Throughout 2023, the Food and Farm Resilience Coalition remains focused on our four pillar areas: sustainable agriculture, farmworker health and well-being, climate-friendly healthy food access and regional food infrastructure.

Assemblymember Lori Wilson (Assembly District 11) is championing our 2023 Food & Farm Resilience bond bill, AB 408.

As of July ‘23, AB 408 has passed through the Assembly, Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Government and Finance Committee. It will now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee in August.

As AB 408 moves through the legislative process, we encourage individuals and organizations to sign the AB 408 support letter or email us directly to get involved with future efforts.

We envision a more resilient & equitable food & farm system for California. It is clear we need to invest in food and farming systems in California that combat hunger, create and restore jobs, support farm businesses, and build resilient communities. The Food and Farm Resilience Coalition will continue to build on our previous success to continue building a better California food system.

Formed in early 2021, the Food and Farm Resilience Coalition co-sponsored the Equitable Economic Recovery, Healthy Food Access, Climate Resilient Farms and Worker Protection Bond Act (AB 125), that proposed placing a bond on the 2022 ballot.

Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D - Hollister) authored AB 125, which would have invested $3.302 billion over five years in California’s food and farming infrastructure to accelerate California’s economic recovery from the COVID- 19 pandemic while combating climate change, improving food security, and protecting our essential farmworkers.

The bond included:

• $700 million for regional and local food processing, distribution, and market infrastructure

• $637 million for farmworker safety and well-being

• $750 million for infrastructure to combat hunger

• $1.245 billion for sustainable agriculture, on-farm climate resilience and biodiversity and compost facilities

With the state’s significant budget surplus in 2021, AB 125 did not advance to the ballot, but the coalition remains committed to achieving these critical investments laid out in the initial legislation.

In the two budget years between 2021 and 2023, we were able to secure a total of $2 billion to help transition California’s food and farming system toward one that is more climate-resilient, just, and equitable.