Elric Centers

Did you see our feature in the Sacramento Business Journal? We are sharing how Exceedient Foods, the innovation arm of Farmers' Rice Cooperative, is revolutionizing the food industry with single-source gluten-free ingredient solutions. 🌾✨ Dive into the full article to explore our commitment to shaping a future of delicious and sustainable food:https://lnkd.in/gkUarX24

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 Preserving Family Farming in Sonoma County: The Measure J Debate As food industry professionals, you’re likely aware of the critical role family farms play in our communities. Today, I want to shed light on an important issue centered in Sonoma County, California. Measure J, which will appear on the November ballot, aims to make Sonoma County the first in the nation to outlaw so-called factory farming. While the initiative frames itself as a step toward better animal welfare, it has far-reaching implications. 1.     Economic Impact: Measure J threatens economically viable family farming. By restricting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), it could make egg and milk production unaffordable for local farmers. These operations are essential for meeting consumer demand while maintaining ethical standards. 2.     Weather Considerations: Measure J limits farms to moving animals fromopen fields to covered structures to a maximum of 45 days per year. Sonoma County experiences rainy winters, albeit not as much as Seattle or Portland. Ranchers move cattle indoors during inclement weather to ensure their comfort and health. Keeping cattle inside also prevents runoff into rivers and minimizes land damage caused by muddy fields. 3.     Local Agriculture: Having moved to Santa Rosa three years ago, I fell in love with our local agriculture scene—dairy, eggs, and wine, though possibly not in that order. Sonoma County farmers and ranchers lead the way in animal husbandry. Sonoma County egg producers were following cage-free practices before the rest of the country even heard about cage free.   4.     National Implications: Measure J’s impact extends beyond our county borders. The deep pockets behind this activist campaign are starting in Sonoma County but will push into other areas with positive signals. 5.     Take Action: Visit NoOnMeasureJ.com to learn more and sign your name in support of the “No on Measure J” effort. Talk to your company management about this issue—it’s not just about Sonoma County; it’s about preserving family farming nationwide. Let’s stand together to protect our agricultural heritage. 🌾🐄🥚

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Why Terroir Matters? What we farm is deeply connected to where we farm. Terroir—the unique blend of soil, climate, and biodiversity—defines the character of every tea leaf. Yes, every single leaf. Our tea gardens aren’t just plantations—they’re ecosystems. Birds, insects, and even wildflowers contribute to the balance, ensuring sustainable growth and a unique cup of tea that reflects its origin. At Luxmi Estates, we believe tea doesn’t grow in isolation—it grows in harmony with nature. Every sip you take supports not just taste but the sustainability of our estates for generations to come.

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Growing Communities Inc./ Crop Swap LA is a majority BIPOC-and-women-led agricultural non-profit organization that operates micro farms in the urban neighborhoods of Leimert Park and Crenshaw in Southern Los Angeles, CA. Crop Swap LA is implementing innovative projects, transforming underutilized spaces for efficient food production using rainwater harvesting and sustainable farming practices to bring food access, environmental, and economic benefits to local residents. With a $5,000 grant they will develop a new micro farm site that will allow them to grow an additional 5,000 pounds of food every year, increasing the amount of food distributed across the 75 families currently on the organization’s member list. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4an0SpI

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🧘Friday Self-Focus Moment🧘 It's National Recycling Day Did you know in most areas of California, food scraps and food-soiled paper (including pizza boxes!) are now recyclable in your green compost/organics cart? Learn more about California's new organics recycling rules https://loom.ly/KZxHt9A

