ADVOCACY REPORT
Agricultural Advocacy — It’s Not Just About Us
Some say agricultural advocacy in California is like a full-contact sport. Though an exaggeration, it’s not too far off-base at times.
What does infinite thinking look like in practice ?
It takes a tremendous amount of willpower, patience, and tenacity to pursue our advocacy goals in the State of California. The stakes are high for your cooperative, your own businesses and families, as well as the agricultural community statewide. Issues evolve quickly, and we live in one of the most progressive states in the nation. Oftentimes, we feel as if there’s a firehose of legislative and regulatory issues coming at us. Should we view this as a battle or take off our armor and see it as an opportunity ?
In 2022, Ag Council and Blue Diamond secured a few wins to benefit not only agriculture, but our workforce and our communities. This past year, union organizations joined with Ag Council in the pursuit to pass the Buy American Food Act, SB 490 by Senator Caballero (D-Merced). Why ? Because we knew if we worked together, we had a better chance of attaining something that no other state had done — establishing a Buy American procurement standard prioritizing the use of taxpayer dollars to purchase domestic food for public schools. After a tremendous effort by all involved, including resurrecting the bill at the end of session, it was signed into law this year. How did SB 490 get passed ? We made sure it wasn’t just about us. For the first time under Governor Newsom’s tenure, the Food Production Investment Program (FPIP) received funding in the state budget. After pursuing these dollars for the past few years, we were successful in attaining nearly $24 million in General Fund dollars for FPIP, which will soon be available for California-based food processors to leverage state grant dollars with private funds to implement energy efficiency projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to being positive for food processors, the vast majority of FPIP projects are in disadvantaged communities and bring about cleaner air to benefit human health. Put simply, it’s not just about us. Blue Diamond previously received a grant award through FPIP and the cooperative and growers understand the value it brings to our members. We are hopeful Blue Diamond and other Ag Council members will apply once the funds become available.
We believe the latter.
At Ag Council, our approach is not to simply look at what is in front of us, but to look at the long game, and ask, how can we help shape the issues ? In addition, who are the like-minded partners ? As part of the process, we believe an effective approach is to demonstrate that the policies we seek to implement are not just good for agriculture, they are good for all Californians. In other words, it’s not just about us, it’s about what’s best for everyone. This way of thinking is summarized in the book The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. He said, “To ask, ‘What’s best for me’ is finite thinking. To ask, ‘What’s best for us’ is infinite thinking.”
To ask, ‘What’s best for me’ is finite thinking. To ask, ‘What’s best for us’ is infinite thinking. -Simon Sinek, The Infinite Game
30
ALMOND FACTS
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker