Buy Fresh Buy Local

Alameda County StopWaste (StopWaste.Org) works with businesses to encourage use of reusable transport packaging: reusable totes, reusable pallets and reusable pallet wrap. They are giving away grants of up to $5,000 to buy reusables. You can find a grant application at http://www.usereusables.org/grants. Thanks for sharing this, New Natives!

Grants for Reusable Transport Packaging | UseReusables Use Reusables is offering funding up to $5,000 per approved business or institution, for the purchase of reusable transport packaging. A total of $25,000 in funding is available. Applications are due no later than October 31, 2016. Submissions will be evaluated on a first come first serve basis unti...

Whole Foods Market customers are encouraged to shop at their local stores on April 6th to help provide regional schools with farm-fresh produce. Partnering with CAFF, Northern California and Reno stores will donate 5% of sales to support CAFF's Farm to School program. You can sample produce from local family farmers and learn about CAFF's Farm to School program at specially marked tables!

Entrepreneurial Intensives, 2016-2018 T he sun, soil and glory called you to the farmer’s vocation; a well-organized desk might just keep you there. Join the Farmers Guild along with an all-star line-up of agricultural advocates,...

The Stewardship Assembly and friends would like to invite you to the Harvest Festival on the Fall Equinox, Sunday, September 20, 11am-6pm at the UC Gill Tract Community Farm in Albany.

There will be a variety of free activities including live music, a children's corner, workshops for beginning urban farmers, community-led workshops, a communal feast, and opportunities to get your hands dirty!

Education and Events UPCOMING EVENTS! Click here to see all advertised upcoming events and workshops at the UC Gill Tract Community Farm. SCHEDULE EVENTS! Coming soon.... Information about scheduling field trips...

Would you eat "ugly" food? We'll send a free Buy Fresh Buy Local bumper sticker to the first ten people to respond in a comment.

'Ugly' food to get second chance in Sweden Ugly carrots will be sold cheaply at the participating Coop supermarkets. Photo: Epukas via Wikimedia Commons

Ruhstaller Beer will be featured at CAFF's Celebrate the Solstice fundraising dinner. Their delicious beer embodies their commitment to using California grown ingredients from California hop and barley farmers...yum!

Legacy Crop - Comstock's magazine With J-E Paino at the helm, can Solano County lead the region to a rebirth of hops?

TGIF...looking forward to seeing those farmer-friends at the market this weekend!

Couldn't agree more...

CAFF has launched a new website with lots of great info. to explore, including this page...where you can find out about the many programs we work on throughout the state: http://www.caff.org/programs/

Programs | Community Alliance with Family Farmers CAFF is California’s longest-standing advocate for sustainable agriculture. We connect farmers, businesses, and consumers working to build a better food system. Using our long history and vast amount of experience, we serve California family farmers and their communities through our five main progr…

What does it mean to "Grow better, not bigger"? Well, it means a lot! A better quality of life, better produce, and better soil.

Read more about Farmer Jean-Martin's ideas here:

http://civileats.com/2015/04/21/earn-a-good-living-without-a-tractor-a-market-gardener-tells-you-how/ Thanks Civil Eats!

Earn a Good Living Without a Tractor: A Market Gardener Tells You How According to Jean-Martin Fortier, it isn’t a farmer’s job to feed the world. And he finds it absurd that many U.S.-based food and agriculture companies tell farmers they should do so. “Feeding the world? People in Africa don’t need the U.S. to feed them.” What we need, the Canadian farmer argues, is…

Conversations about food system resilience are crucial, now more than ever!

Even in a Drought, California Farms Have a Future - but They'll Need Control of the Food System... Self-provisioning of resources promotes economic as well as ecological resilience.

Are you a grape grower in the NorthCoast concerned about water management? Attend this workshop to discuss the policy concerning ground water and to discover irrigation efficient practices for your operation!

June 9th: Join CAFF and the Napa County Resource Conservation District at the gorgeous Raymond Vineyards in St. Helena for our next water workshop!

The spirit of is alive every day of the week!

The Center for Ecoliteracy, along with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and Community Alliance with Family Farmers hosted a dinner at the California Farm to School Conference on May 5, 2015. Students from MPUSD and FoodLab in Davenport and Pescadero helped prep, cook, and serve meals to over 200 guests.

May the Fourth be with you! And your tractor!

