Eat Local, Buy California Grown Day press conference held yesterday in San Francisco
San Francisco Assembly member Fiona Ma urged Californians to "Buy California and Eat California Grown" at a press conference in the Farmer’s Market near San Francisco State University Sunday. She joined Foster Farms’ Ira Brill and CPF’s Bill Mattos in front of the major Bay Area television and radio media at the event. San Francisco Agricultural Commissioner Miguel Monroy and San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner Fred Crowder were also there supporting this resolution.
Ma was the coauthor of a resolution that passed the State Assembly unanimously last week with 61 assembly members signing on as coauthors. The resolution declared Sundays as "Eat Local, Buy California Grown Day." Ma said that if all Californians dedicated just one day a week to eating only California Grown, it could represent an increase of more than 10 billion pounds and $15.6 billion in sales of locally-produced food products.
Brill pointed out that shopping locally and buying California Grown preserves more than 25,000 in the poultry industry alone. The CPF organized the support from more than two dozen agricultural groups and members of the assembly, with leadership from Foster Farms, and support from the CPF companies.
The resolution, introduced and sponsored by Ma and Assembly member Cathleen Galgiani, will now go to the Senate for final approval. As a resolution, it does not need official support from the governor, but Mattos met with Governor Jerry Brown last week seeking his support. Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome has endorsed the resolution and he urged families, restaurants and grocers to dedicate themselves to California Grown foods.
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