Hi Friend, here is your spring newsletter for all things CFFN, including our 2025 priority bills, resources for immigrants, and more!

Join the movement and support these bills transforming the food system.

SB 411 (Pérez) – Stop Child Hunger Act Addresses 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. Includes a budget ask (TBD amount), to create the online statewide application. (Co-Sponsors: California Association of Food Banks, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA, Service Employees International Union (SEIU))

SB 225 – (McNerney) Summer Caregiver Meals Ensures 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. Includes a $6M budget ask to pilot this at summer meal sites located at public libraries. (Sponsors: California Association of Food Banks)

AB 1049 (Rodriguez) – California Food Assistance Program – Sponsor Deeming Removes sponsor deeming from the eligibility determination process for the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), streamlining enrollment into food benefits and reducing chilling effect for sponsored immigrants as part of the Food4All campaign. (Co-Sponsors: Nourish CA and CA Immigrant Policy Center)

AB 524 (Wilson) – Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act Creates 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 provides 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 is designed to capture $30 million dollars in the Prop 4 Climate Bond directed towards this issue. (Sponsor: Community Alliance with Family Farmers; as a representative of the Land Equity Collective – a BIPOC-led collective focused on developing transformational systems-level policy solutions to ensure equitable access to CA agricultural land)

AB 694 (McKinnor) – Strengthening CA’s Health and Safety Enforcement Workforce Requires CalOSHA to contract with UCLA and UCB to convene an Advisory Committee of experts and produce a report to make recommendations to increase and diversify CalOSHA’s enforcement positions through a workforce development pipeline program. This bill has an accompanying budget ask of $1.25 million. (Co-sponsors: California Farmworker Coalition, SoCalCOSH, CA Labor for Climate Jobs)

We know many of our members and allies are facing hardships through the growing federal attacks on non-citizens. However, this country was built by immigrants. And regardless of status we are all part of the fabric of California’s communities. As we navigate a growing web of individual, local, and federal acts of intolerance, solidarity has appeared in the shape of information sharing, mutual aid, and other collective acts of resistance. The movement to seize our power back in the face of intolerance is happening and the resources below are available for us to continue to support our communities. Resources were collected by the California Farmworkers Coalition.

Know Your Rights/Conoce Tus Derechos
Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC

Family Preparation Planning/Plan De Preparación Familiar

https://www.ilrc.org/resources/step-step-family-preparedness-plan#item-4332 (Español a la mitad)

Your Rights if ICE appears at Your Workplace/Sus derechos si Inmigración aparece en el trabajo
https://legalaidatwork.org/factsheet/workplace-raids-workers-rights/

FAQs on Non-Profit and Small Business Rights
FAQs on Nonprofit and Small Business Rights with Respect to Immigration Enforcement (ICE) – Public Counsel
With an accompanying training video available here to watch, along with the slides (more links and resources on the last slide).

In February, a group of CFFN members gathered at the capitol to introduce our work to newly elected Assemblymembers and Senators.

We’d like to thank the California Association of Food Banks, Center for Ecoliteracy, CalCAN, Fullwell, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Berkeley Food Institute, Union of Concerned Scientists, Alameda County Community Food Banks, and California Certified Organic Farmers for coming out to represent their organizations, work, and the network.

We had some exciting conversations with staffers and legislators and are looking forward to working with their offices in the years to come!

Also in February, we got to recognize our 2024 legislative champions, Assemblymember Mia Bonta and Assemblymember Damon Connolly, for their commitment to progressing food and farming toward resiliency and justice.

Both Assemblymembers have been longtime collaborators with CFFN and scored 100% in the 2024 food and farm Scorecard.

We’re very grateful to have legislators like them representing our issues in the legislature and we’re excited to build up future food and farm champions this year!

That is all for now! Thank you for keeping up with us!

The California Food and Farming Network is building a movement centered on racial equity to transform the food and farming system through state policies.

CFFN envisions an inclusive, equitable, and ecologically regenerative food and farming system that has recognized and repaired injustices to Black, Indigenous and people of color workers, producers and communities, and which generates healthy, affordable, accessible, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and other agricultural products.