IRVINE, CA - California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced new initiatives to help farmers bring fresh food to Californians. The Governor unveiled $3.64 million in new funding to expand the state’s Farm to Family program, which would then jumpstart a $15 million campaign to support the program through the end of the year.

In response to this announcement, Western Growers Association’s CEO Dave Puglia issued the following statement:

“We thank Governor Newsom and Secretary Karen Ross for working to boost the state’s Farm to Family program. The collapse of the foodservice sector has hit farmers who supply restaurants, schools, universities, hotel resorts, and other institutional buyers of fresh produce,” Puglia remarked in a press release. “Many farmers who planted before the economy was shut down made the difficult decision to abandon their crops rather than double their financial loss by harvesting, packing, and cooling highly perishable produce with no market.”

As industry operators have been faced with challenging circumstances as of late, the Farm to Family program will be an essential financial resource.

He went on to add that, “California food banks have experienced a huge spike in demand, and it makes sense to redirect as much of the food orphaned by the economic shutdown as possible to food banks. Our growers recognize this and have more than doubled their donations of berries, baby carrots, grapes, and other fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks up and down the state in March and April. Given the massive economic harm to farmers in our state, much more relief is needed, but this is a good step forward.”

Keep reading AndNowUKnow as we cover the latest in legislative movements that affect ag.

Western Growers Association