We’re excited to announce that the California Food and Farming Network is launching its first newsletter! In an effort to provide our allies with important and timely updates, we’ll be releasing a newsletter at key points in the year, including October (the end of the legislative cycle), December (the end-of-year), February (legislative champion announcements) and March (Priority legislation announcements). We are super excited to bring our greater community along with us as we work to transform the food and farming system.

As the legislative cycle comes to a close and as folks submit their ballots, we want to take a moment to reflect on this last legislative session. Of our ten priority bills this year, 50% crossed the finish line–one of the highest rates of success since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Governor vetoed four of our priority bills, and one did not meet its full potential.

Here is a quick rundown of our priority bills that have passed, died, or landed somewhere in between.

PASSED

SB 1105 (Padilla) – Leave for Farmworkers During Climate Emergencies: California’s farmworkers can now use their sick days during state or locally-recognized weather emergencies such as heat, smoke, and flooding, ensuring the safety of these essential workers.

PASSED

SB 1254 (Becker) –  Thriving Transitions: Food for Re-Entry and Ensuring Stable Homes (FRESH) Act: The FRESH Act now allows people who are released from jails and prisons to be enrolled more quickly into CalFresh.

PASSED

SB 1089 (Smallwood-Cuevas) – Grocery and Pharmacy Closure Notice: Grocery employees must now be given advanced notice before a store’s planned permanent closure, allowing workers to secure new jobs and community members to plan for alternative places to buy groceries.

PASSED

AB 660 (Irwin) – Food Expiration Date Reform: California became the first state to ban “sell by” dates on food, which will reduce food waste and support dignity in food access.

ON THE BALLOT

AB 408 (Wilson) – Food & Agriculture Climate Resilience Bond: The Food and Agriculture Climate Resilience Bond was approved for voter input in the form of Proposition 4.

DIED

AB 1961 (Wicks) – Strategic Masterplan to End Hunger in CA: A bill requiring the state to build a task force to develop a cross-sector food system plan to end hunger in California was rejected by the governor.

DIED

AB 1975 (Bonta) – Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition: The Governor declined an expansion of medically supportive food and nutrition interventions through MediCal.

DIED

AB 2734 (Connolly) – Improvements to the Healthy Soil Program: Improvements to CDFA’s keystone Healthy Soils Program were declined.

DIED

AB 2313 (Bennett) – Regional Farmer Equipment & Cooperative Resources Assistance Pilot Program: For the second year in a row, the Governor blocked the creation of a farmer equipment-sharing program.

INSUFFICIENT

AB 2113 (E. Garcia) – Pesticide Mill Fee: The legislature and Governor approved an increase and revisions to the pesticide mill fee, which came with some improvements, however, the mill fee fails to incentivize the use of less hazardous pesticides, and the conflict of interest inherent in how the Department of Pesticide Regulation is funded remains.

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 2024 priority legislation in the meantime, check out our website!

Photo from CFFN’s 2023 Annual Meeting last year

CFFN will be holding its Annual Meeting for network members in just a couple weeks! The Annual Meeting held in November is an opportunity for our members to reflect, connect, and strategize on ways to strengthen our movement’s power within and alongside our advocacy efforts.

Last year’s Annual Meeting sparked the creation of several new projects within CFFN, such as:

The California Native Allies Working Group: This group is focused on building our members’ accountability to CA Natives in food & agricultural policy with the guidance of our Indigenous Steering Council members.

Reparations Community of Practice: CFFN’s Community of Practice for Organizational Transformation invites and supports members as they deep dive into topics related to operationalizing equity within our organizations and our work. This Fall’s series is focused on exploring reparations and the food and farming system.

At this year’s Annual Meeting, we’ll be uncovering what is possible when we collaborate across differences. We’re excited to share the insights we’ll collect at this year’s Annual Meeting, so stay tuned for that!

Four years later, the group continues to grow, ensuring that farmworker-serving organizations have a role in setting the agenda on farmworker legislation in Sacramento while building the capacity of CBOs to lead on policy. In July, the group’s voting members came together in Fresno to tackle key questions about the group’s future: What’s our vision? What role do we play in labor advocacy? And what structure will help us succeed? This re-visioning led to a new name–the California Farmworker Coalition–and a new mission: to build power within grassroots organizations so that farmworker communities can set policies that impact agricultural workers in California.

These changes highlight the Coalition’s collaborative strength and strategic focus as it looks toward 2025 and beyond.

CFFN’s decision-making is held by our grassroots Steering Council as one way our network centers the voices of those most impacted by our current food system.

Our inaugural 6-member body has grown to 7 this year, welcoming Liz Hernandez!

Thank you for your engagement and support! Until December!