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.
Happy Farm to School Month! Sanzuma (pictured) is a project in San Rafael that operates a school farm at San Pedro Elementary School and partners with area schools. The project received funding in the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program to increase the number of fresh fruits and vegetables offered in school meals, promote nutrition awareness, and help educate students.
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.”
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
CDFA secretary Karen Ross yesterday visited the Caldor fire camp at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds and also toured the Grizzly Flats area, which was severely impacted by the fire. In this photo, Secretary Ross speaks with Jon Wiegel of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services about ongoing efforts to protect the local watershed from fire damage.
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.
Meat, it’s going to be what’s for dinner for quite a while in these parts – and beyond.
Feed the Hungry of Auburn has attended the Gold Country Fair Junior Livestock Auction for 30 years, supporting the FFA and 4-H kids who are selling their animals after raising them since birth, then donating the meat to The Salvation Army, various food closets, rescues and other organizations.
Craig Hollyfield, who along with wife Nita, Michelle Fish and Ken Tokutomi founded Feed the Hungry, said the nonprofit usually receives a donation or two each year, but they were stunned last Saturday (Sept. 11) as the donations, with auctioneer Matt Wolter giving an occasional mention, grew … and grew … and grew – to 15 donated animals.
“We were completely overwhelmed emotionally because we had more donated animals than we had ever had,” Hollyfield said. “People would buy a $3,000 hog or a $2,000 lamb and say, ‘We’re going to donate this to Feed the Hungry.’ Not take it home or to a wholesaler, they’re going to put it right back into our community.”
“We were just in shock, total shock,” Fish said. “And we would look at each like deer in headlights – oh my God, there’s another donation. In a time in our world with COVID and the state of our state and our nation, you’re just blown away at the gifts.”
The buying – and giving – brought many to tears. Feed the Hungry Chairperson Angela Atteberry said one woman broke down after her son sold a dozen eggs for $1,600. The money can go into the sellers’ college accounts or to the cost of raising the animals. Junior Livestock Auction sales topped $590,000 as of Thursday, according to Gold Country Fair CEO Don Ales, with another week of add-ons still to go.
“People at the auction are supporting the children,” Hollyfield said.
“It was just an overwhelming generosity. I have to say, it was a breath of fresh air for me personally because of the atmosphere, the parents, kids, buyers, FFA, 4-H, an incredible spirit of community,” Atteberry said. “It was a true spirit of what we are as a nation. It truly embodied the community and the America I grew up in, where we help one another … out of a sense of joy. The bids went so high they were crying. I wanna tell you, tears of joy. It touched my heart. It made me very thankful and grateful.
“We came home Saturday and the euphoria lasted through the weekend. I was still in awe. It blessed me. It blessed my efforts.”
Feed the Hungry purchased two steers and five hogs with $30,000 in community donations. Add the 15 donated animals – a combination of hogs, goats, lambs and steers – and the live weight added up to 8,200 pounds. The net weight after processing was 4,500 pounds.
“We’re feeding the community,” Fish said. “Just think of all those folks we’re going to feed.”
Who will Feed the Hungry feed? Salvation Army Auburn, Chico and Oroville (this is Feed the Hungry’s third year supporting Camp Fire survivors), Auburn Interfaith Food Closet, Sierra Reach Food Closet in Applegate, Acres of Hope in Auburn, Auburn Renewal Center and more.
“It’s going throughout Placer County: shelters, domestic violence, food closets, seniors, homeless,” Fish said. “We’re going to be able to take care of Placer County better than most counties.”
Atteberry said distribution will start Monday with Salvation Army Oroville and Chico.
“People have to eat while they’re trying to rebuild their lives,” Fish said.
The largest climate package in state history, Governor Newsom highlights transformative $15 billion in funding to tackle wildfire and drought challenges, build climate resilience in communities, promote sustainable agriculture and advance nation-leading climate agenda
Governor signs 24 bills focused on climate and clean energy efforts, drought and wildfire preparedness
At the site of the KNP Complex in Sequoia National Park, Governor Gavin Newsom today highlighted the California Comeback Plan’s over $15 billion climate package – the largest such investment in state history – tackling a wide array of climate impacts facing the state. The Governor today signed legislation outlining investments in the package to build wildfire and forest resilience, support immediate drought response and long-term water resilience and directly protect communities across the state from multi-faceted climate risks, including extreme heat and sea level rise.
