CFFN’s End-of-Autumn Newsletter
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A Note on Resilience this Fall
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Throughout this summer and fall, ICE raids continue to plague our communities in California — as recently as today– and while the media has stopped reporting about them, community members are still being disappeared and put into detention. Still being kidnapped outside court houses, outside of schools, on the commute to work, and near public transit stops.
Meanwhile, community members were the ones organizing rapid response networks, fundraising for lawyer fees, connecting folks to resources, camping outside detention centers, and teaching community members safety strategies.
And while food was weaponized as a political tool throughout the government shutdown, it was mutual aid groups, community-based organizations, individuals, and friends who got together to cook and distribute much-needed food to communities.
We’ve long known that the policy process is slow-moving and often skewed to optimize for the interests of a handful of individuals over the needs of communities. But enough is enough. We urge state leaders to witness the resilience of our communities and to start the conversation there. We urge state leaders to turn to the experts and ask, How can we help? What barriers need removal? Where can we deepen inclusion? Partnering with the community is critical to developing solutions to the multiple crises we face.
We must build something together without underestimating what we’re up against and how much strength and courage it will take to get there.
We must take time aside to grieve the enormous losses of this year because only then can we look at what we’re up against in its full breadth and move forward with steadfastness.
Native Tribes understand something about this level of resilience. As stewards of their land despite colonization, genocide, displacement, and cultural erasure, tribal members across North America maintain a dedication to traditional ways of being in relationship with the land.
As we get closer to the National Day of Mourning on November 27th, I urge us all to dedicate some time to learn about the Tribal lands we each reside on, to share your learnings with those around you, and to consider donating to local Native-led groups.
Find what Native Land you reside on here.
With much appreciation,
Angelica Sanabria,
Narrative and Network Coordinator
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While our five bills focused on key urgent needs such as safety net support for immigrant and mixed-status families facing hunger, worker safety, and land access for small farmers, we’re saddened to report that none of our five priority bills this year crossed the finish line– the first time in CFFN history in which our priority bills were met with such a fate.
What do you think this means for our movement as we enter 2026? How can we come away from this stronger and wiser? Tell us what you think by replying to this email!
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DIED
SB 411 (Pérez) Stop Child Hunger Act – Support
Would have addressed the gap in access to school meals by ensuring California maximizes federal SUN Bucks and streamlines both families’ access and schools’ administrative processes through the implementation of a single statewide web application.
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In a 2-year Process
AB 1049 (Rodriguez) California Food Assistance Program – Sponsor Deeming – Support
Would have removed sponsor deeming from the eligibility determination process for the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), streamlining enrollment into food benefits and reducing the chilling effect for sponsored immigrants as part of the Food4All campaign.
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DIED
AB 694 (McKinnor) Strengthening CA’s Health and Safety Enforcement Workforce – Support
Would have addressed CalOSHA’s chronic staffing crisis by requiring CalOSHA to contract with UCLA and UCB to make recommendations to increase and diversify CalOSHA’s enforcement positions through a workforce development pipeline program. This bill had an accompanying budget ask of $1.25 million.
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DIED
SB 225 (McNerney) Summer Caregiver Meals- Support
Would have ensured parents and caregivers can have a meal with their child when they visit a summer meal site by requiring the State Department of Education to reimburse summer meal program operators for caregiver meals. Included a $6M budget ask to pilot this at summer meal sites located at public libraries.
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DIED
AB 524 (Wilson) Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act – Support
Would have created the first statewide program in California dedicated to agricultural land security, administered by the Department of Conservation in consultation with the Agricultural Land Equity Task Force. The program would have provided technical assistance, infrastructure, and financial resources to purchase and secure land with long-term leases for land transfer to beginning & underserved farmers and Tribal communities. This bill was designed to capture $30 million in the Prop 4 Climate Bond directed towards this issue.
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Although our priority bills were not as successful, CFFN’s Regional Food Ecosystems Working Group led an effort to amend/oppose a bill, and they succeeded. This was CFFN’s first time taking an official ‘Oppose Unless Amended’ position on a piece of legislation.
DIED
SB 18 (Rubio) – “Food Desert Elimination Program/Food Affordability Act” – Oppose
As written, it would have created a state program to prioritize funneling money into large corporate grocery store chains— the same companies that often abandon low-income food-insecure communities and hike up food prices. Our network asked for amendments to include community voice, prioritize community and Tribal-based grocers, and support fair-labor employers instead. Amendments were not taken.
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Keep an eye out for our full analysis, which will be available in our scorecard in early February. If you’re interested in learning more about our 2025 priority legislation in the meantime, check out our website!
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Unite and Build: CFFN’s 2025 Annual Meeting
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Photo from CFFN’s 2025 Annual Meeting
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Members of the California Food and Farming Network gathered together earlier this month to connect, reflect, plan, and strategize at our Annual Meeting. It was a full and active day, and our staff have A LOT to process and plan going into 2026, but we’re looking forward to it!
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From the Steering Council
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Vero Mazariegos-Anastassiou and Dr. Sarait Martinez have concluded their first respective terms on the Steering Council and will be stepping away from the council. Throughout the past 4 years, their leadership has been foundational to guiding CFFN to continuously question, challenge, resist, and intimidate the status quo. Many hours of steering council discussions consisted of courageous conversations, ideas, and stories that fire our movement. We are extremely grateful for the time they’ve served, and we will miss these courageous and compassionate leaders immensely!
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While some chapters end, others are just beginning! Today, we’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the Steering Council, Adelina Gonzalez. She joins the council with an abundance of intimate knowledge as a farmer and farmworker from the Central Valley. Passionate about uplifting communities and expanding representation, Adelina is an exciting addition to our Steering Council.
We’ll be announcing a second new Steering Council Member in our next newsletter, so stay tuned.
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Stories from our Movement
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Movement building, especially in this day and age, is about piercing through the noise and offering, often polarizing and complex issues, a steady and nuanced voice centered on people and planet. Our members are excellent at this. Here are a handful of pieces from this summer that showcase our storytelling strength.
CalCAN’s Policy Director, Brian Shobe, talks impacts of current and future cap-and-trade policy in his op-ed featured in the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Executive Director of Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Alba Velaquez, outlines real Solidarity for immigrant food chain workers in this op-ed featured in Civil Eats.
And our very own Narrative and Network Coordinator, Angelica Sanabria, broke down the details in SB-18 (Rubio) to explain how community voice and local economies could prosper through amendments to the bill in this op-ed featured in the Sacramento Bee.
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