Beth Spitler – Field Director (she/her)
Beth co-facilitates the California Food & Farming Network, a multi-sector collaboration centering racial equity in food and farming policy change. She supports grassroots advocates’ participation in state-level policy and builds network capacity to advance racial equity. Before getting a graduate degree in public policy, she worked for a decade as an organic farmer, garden and cooking teacher and farmer outreach coordinator. bspitler[at]caff.org
Beth Smoker – Policy Director (she/her)
Beth weaves together food and farming advocates doing state policy through the California Food & Farming Network. With a masters in Food Systems and Society, Beth has experience across the food system from advocating for farmers in climate and racial equity policy and serving as Board President for a local non-profit focused on food justice. bsmoker[at]caff.org
Fellows
2022: Elias Berbari — Communications Fellow (he/him)
Elias joins CFFN with a deep appreciation for the importance of curiosity, compassion, and clear communication in building our food systems of the future. His Master’s program in Sustainable Food Systems gave him experience working with a food hub to communicate the importance of values-based procurement for local and regional food systems. He also helped build farm-to-school market opportunities for equity-focused suppliers in the Front Range of Colorado before relocating to the Bay Area.
2021: Christine Kuo — Policy Fellow (she/her)
Christine is an International Relations and Applied Animal Biology student from the University of British Columbia. She was first drawn to the California Food and Farming Network because of her interest in agriculture, sustainability, and food production. Recently, Christine has been enjoying the outdoors, experimenting with cooking, and watching a show about fermentation. She is looking forward to working with CFFN!