“California is doubling down on our nation-leading policies to confront the climate crisis head-on while protecting the hardest-hit communities,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re deploying a comprehensive approach to meet the sobering challenges of the extreme weather patterns that imperil our way of life and the Golden State as we know it, including the largest investment in state history to bolster wildfire resilience, funding to tackle the drought emergency while building long-term water resilience, and strategic investments across the spectrum to protect communities from extreme heat, sea level rise and other climate risks that endanger the most vulnerable among us.”
When the Governor signed the state budget and related legislation in July, he and legislative leaders agreed to additional discussions during the summer to further refine steps to advance their shared and funded priorities, including natural resources investments. The legislation signed today details investments funded in the $15 billion climate package, which includes:
$1.5 Billion Wildfire and Forest Resilience Package
The $1.5 billion package supporting a comprehensive forest and wildfire resilience strategy statewide is the largest such investment in California history. Building on a $536 million early action package in April ahead of peak fire season, an additional $988 million in 2021-22 will fund projects to reduce wildfire risk and improve the health of forests and wildlands. This includes investments for community hardening in fire-vulnerable areas, strategic fuel breaks and fuel reduction projects, approaches to restore landscapes and create resilient wildlands and a framework to expand the wood products market, supporting sustainable local economies.
This investment implements the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan published in January, and builds on previous budget investments for emergency management, including funding for additional fire crews and equipment, and executive actions to help combat catastrophic wildfires. Governor Newsom bolstered CAL FIRE’s firefighting ranks in March by authorizing the early hire of 1,399 additional firefighters and in July supplemented the department’s capacities with 12 additional aircraft. The Governor earlier this year launched an expanded and refocused Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to deliver on key commitments in his Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. Last year, the Newsom Administration and the U.S. Forest Service announced a shared stewardship agreement under which they are working to treat one million acres of forest and wildland annually to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
$5.2 Billion Water and Drought Resilience Package
Climate change is making droughts more common and more severe. The California Comeback Plan invests $5.2 billion over three years to support immediate drought response and long-term water resilience, including funding for emergency drought relief projects to secure and expand water supplies; support for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities; Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation to improve water supply security and quality; and projects to support wildlife and habitat restoration efforts, among other nature-based solutions.
$3.7 Billion Climate Resilience Package
Focusing on vulnerable front-line communities, the package includes $3.7 billion over three years to build resilience against the state’s multi-faceted climate risks, including extreme heat and sea level rise. Investments to address the impacts of extreme heat include urban greening projects, grants to support community resilience centers and projects that reduce the urban heat island effect, and funding to advance the Extreme Heat Framework as part of the state’s Climate Adaptation Strategy. The package also supports coastal protection and adaptation measures, efforts to protect and conserve California’s diverse ecosystems, and community-based investments to build resilience, such as grants to support environmental justice-focused initiatives and funding for the California Climate Action Corps, which supports local climate action projects in disadvantaged communities.
$1.1 Billion to Support Climate Smart Agriculture
Amid climate-driven drought and extreme heat challenges, California is committing $1.1 billion over two years to support sustainable agriculture practices and create a resilient and equitable food system. These efforts include investments to promote healthy soil management, support for livestock methane reduction efforts, funding for the replacement of agricultural equipment to reduce emissions and technical assistance and incentives for the development of farm conservation management plans. The package also supports programs to expand healthy food access for seniors and in schools, other public institutions and non-profit organizations.
$3.9 Billion Zero-Emission Vehicle Package
The California Comeback Plan supports California’s nation-leading climate agenda with a $3.9 billion investment to hit fast forward on the state’s Zero-Emission Vehicle goals and lead the transition to ZEVs on a global scale. The package includes funding to put 1,000 zero-emission drayage trucks, 1,000 zero-emission school buses and 1,000 transit buses, and the necessary infrastructure, on California roads – prioritizing projects that benefit disadvantaged communities. Helping drive consumer adoption, the package funds consumer rebates for new ZEV purchases and incentives for low-income Californians to replace their old car with a new or used advanced technology car.
Additional Investments
The package also includes $270 million to support a circular economy that advances sustainability and helps reduce short-lived climate pollutants from the waste sector, and $150 million that will support urban waterfront parks, with a focus on underserved communities.
