There’s not enough grass-fed, un-factory raised cattle and pigs to go around. Even the pickiest chefs choose their battles. Appropriately raised beef and pork often come here from Iowa, as if a chefs’ group handshake sealed this activity as permissible.

And what about winter and early spring when Sacramento goes lean on local? Magpie Café’s chef Ed Roehr strives for local ingredients in every dish but says, “I challenge any diner in the dead of winter to pay top dollar for anything from within a 25-mile radius. I don’t know how many people are going out to eat parsnips and curly endive.”

Sacramento may have billed itself as the America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, but is it a gimmick? Probably, but you could do a lot worse as a city slogan than promoting an embarrassment of fresh produce from nearby growers.

Diners need to calibrate their expectations about just how much food in a restaurant is truly local. If you want farm-to-fork food at its purest, go to a certified farmers market. If you can accept that some of the food is from 200 miles away, then the “local” stuff there approaches 100 percent.

But remember, a lot of recipes start with the instructions: “Chop an onion.” Onions aren’t local. They come out of storage after arriving from Texas, Idaho, eastern Washington and Mexico. When they’re from California, they’re from the border 600 miles away.
Count on even the best of intentions being foiled by seasonal glitches in Sacramento’s bounty. We’re still relying on the triumphs of the railroad.

Elaine Corn is an award-winning cookbook author and former newspaper food editor. She reports about food for Capital Public Radio, 90.9 FM in Sacramento. Reach her at ElaineCorninForum@gmail.com