Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after her bill, Senate Bill 1084—The Food and Farm Security Act passed Assembly Judiciary:

“The climate crisis is here, and it’s jeopardizing our food and human security in multiple ways,” said Senator Hurtado. “Food can, and is, being used as a weapon like we are seeing in Ukraine. Recent reports discuss how a nation could gain leverage by acquiring agricultural land, and creating bioweapons that impact our food supply chain. The Food and Farm Security Act seeks to protect California’s water and food supply, especially as water availability across Western States decreases. We must protect this vital natural resource. Make no doubt the cost of food, water, and energy will increase and severely impact our livelihoods, if more is not done.”

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 1084 puts California in control of its food supply chain by preventing foreign governments from purchasing agricultural land, and requiring the California Department of Food and Agriculture to issue an annual report on foreign ownership of California’s resources.

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 14th 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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