Causes

Environment Community & economic development Health & nutrition

Posted by

Megan S.

Director of Communications

Our mission

To build sustainable food and farming systems through policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs that create more resilient family farms, communities, and ecosystems.

What we do

As a membership organization with staff and volunteers in various locations throughout the state, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is positioned to rapidly and effectively respond to emerging issues pertaining to sustainable agriculture and family farming. CAFF is one of the oldest agricultural non profit organizations in California; for over 40 years CAFF has played a crucial role in supporting, creating, and leading campaigns and actions to advance the local food movement.

CAFF also has a diversified target audience for our programs and projects: we work with farmers as well as students, consumers, food service staff, and legislators.

Our values:
ECOLOGICAL STEWARDSHIP
We recognize that all farms and communities benefit from healthier and more resilient agroecosystems, particularly in the face of climate change and loss of biodiversity. We provide information and resources to meet farmers where they are and support them according to their unique circumstances so that they may become better land stewards.

JUSTICE & EQUITY
We recognize the historic and lasting inequities in the California food and farming system. In order to achieve justice, we believe farmers of color, and other historically oppressed people, including immigrant, indigenous and women farmers, should have the opportunity to create and participate in a food and agriculture system that aligns with their needs, values, identities, knowledge systems, and communities. We commit to advancing racial, gender, and environmental justice in our larger systems, as well as in our own workplace because it is morally right and this diversity yields enhanced creativity, problem-solving as well as system-level resilience and wisdom.

PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
We are rooted in the real-world needs of working farmers and see farmers of diverse backgrounds as knowledge holders. We offer opportunities for cross-pollination and provide practical resources that help farmers succeed as small businesses, local food providers and land stewards. We remain a resource hub for tools, events, and tips that they can apply directly in their day-to-day operations to be the best farmers they can be.

ECONOMIC FAIRNESS
We promote a fair economic system that uplifts farmers' dignity and gives them the freedom to make individual choices that meet the needs of their land, farm, families, and communities. We believe excessive corporate power undermines the prosperity of individual farmers, our communities, and the health of our democracy.

CENTERING FARMERS
The future of farming rests on optimizing farms for farmers and recognizing the daily challenges they face in growing food, rather than maximum yields or output, which minimizes farmers and their communities and leads to extraction. Our programs and policies are guided by the expressed concerns, needs, and aspirations of farmers. Listening to and including farmers directly in decision-making is essential to advancing policies and programs that address their needs.

STRONG LOCAL COMMUNITIES
We believe vibrant communities, anchored by strong local food economies, offer an antidote to concentrated corporate power. Our staff, board, and chapters aspire to strengthen relationships in their own backyards as part of the fabric of local communities, and allow the organization to remain connected to, informed and enriched by the diversity of California peoples.