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Once Again Nut Butter, a leader in organic and natural nut and seed butter products for nearly 50 years, has just acquired California-based Big Tree Organic Farms! 🌱🌰 This acquisition puts us right in the heart of "almond country" in the Central Valley, allowing us to streamline operations, reduce our environmental impact, and expand our product portfolio to include high-quality organic diced, sliced, and slivered almonds, plus almond flour. 🙌 Not only does this move eliminate the need to ship almonds cross-country, but it also strengthens our commitment to sustainability and collaboration with Big Tree Organic Farms’ almond growers. 🌍💚 Catch them at SupplySide West in Las Vegas, booth #1574, for more details! Read more: https://bit.ly/3ZLzno1 Once Again Nut Butter Collective #Sustainability #OrganicAlmonds #OnceAgainNutButter #BigTreeOrganicFarms #CleanIngredients #AlmondProducts #SupplySideWest2024 #SQFCertified #SustainableFarming #FoodIndustryNews

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The Meat Institute and Pinion want to help your company navigate through California's "Climate Accountability Package," a bundle of legislation requiring companies doing business in California to follow new, stringent GHG reporting standards. This resource guide, linked below, fully breaks down the legislation and helps your business create a plan of action to navigate it: https://lnkd.in/eUFnUeGM

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Demonstrating commitment to transparency and climate action, Starbucks and Clover Sonoma are joining the Dairy Methane Action Alliance (DMAA)! In partnership with 6 of the other largest global dairy companies and EDF, Alliance members will be publicly disclosing methane emissions in their dairy supply chains and creating a plan to cut these emissions. 🐄📉 We’re thrilled by the continued momentum to reduce this potent greenhouse gas that’s 80x more potent than CO2 in the short term! And kudos to the DMAA companies for leading on responsible corporate stewardship and setting a positive precedent for the dairy industry. https://lnkd.in/eeVxCeva

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UC RIVERSIDE: Bold moves needed for California agriculture UC report details farming’s needs for climate resilience By David Danelski, UC Riverside California should take urgent and bold measures to adapt its $59 billion agriculture sector to climate change as the amount of water available for crops declines, according to a collaborative report by University of California faculty from four campuses. #Agriculture #Climatechange #Climatechangeadaptation #Groundwaterrecharge

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This article in AgriNews got us thinking...   If Purdue University's August 2024 Consumer Food Insights Report found that consumers still value taste and affordability more regarding food, are we in a bubble when discussing regenerative agriculture? How many of you know what regenerative farming is? And, if you do, are you practicing it on your farm or seeking it out when you shop for food? #foodsystems #regernativeag #agriculture #foodindustry #farming

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Does your company do business in California? You may be affected by California’s Climate Accountability Package. As early as 2026, companies doing business in California may be required to follow new, stringent GHG reporting standards. The Meat Institute, in partnership with Pinion, published videos and a resource guide explaining what the bills entail and how they may impact businesses SB 253 and SB 261 will require companies to report Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions and/or climate-related financial risks depending on the company’s annual revenue.  Pinion created a resource guide, below, to fully break down the legislation and help your business create a plan of action to navigate the bills: https://lnkd.in/eUFnUeGM

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Strong coordination is required to make food recovery work at scale and avoid further waste…” is the key message from this article on California’s efforts to implement the requirement of all medium size food distributors & restaurants to donate edible surplus food (SB1383, passed 2016). To grow meal recovery statewide, the Meal Recovery Coalition is looking to other states to understand what works, and what could be implemented in New Jersey. Take a few minutes to read this article and learn more about food recovery in practice. We’d love to hear your thoughts #mealrecovery #mealrecoverycoalition #foodinsecurity #foodwaste https://lnkd.in/dr_CwshT