Way to go sack-a-tomatoes! We're proud of all your work, Center for Land-Based Learning!

We are so proud of the expansion of our West Sacramento Urban Farm Program! Come out Tuesday for the and see what all the hype is about http://landbasedlearning.org/_pdf/bigdog-event-flyer.pdf

Your Guide to CSA: some questions to ask yourself.
Written by a happy member of Full Belly Farm!

http://tinyurl.com/ny8fufz

Support a Farmer, Support the Planet: Your Guide to CSA Learn all about Community Sourced Agriculture (that's CSA) in our guide to have you started in no time.

Tuesday 4/28: USDA staff will be helping market managers and farmers become authorized to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, known as CalFresh.

CAFF launched a series of workshops to support winegrape growers w/ water efficient practices. Next up Kenwood, Sonoma County!

Later this Spring, we'll work with growers in Lodi, Paso Robles, Moraga, Napa, and the Santa Cruz Mountains.

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1358779

Water Efficiency for Vineyards and Diversified Farms Workshop Demonstration of efficient irrigation and evapo-transpiration practices & composting, cover cropping, animal grazing practices.

Thank you to those that grow the food that nourishes, energizes, and enables us to do the "everything else"!

"First we eat, then we do everything else."

Best way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Support your local dairy and buy some butter!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/03/17/393565373/to-eat-authentically-irish-this-st-patrick-s-day-go-for-the-butter

To Eat Authentically Irish This St. Patrick's Day, Go For The Butter From 3,000-year-old peat bogs to 19th-century Brazil to modern foodies, the love of Irish butter has spread far. The secret to Ireland's deliciously rich, creamy butter is in its rolling green hills.

Waste removal workers as social and environmental change agents.

Efficiency in the Kitchen to Reduce Food Waste Restaurants, home cooks and now a growing number of cities are embracing the belief that efficiency, composting and wasting less in the kitchen are just smart economics.

The most popular day of the year to sign-up for a CSA! How will you celebrate?

What fun!

Down to six seats- who will be the lucky last few to chat and chow with Eatwell, CAFF, and 18 Reasons!

Dinner Discussion: Eatwell Farm & The Community Alliance with Family Farmers | 18reasons.org When: Tuesday, February 24, 2015 6:30pm to 8:30pmWhere: 3674 18th St.San Francisco, CA 94110United StatesPrice: $45.00Member Price: $35.0022 slots available Quantity A three-course dinner discussion paired with wine. CAFF and 18 Reasons are happy to be co-hosting the second dinner in a series focuse…

Learn more about CSA management, free webinar hosted by Farm Commons. 2/24/15.

http://farmcommons.org/going-depth-csa-farm-law

Going In-Depth With CSA Farm Law | Farm Commons Broadcast date: Tuesday, February, 24 2015, 12:00 pm CSTIn this webinar, farmers will get in-depth tools to move forward on managing sales, drop-site, volunteer, and worker share matters. We’ll also discuss some of the more unique CSA programs like farmers’ market pre-pay programs and multi-farm coo…

Sarah Nelson from 18 Reasons is a CSA superhero, and Full Belly Farm will make it easy for you to be one too!
https://18reasons.org/blog/2015-01-20/eating-my-veggies

Eating My Veggies | 18reasons.org 20 January 2015By Sarah Nelson, Executive Director It wasn't easy, signing up for a weekly box of veggies. I love to cook, run an organization dedicated to cooking, spend all day with my colleagues talking about food, love farms and farmers' markets and vegetables, but still... I've even visited the…

We had a very pun time at EcoFarm 2015!

It's a happy Friday morning here at ! Hope you're all heading to the Successful Organic Farmers Plenary!

Happy Holidays!

Looking for meaningful gifts to share this holiday season? How about buying into a local farm by participating in a CSA! Use this handy search widget to find a CSA farm near your loved one and help them connect with their farmers: http://caff.org/programs/local-food-systems/search-bfbl/

Search Buy Fresh Buy Local | Main Office: PO Box 363 Davis, CA | 530.756.8518 | [email protected] | For contact information for our regional offices, click here.

This series from the Los Angeles Times is eye-opening: "The contrast between the treatment of produce and of people is stark."

http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/

Product of Mexico: Hardship on Mexico's farms, a bounty for U.S. tables A Times reporter and photographer find that thousands of laborers at Mexico's mega-farms endure harsh conditions and exploitation while supplying produce for American consumers.