For Immediate Release: January 19, 2023

Media Contact: Elizabeth.Hess@sen.ca.gov

HURTADO IS JOINED BY BI-PARTISAN GROUP OF CO-AUTHORS IN THIS EFFORT

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) released the following statement after introducing her bill, Senate Bill 224—The Food and Farm Security Act:

“The climate crisis is threatening our human security,” said Senator Hurtado. “Not only are we feeling the pain of increased food costs and shortages, the damage could become much worse—which is why I am reintroducing the Farm and Food Security Act. We must secure our food systems, but in order to do so we need to have a better understanding of the role foreign owned governments may play in our energy and water facilities and agricultural land.”

Foreign investors held an estimated interest in nearly 37.6 million acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 31, 2020—an increase of over 2.4 million acres from December 2019—this represents 2.9% of all privately held agricultural land in the United States. Since 2015, foreign holdings of agricultural land have increased an average of nearly 2.2 million acres annually.

California has just over 40 million acres of privately held agricultural land, with 2.7% of that land held by international owners. California plays a monumental role in both the American and global food supply chains, making it imperative that we gain a strong understanding of exactly how ownership of our agricultural lands are positioned.

SB 224—the Food and Farm Security Act—will align state law with the US Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, ensuring state agencies can operate with the same information that federal agencies receive. SB 224 requires owners of agricultural land to submit reports to the California Department of Food and Agriculture detailing their land ownership. The bill also prohibits foreign governments from purchasing or holding interest in California agricultural land. A previous version of this legislation, was vetoed by Governor Newsom in the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. Senator Hurtado is joined in introducing this measure by a bi-partisan, bi-cameral coalition.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders, as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and as a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 16th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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