California's governor announced expanding the state's Farm to Family program today to further connect area farms to local food banks in an effort to help struggling farmers and those in need of fresh produce.
At this afternoon's press conference, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a expanding the state's Farm to Family program in partnership with the federal government and philanthropists to further connect farms to provide fresh produce to food banks. Newsom explained there is a rise in food insecurity causing a 73% spike in demand at state food banks while at the same time farms are seeing a 50% reduction in demand. It was said that $3.6 million has been raised to jump start the program and operate it through end of year. The Farm to Family program, which the California Association of Food Banks started in the late 1990s, generally provides about 160 million pounds of produce a year to households across the state. The program currently has 128 farmers and ranchers providing food to 41 food banks in 58 counties in California, but the goal is to provide an additional monthly 20 million pounds of produce, poultry, dairy and other goods to these organizations.
The San Diego Sustainable Living Institute has put together a list of local San Diego farms who are continuing to offer goods during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. We urge our readership to support some of these area small businesses while stocking up on essentials.
For more information about the Farm to Family program, visit cafoodbanks.org/farm-family.
This is a developing story: We will update this post as we learn more.
This is a developing story: We will update this post as we learn more.
