Supervisors ‘passionate’ about increasing local food production, access

Residents interested in spearheading community gardens on
county-owned lands will be able to submit proposals as early as
September, as the county lands for food initiative moves forward
under the direction of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
“The project has the opportunity to touch all four pillars of
the county’s strategic plan,” said Stephanie Larson, UC Cooperative
Extension advisor, addressing the board at Tuesday’s meeting.
The county lands for food initiative is scheduled for
implementation in two phases. The first phase will focus on
community gardens, with proposal review and selection scheduled for
this winter.
The second phase will focus on making county land available for
agricultural enterprises, but the request for proposals for farm
operations is not expected to go out until fall of 2012.
At Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors expressed a desire to support
new farmers as well as existing farmers, including those looking to
expand operations or take over a family business.
“Not only are we looking for new farmers, but we want to make it
easier for them to stay here in the county on family land,” said
District 2 Supervisor David Rabbitt.
The board was also in favor of supporting in-county, rather than
out-of-county farmers.
“I think it’s really important to address this from a local
perspective, that is farmers that live here, residents and families
that live here….  I can see that there are probably outside folks
that want to use our property, but I’d like to not see that
happen,” said District 1 Supervisor Valerie Brown.
Brown and District 5 Supervisor Efren Carrillo directed county
staff to work with local governments to find land suited for
community gardens and agriculture within city limits.
“I think that to just look at this as the unincorporated area is
faulty….  If we’re really going to be a healthy community, all nine
cities need to be involved in that,” Brown said.
Representatives from agricultural community groups were pleased
with the initiative’s progress, and the board’s enthusiasm.
“I really want to thank the board for this whole initiative of
making county lands available for farmers. It’s something that
we’ve appeared here asking for a number of times over the last 20
years, and it’s wonderful that it’s finally happening.  We
appreciate the speed with which staff is moving on it. It’s great
that the first step is community gardens but we hope that land will
be made available to our members and other farmers, existing
farmers as well as new farmers,” said CAFF representative Terry
Harrison.
District 4 Supervisor Mike McGuire noted that it is an exciting
time for food and agriculture in Sonoma County. At the meeting, the
Sonoma County Food Forum report was presented to and accepted
unanimously by the board. The report outlined goals for the county,
including supporting farmers and enhancing the availability of
affordable, fresh, local foods.
“As the public can tell, and those listening and tuning in, this
is definitely something that the board is passionate about,” said
District 5 Supervisor Efren Carrillo.
Lynda Hopkins can be reached at Ly***@hb*****.com.