California Farmer and Farmworker Month celebrates contributions of people who work in agriculture and keep food supply flowing

News release from CA Grown

In an effort to celebrate and highlight the work of California’s farmers, farmworkers, and everyone whose work helps to keep the food supply chain flowing, CA GROWN has marked October as California Farmer and Farmworker Month.

“This month was born out of the desire to thank our farmers and farmworkers for working tirelessly through the pandemic to keep food on the grocery store shelves,” said Cherie Watte Angulo, executive director for CA GROWN. “As communities sheltered-in-place, the industry quickly regrouped, supplying the proper PPE to the workforce and shifting food headed toward foodservice to retail outlets and food banks where need was the greatest.”

Farmer and Farmworker month, the first of what will be many years of celebrations, is marked by social media and retail campaigns throughout the state.  Northern California Raley’s is taking part in the month by highlighting the crops California produces.

“Raley’s is proud to sell more than 4,000 items that are either grown in or produced right here in California!” said Chelsea Minor, Raley’s Corporate Director, Public Affairs. “We have been supporting local farmers and producers since our inception. We look forward to bringing ‘CA Happy Hour at Home’ to households across California to enjoy local food and wine pairings.”

California agriculture not only feeds people across the U.S. and around the globe, but the industry is an economic driver for the state, supporting 1.2 million jobs and providing $263 billion in total generated revenue for the state.

“It takes many hands to bring food from the farm to the table.  I salute the hardworking farmers, ranchers and farmworkers for what they do every day – but especially this year – to make California the country’s top milk producing state and the supplier of one-third of the vegetables and two-thirds of the fruits and nuts in the U.S. A vibrant agriculture sector is essential in taking care of humanity’s most basic needs,” said California Secretary of Food and Agriculture, Karen Ross.

Californians are encouraged to participate in the month by using the hashtag #CAGROWN on social media posts.  For every public social media post using the hashtag, CA GROWN will contribute a pound of food to a local food bank. “People can participate by simply taking a moment to thank their farmers at their favorite Farmer’s Market, make a meal using CA GROWN ingredients, or download our fun coloring sheet and talk to their kids about farming and the people who grow their food,” said Watte Angulo.

For more information about CA GROWN’s Farmer and Farmworker Month, visit our website here.