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It's August, do you have your plan to beat your 2024 fundraising goals? To my #foodrescue #foodwaste #nutrition #foodaccess #soilhealth #regenag #nonprofit colleagues: Reduce the stress and headache of the end-of-year fundraising scramble and join me for the fall cohort of the climate messaging mastery course. This unique 5-week program is designed to empower food-focused nonprofit and fundraising teams with the essential skills and resources to meaningfully connect with climate-focused donors, thereby increasing their impact on our food system and beyond. During the course, you and your team get: 💥 1:1 strategy sessions 📑 a customized funder prospect list 🔎 tons of resources and information to help you reach your fundraising goals 🚀 small group conversations with some very special guests from the funder world I hope to welcome you or relevant colleagues in September. If you have any questions, need additional information before signing up, or financial support, don’t hesitate to reach out. Learn more about the program and enroll here: https://lnkd.in/gjRZdf88 If you need more convincing, check out Jonathan Foley and Project Drawdown: https://lnkd.in/g82_abMF Littlefoot Ventures Eva Goulbourne #climateaction #foodsystemstransformation #philanthropy #climatephilanthropy

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Agrifood Giants Make Strides in Emissions Cuts, but Scope 3 Lags Behind A new report from sustainability advocate Ceres has shed light on the climate action efforts of major agrifood corporations, revealing a mixed bag of progress. While many companies are making strides to reduce their scope 1 and 2 emissions—those dire https://lnkd.in/ekadcCg7

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From cottage cheese to whole milk, find out why dairy foods are back in the spotlight and here to stay in this new article written by Dairy Council of CA CEO Amy DeLisio. #CAdairy #SustainableEating #NutritionScience

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Look Ma, we made it to Sprouts Farmers Market ! 🥂 3 flavors are landing in 30+ select locations in Southern California as part of Sprouts’ Innovation Table and we are thrilled! Big shoutout to the team at Pod Foods for including EATABLE INC. in their Box of Innovation which was instrumental in having us be part of this launch alongside other fab CPG brands. As much as we’re celebrating today, I also wanted to take a second to call out (esp to my non-CPG friends who may not realize this)… The road to mass grocery and retail is HARD AF. 😅 It has always been a dream of Vincent Li and I as founders to see EATABLE popcorn on the shelves of major grocery stores. But truth be told, this journey to bridge EATABLE’s brand identity from a premium gift/department store brand to mass grocery brand has been chock full of headwinds. We’ve pivoted countless times over the last 2 years to tweak: - Pricing (one of the BIGGEST hurdles for emerging brands) - Pack size - Pack design and branding - Distribution model - Logistics and supply chain - Channel strategy - Trade marketing support strategy - Balancing a lean marketing budget between online and offline to drive sellthrough and velocity Getting on shelf is an important first step, but there’s lots of heavy lifting to be done to ensure we sell OFF the shelf too! 🛒 Our journey has been full of small tests, lots of failures and rejection along the way, which have resulted in a TON of learnings (for future posts!) In the meantime, if you or someone you know is in SoCal - Please shop EATABLE INC. at your local Sprouts and grab a bag of popcorn that will POP a party in your mouth, and start conversations at your next gathering! How we perform in these next 90 days at their Innovation Table will determine whether we get to stay on the shelves for the long haul! 🥳 Any CPG friends who have experience selling into Sprouts I’d love to connect and learn from you! And if you happen to see us in store, help a girl out and send a quick photo or “shelfie” with EATABLE - it’ll make my day in more ways than you know! 🍿+🥂 #EATABLE #CPGbusiness #CPGfounder #foodstartup #RetailLaunch #Sprouts #SoCal

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We're excited to see Bee Better Certified Rainier Fruit Company highlighted in this recent interview with Caitlin Leibert from Whole Foods Market, and how Rainier's pollinator conservation practices influenced Whole Foods' Pollinator Policy. We especially appreciate Leibert making the connection between pollinator conservation and climate health: https://lnkd.in/deFbkY_Z Understanding how pollinator conservation and climate-smart agriculture overlap has the potential to vastly accelerate both goals at the farm level, especially when this effort is supported by the world’s largest food companies. Through a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is working with 11 producers across the United States representing a variety of cropping systems and agricultural operation sizes to demonstrate, evaluate and quantify Bee Better Certified conservation practices designed to maximize these dual goals. Read more about how climate-smart agriculture informs our work: https://lnkd.in/gHY4jGK2.

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