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2021 - A New Year

Introduction: Gov Newsom’s Executive Order

by Kat Taylor

Hello Friends! 

As many of you may have already heard, Governor Gavin Newsom recently released Executive Order N-82-20. This groundbreaking executive order (EO), while not legally binding, declares a bold vision to use California’s working and natural lands as a way to curb climate change, protect our lands from development, and cultivate biodiversity above and below ground. It expresses California’s commitment to conserve at least 30% of our land and coastal waters by 2030. Thirty-eight countries globally have already made the same commitment, and just days ago President Biden joined the United States as well.

Stakeholders in and outside the California government, including myself, are incredibly excited about the new era of cross-agency collaboration and willpower being put toward making the EO’s provisions a reality in the coming years. Those of us who support and practice regenerative agriculture and land management - and acknowledge its role in helping ensure our continued existence on earth  - know that it offers not only a scalable and effective solution to climate change, but also myriad co-benefits such as: increased biodiversity, increased economic gains, improved water quality and retention, more racial justice in the food system, improved soil health, and drought and fire mitigation. As the EO itself acknowledges many of these benefits and goals, it is my sincere hope that the political groundswell of support for using California’s lands to maximize the co-benefits of these practices will have its day “in the sun”, and soon. 

While the EO is a big step, it is just the very beginning of a multi-year process. Those of us who recognize the benefits of being responsible stewards of land will have to show up in support of these policies all along the way, whether that be through the legislature, academia,  private sector, or any other forums. As state agencies like the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Air Resources Board begin figuring out a plan to maximize the benefits on natural and working lands, we need to provide our voices, narratives, and expertise in support. Together, with a clear vision and strategy, we can bring forward knowledge and clarity on this issue, raising up different and diverse voices in support of it, and truly make our lands a viable and critical part of a broader statewide climate and environmental justice solution. 

Excitingly, the California Department of Food and Agriculture has announced a series of stakeholder meetings in February to solicit feedback from the public and agricultural stakeholders on climate-change solutions that sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gases, and enhance biodiversity. For more information, you can visit http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/climate/.

I look forward to working with you all to help grow a regenerative food system!

Picture of the Month

Sacramento’s Vulnerable Communities Get
5-Star Meals

Kathy Webster

When COVID-19 hit, TomKat Ranch shifted our LeftCoast Grassfed beef sales program into a donation program to support emergency food efforts. Since March 2020, we have donated 11,300 pounds of regenerative grass-fed beef - much of it to local food distribution sites. 

In December of 2020, we heard about the Family Meals program that friend and collaborator Chef Patrick Mulvaney (Mulvaney’s B&L) had launched in Sacramento to feed thousands of people in need. Family Meals Sacramento was launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to feed thousands of people-in-need. The free, pre-cooked, delicious and healthy meals are made weekly by Sacramento-based chefs and their staff. The program is feeding under-resourced communities and supporting restaurants and their employees, small businesses affected by the pandemic, and local farms that are growing the food.

Inspired by this amazing program, we were excited to help in any way we could. To support the Family Meals program over the holidays, we donated 568 pounds of assorted cuts to Mulvaney and reached out to ranch friends at Richards Grassfed who donated an additional 200 pounds of skirt steak.

Progress 2021

Wendy Millet and Kevin Watt

With each new year comes a fresh start. As we reflect on the challenges of 2020 and look forward to the new year, we are struck with a feeling of hope. However, as we continue to work remotely and socialize at a distance, we can’t help but notice that this year feels different. We woke up on January 1st to the same list of concerns we went to sleep with: the multiple environmental, economic, and social systems in need of change. 

In our work as holistic managers, we’ve learned that systems are in a constant state of change. Sometimes these changes don’t have a discernable impact on our lives because they happen at the pace of geologic time. Sometimes, though, they happen on human time scales with serious near-term and long-term consequences and call us to thoughtful and effective action. 

This month we’d like to highlight some of that inspiring and rigorous action. There are many efforts afoot to help create change on a systems level and here are a few thoughtful accomplishments that caught our attention. We hope these resources inform and inspire you to act to create a more regenerative, diverse, and just world in 2021.