SALINAS VALLEY — More than 75 food leaders, farmers, advocates and policymakers from across California gathered in November for Growing the Future Together, the first in-person statewide convening of the California Food Policy Council (CAFPC) since the pandemic.
Hosted in Salinas — the “Salad Bowl of the World” — the two-day event explored how California can build a more resilient, equitable and sustainable food system.
The gathering blended farm and fishery tours with strategy sessions at Rancho Cielo, where youth culinary students served locally sourced meals to attendees. Together, participants tackled the urgent issues facing California’s food landscape: shrinking farmland, an aging farmer population, and the need for policies that make good food accessible to all.
Major Takeaways from the Convening
The convening’s report, released Nov. 12, highlights four key pillars for action:
- Sustainable & Innovative Production — With farms disappearing and farmers aging out, California must cultivate the next generation of producers through access to land, capital and training. Projects like ALBA’s farm incubator and Reservoir Farms’ tech-agriculture collaborations demonstrate how sustainability and innovation can thrive side by side.
- Equity, Access & Care — From the Bracero tragedy memorial to today’s ICE enforcement challenges, participants underscored that immigrant workers are the backbone of the food system and must be treated with dignity and opportunity. Programs that buy from local farms and distribute through childcare providers and community partners strengthen both livelihoods and food security.
- Public Systems for Good Food — Government and healthcare systems can drive transformative change through policies like the Good Food Purchasing Program and CalAIM, which use public dollars and Medi-Cal resources to fund local, healthy meals. Farmers’ markets and produce prescription programs such as Market Match are proving that good food is good medicine.
- Resilience & Future Leadership — From the Western Flyer’s ocean science lab to food hubs connecting farms with families, resilience was a shared theme. Councils called for cooperative ownership models, stronger working groups, and CAFPC’s evolution as a “council of councils” coordinating strategy across the state.
A Shared Vision Moving Forward
Participants left Salinas united by a vision of California where food systems regenerate the land, sustain local economies, and nourish all communities. As federal funding cuts and climate pressures loom, CAFPC will continue to bring councils together to advocate for policies and investments that root resilience in every region.
The full convening report, “Growing the Future Together: Findings from the 2025 California Food Policy Council Convening,” is now available at tinyurl.com/GTFT2025report.
