Even if you are not interested in being a part of the committee, you can still fill out an application to be eligible to vote or nominate someone else.
How County Agriculture Committees Are Selected
County Urban Agriculture Committees are a relatively new initiative, but they are an extension of the well-established system of County Agriculture Committees. These original committees were created in the 1930s to help farmers in the era of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Farmers who have already worked with the USDA and been assigned a farm number are eligible to nominate candidates for the committee (including themselves) and to vote.
How County Urban Agriculture Committees Are Selected
County Urban Agriculture Committees were created by the 2018 Farm Bill. Members do not need a farm number and can come from diverse backgrounds such as researchers, professors, and community composters or gardeners as well as producers. This means the USDA cannot rely solely on their database of numbered farms to reach all interested parties.
Apply to Run, to Nominate Candidates or to Vote
As someone who is passionate about urban agriculture, I’m eager to see the urban committees succeed, and that means the USDA has to reach people who have never dealt with them before. If you’re a farmer, run a food bank, work with community gardens, do community composting, run a farm-to-school program, manage a hydroponic farm, or teach or do research in any of these or related areas, and you’re working in an urban area of Los Angeles or Orange Counties, you may be eligible to be a part of the Los Angeles County Urban Agriculture Committee.
The deadline to apply is April 14.
For more information, call Brooke Raffaele, the State Outreach Coordinator at the California Farm Service Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture at (530) 219-7747.
City Farm Policy 