By Luis Alvarado California is home to the some of the most progressive farmers in the world. Despite enormous odds and pressures – drought; climate change; rising land, gas and energy costs; wildfires; labor shortages; regulatory burdens; relentless attacks from pests and disease – the state’s farmers soldier on, providing fresh fruit, produce and dairy […]

By: Raul Riesgo Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to travel from downtown Los Angeles to a farm several hours away. The farm tour was part of an effort by farmers to build bridges with people like me who live in cities and have very little understanding or appreciation of our California-grown food supply. […]

It’s hard to believe that it took five years to count the 2000 votes of farmworkers by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB). The votes were counted this week and it was clear that Latino workers, in this case, had no interest in joining the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. By a vote of 1,098 […]

Monterey County sheriff’s deputies discovered a field filled with thousands of opium poppies, which was enough to make $45,000 worth of heroin. According to officials, the field contained 27,000 plants and an additional 16,500 poppies that had already been harvested. Authorities eradicated the poppies, which combined together could make about 13 pounds of raw opium. […]

The question about what to do with the 2013 ballots in a union decertification vote by Gerawan Farming Inc. workers is still undecided. About 300 Gerawan workers gathered outside of the 5th District Court of Appeals in Fresno in April while the court heard the testimony of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union and Gerawan […]

 Farmworkers should have the right to be represented. If abandoned by a union, farmworkers deserve the right to vote. The right to have their voices heard and the right to be represented. Don’t take this choice away from them. Farmworkers deserve to have the same rights and protections as every other worker.

Fox & Hounds By: Annette Levi and Serhat Asci While urban and rural California may be miles apart geographically and politically, they could not be more interdependent economically. That’s what we found with a recent research project that determined nearly $3-billion of Southern California’s urban economy is directly linked to the state’s strawberry farming operations. […]

Last month, a proposed bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers that will create a California work permit program for farmworkers and service industry employees without legal residency in the United Sates. The bill, Assembly Bill 1885 (AB 1885), was introduced by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) and Assemblywoman […]

By: Renee Pinel A recent opinion article on glyphosate is a classic example of the environmental community’s awkward relationship with science and facts (“Don’t let EPA and Monsanto hide the truth on Roundup,” Viewpoints, Jan. 17). When it comes to climate change, the enviros are all in. But for everything else, science apparently doesn’t matter. […]

By: Andrew Sarega, La Mirada City Councilman While Thanksgiving is a time to count our many blessings, it’s also a time for our nation to especially appreciate our food supply and how it gets onto our plates. The nation’s ability to produce and ensure a safe and reliable food supply falls on the shoulders of […]