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Category Archives: Agricultural Education

CDFA employees get into the spirit of giving

December 23, 2013   Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary, and Linda

I don’t know about you, but my office is filled with holiday spirit this year! Ornaments abound, along with snowy gnomes, red and green stockings, even little reindeer made with chocolate bars and pipe cleaners – the stuff of celebration is everywhere. It takes more than a little work to transform a suite of government-office cubicles into a winter wonderland, …

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Posted in Agricultural Education | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Video – Farm field trip program provides Ag education in Sonoma County

November 26, 2013   Office of Public Affairs

The Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District, based in Sebastopol (Sonoma County), sponsors a popular school field trip program to teach children about the origins of food and the need to preserve the resources that help produce it. TEAM 2013 from Gold Ridge RCD on Vimeo.

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Calling Small Farmers! California Small Farm Conference now accepting applications for scholarships

November 7, 2013   Office of Public Affairs

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  December 6, 2013 CONFERENCE: March 9-11, 2014 The California Small Farm Conference is a unique opportunity for small-acreage farmers and ranchers to get a leg up – and you might even qualify for a scholarship to attend. Small farmers and ranchers, student farmer/ranchers, farmer/rancher employees and farmer market managers are eligible to apply for scholarships to attend the …

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USDA Releases Farm to School Census – California’s profile is encouraging

October 30, 2013   Office of Public Affairs

In celebration of National Farm to School Month, the USDA has released the first ever Farm to School Census – capturing the survey results from more than 13,000 public school districts nationwide. Check out how California and your local school district  are doing. In California, the census reveals, more than 4,000 schools with over 2.5 million students are serving over $48 …

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Posted in Agricultural Education, Community-based Food System, Food Access | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Protecting the Promise of California Agriculture – a report

August 15, 2013   Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary, and Linda

View the report here. In turbulent economic times, assessing a government agency’s effectiveness can be a trying task. Our nation’s and indeed the world’s recent financial history did more than force government to cut budgets; it forced many great industries to reinvent themselves. Fortunately for CDFA, the foundation was strong. Before the Great Recession and the ensuing fiscal turmoil that …

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Posted in AG Vision, Agricultural Education, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Invasive Species | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Back To School: MyPlate Helps Teach Our Kids to Make Healthy Choices

August 14, 2013   Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary, and Linda

“Back to school” is an exciting time. Summer may be drawing to a close, but our kids miss their friends and they’re filled with nervous energy about all that awaits them. I remember – do you?  Of all the important lessons our students will learn in school, one of the most vital is how to eat healthy and be active …

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State Fair Farm a valued partner in ag education, food bank support

July 17, 2013   Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary, and Linda

I was pleased this week to make a return visit to the California State Fair, which is now 160 years old and still going strong as a vibrant destination and showplace for the best that California has to offer. From the very beginning, farming was a major part of the fair, and I am proud to say that this tradition is as robust as ever. …

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Robots to Revolutionize Farming, Ease Labor Woes – From the Associated Press via SF Gate

July 15, 2013   Office of Public Affairs

  http://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/Robots-to-revolutionize-farming-ease-labor-woes-4665421.php#photo-4914491 By GOSIA WOZNIACKA and TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press SALINAS, Calif. (AP) — On a windy morning in California’s Salinas Valley, a tractor pulled a wheeled, metal contraption over rows of budding iceberg lettuce plants. Engineers from Silicon Valley tinkered with the software on a laptop to ensure the machine was eliminating the right leafy buds. The engineers were …

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Posted in AG Vision, Agricultural Education, Farm Labor, Specialty Crops, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Growing California video series – “Fun, Food, Festivals”

July 2, 2013   Office of Public Affairs

The next segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is “Fun, Food, Festivals,” a celebration of California agriculture.

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State Fair Wine Competition a welcome sign of fair season

June 27, 2013   Karen Ross, California Agriculture Secretary, and Linda

  As we look forward to the start of another State Fair season in California (July 12-28), an annual hallmark of preparation has already passed – the State Fair Wine Competition. Each year, wine experts from around the state gather to taste and rate many hundreds of California wines. The judges are wine educators, wine makers, wine journalists, retailers, wholesalers, …

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Posted in AG Vision, Agricultural Education, Agricultural Marketing, Trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment