An outreach program describing how California farmers and ranchers use water efficiently to produce the food and farm products Californians depend on has debuted a website and social media feeds.
Under the theme “Cultivate California,” the program includes social media messages on Twitter and Instagram, using @CultivateCA, and a website at www.cultivatecalifornia.com.
The program description on the Cultivate California website describes farmers and ranchers as “resilient and adaptive.”
“They are committed to using smart, efficient, innovative, water-efficient and sustainable practices to grow the food and fiber that we need and love,” the website says.
The website also features stories about individual farmers and ranchers who have instituted a variety of water-efficiency measures to produce food and farm products.
The program has concentrated on gaining insights about how Californians think about the water used to grow food and farm products, and on using those insights to build awareness about farmers’ and ranchers’ commitment to innovative and efficient farming practices, using every manner of production imaginable. Research showed that an overwhelming majority of Californians appreciate the state’s farming heritage and the farmers and ranchers who generate locally grown food and farm products.
The program encourages individual Californians to consider the importance of the state’s agricultural production through the food they eat. Cultivate California will promote the social media hashtag #CAonMyPlate and ask people to share how they personally experience food grown in California in their day-to-day lives. A page on the website will feature images shared on social media using the hashtag.
The Cultivate California program is supported by individuals, cooperatives, companies, and organizations that represent California farmers and ranchers. Supporters include the California Farm Bureau Federation and 30 county Farm Bureaus, Western Growers, the California Farm Water Coalition, California Farm Credit and a number of commodity organizations and cooperatives. A list of supporters is included on the Cultivate California website.
Permission for use is granted by the California Farm Bureau Federation on the AgAlert website.