Join CAFB for the Citrus Stride, Noon on April 19th at the State Capitol!

For every person who registers to walk in the 2nd Annual Citrus Stride at noon on April 19th at the state Capitol, California Citrus Mutual will donate 1,000 pounds of citrus to food banks across the state.  

Last year I had the chance to attend the first ever Citrus Stride, awareness and advocacy day held by California Citrus Mutual. It was a phenomenal event, bringing together citrus growers, CAFB staff, food bank representatives like President/CEO of Community Food Bank, Andy Souza and dozens of Capitol staff to hear about this vital industry. We then took off for the mile-long loop around the Capitol grounds, with pounds of citrus donated for all who attended.  

I can also speak first-hand to the incredible advocacy partnership we’ve had with California Citrus Mutual. Last year they were able to support our Farm to Food Bank tax credit, for example, and by the time of the Stride we had been working for nearly 18 months on it (remember AB 515 Eggman was vetoed, and last year we had AB 1577 as well as the budget push). Working on that issue after legislators had heard directly from their growers was the experience of perpetual fresh air and walking through open doors, and I know it had a direct impact on our success. 
In short, we know that our deep commitment to end hunger is shared by our closest agricultural partners like California Citrus Mutual. 

“California is the Nation’s fruit bowl and the largest producer of fresh citrus fruit in the world. More than 2 million children in California continue to live in food-insecure households, many of them in the very communities where we grow food for the rest of the world to enjoy.  As an industry, we are committed to ensuring the people in our communities are empowered to live healthy and prosperous lives – and that starts with food security. That is why we decided to partner with the California Association of Food Banks and Feeding America to deliver fresh citrus to community food banks throughout the State,” Alyssa Houtby, Director of Public  Affairs, told me. 

We couldn’t agree more, and we are proud to work with CA Citrus Mutual. Last year was a fabulous event, and we’re hoping to help boost attendance so that our citrus growers get the recognition they deserve and our food banks help hungry Californians to share in their incredible bounty. 

Register here. See you there!

Andrew
Director of Government Affairs