Today’s California Agriculture Day theme of “Celebrating Resilience” recognizes the agricultural industry’s ability to adapt to change, especially considering the events of last year.
Many examples of this, and how California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Inspection Services Division staff continued to provide services to our resilient California Ag, can be found in the Inspection Services Annual Report 2020 (FY2019-2020).
Examples include:
- Shipping Point Inspection inspected 114,280 lots / 2.55 billion pounds of almonds (setting a new seasonal record for CA almond production)
- Center for Analytical Chemistry developed 20 new scientific methods while satisfying the regulatory and monitoring needs of 33 public agencies
- Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program reviewed and registered 3,032 organic input and 9,658 conventional fertilizer labels
- California Nutrition Incentive Program distributed $2.85 million in incentives to low-income shoppers by providing a dollar-for-dollar match of nutrition benefits spent on California-grown fruits and vegetables at participating Certified Farmers’ Markets and small retail stores
- Critical food safety inspections continued for both produce safety and animal feed
We invite you to further inspect our Annual Report 2020 to learn how Inspection Services fulfills our mission of providing professional services that support and contribute to a safe, abundant, quality food supply; environmentally sound agricultural practices; and an equitable marketplace for California agriculture.