California Farm to School Program

Pamela Lee is the Farm to School Northern California Operations Manager at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Pamela facilitates relationships with partners across the school food ecosystem and supports California Farm to School Incubator Grantees in the North Coast Region. Pamela has over 20 years of experience in improving the quality of food being served in institutional settings, including schools, ECE centers, and Senior Nutrition Programs. Pamela earned her BA in Foods and Nutrition, is a certified yoga and wellness coach, and a graduate of a 2-year leadership course, Radical Aliveness. She lives in Arcata, CA surrounded by family and friends. To get involved in the Northern California farm to school movement, please contact Pamela at Pamela.Lee@cdfa.ca.gov.

Meerae Park is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the North Coast Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where he serves the farm to school community and focuses on connecting local farmers with local schools. He is grateful for the opportunity to help farmers provide students with local food. Before joining CDFA, Meerae worked as a teacher and farmer for the Agriculture program at College of the Redwoods and completed an M.S. in Horticulture and Agronomy from the University of California, Davis. Meerae is excited to connect farmers with funding opportunities, to build collaboration with school food systems, and advise on farm to school policy. To get involved in the North Coast Region farm to school movement, please contact Meerae at Meerae.Park@cdfa.ca.gov.

Jenn Rogge is the Farm to School Network Regional Lead for the Superior Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). She is excited to connect communities who are passionate about supporting local agriculture and sustainable farming practices, while nurturing students in their school environments. Before joining CDFA's Farm to School team, Jenn grew vegetables for a CSA in Yolo County and taught farm to school education on an elementary school student farm in Davis, CA. From this experience, she truly believes that Farm to School programs can change kids' lives for the better while supporting local farmers and ranchers. Jenn is now living in the beautiful Scott Valley of Northern California, and is looking forward to meeting people from schools, ranches, and farms from the Oregon border to Sacramento. To get involved with the Superior Region farm to school movement, please contact Jenn at Jennifer.Rogge@cdfa.ca.gov.

Michael Whamond is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the Superior Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where he supports the efforts of local farms to work with schools. Before joining the CDFA team, Michael co-owned Hillview Farms where he managed a farm crew to grow organic diversified vegetables for local farmers markets, food hubs, and retail stores using regenerative farming techniques. Michael is looking forward to using his farm experience to help ensure that farmers have the tools they need to be successful in the farm-to-school space. Michael still lives at Hillview Farms in Lincoln, CA with his family and is thrilled to cultivate new opportunities at CDFA while his family continues to operate the farm. To get involved in the Superior Region farm to school movement, contact Michael at Michael.Whamond@cdfa.ca.gov..

Michael Ackley-Grady is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the Central Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Michael is a first-generation farmer and owns and operates AG Livestock, located in Sacramento, CA. He, alongside his wife, raise livestock including goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Michael has a passion for agriculture and is excited to work with California farmers, ranchers, producers, and processors to help connect them to the school food system and provide California's youth with some of the best locally produced food. To get involved in the Central Region farm to school movement, please contact Michael at Michael.Ackley-Grady@cdfa.ca.gov.

With over a decade of experience in championing the needs of disadvantaged communities, Diana Avalos understands the power of valuing lived experiences as an instructional guide to inform systems-change work. She embraces her own lived experience as a first-generation Latina, English as a Second Language (ESL) learner, and low-income upbringing– not as a barrier, but as an informative tool to effectively manage company programs and achieve the highest level of community impact. In her previous role as Senior Program Manager for the First Partner (Lady) of California, Diana was at the forefront of strengthening partnerships with diverse stakeholders statewide. She collaborated with community-based organizations, public officials, and state agencies to champion a better California for ALL. Diana holds a master's degree in public administration and is the proud dog mom of two loving fur babies. To get involved in the Central Region farm to school movement, please contact Diana at Diana.Avalos@cdfa.ca.gov.

Nick Anicich is the Farm to School Program Manager at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) where he leads the California Farm to School Network, the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program, and CDFA's Urban Agriculture Grant Program. In addition, Nick is part of CDFA's Food Systems working group, which coordinates activities across the agency's programs. Before joining CDFA, Nick worked at Soil Born Farms Urban Agriculture and Education Project in Rancho Cordova CA, and as a School Garden and Nutrition teacher at Sacramento Charter High School. Nick is excited to share his experience building networks, supporting changemakers, and expanding farm to school programs across California. He lives in Sacramento, CA with his family. To contact Nick, please email him at Nicholas.Anicich@cdfa.ca.gov.

Rachel Beck is the Farm to School Special Projects Coordinator at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where she provides support to the CA Farm to School (F2S) team and administers the CA Farm to School Network (CFSN) Conference, regional and virtual gatherings, Farm to School Incubator Grant Program, and the CFSN database. Rachel also coordinates the F2S communications, which include the general inbox, social media, newsletters and press releases. She is grateful to be a part of the farm to school transformation across the state and is excited to continue connecting communities together and highlighting the hard work being accomplished by F2S champions! To contact Rachel, please email Rachel.Beck@cdfa.ca.gov.

Jane Alvarado-Banister is the Farm to School Network Regional Lead for the San Joaquin Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Jane is a veteran bilingual, bi-cultural program manager who has worked with local communities to advance policies, systems, and environments for nearly two decades in some of the most underserved communities of California. She also currently serves on the California Local School Wellness Policy Collaborative and in 2021 was appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to the California Child Nutrition Advisory Council. Jane is happily married with two children. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time in nature with her family. To get involved in the San Joaquin Region farm to school movement, please contact Jane at Jane.Banister@cdfa.ca.gov.

Jacqueline Day, MDR, JD, is the Farm to School Network Regional Lead for the South Coast Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Jacqueline is also the Nutrition Education Specialist and Vice Chair of California's Child Nutrition Advisory Council (CNAC). Prior to working at CDFA, Jacqueline was a health policy consultant, health educator and a mediator. Jacqueline enjoys working collaboratively with others to ensure everyone has easy access to healthy and affordable food. She lives with her husband and furry kids in Pacific Grove, CA — aka: Butterfly Town USA. To get involved with the South Coast Region farm to school movement, please contact Jacqueline at Jacqueline.Day@cdfa.ca.gov.

Chris Massa is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the South Coast Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Chris started his Farm to School journey in 2013 as a FoodCorps Service Member where he built numerous school gardens and taught nutrition education. After that, Chris became the Farm to School Operations Specialist for Ventura Unified School District. There he established integral relationships with local farmers and worked to implement systems change to provide school children with local, fresh, and healthy food options. He looks forward to continuing to support this work throughout the region. Chris lives in Ventura with his wife, daughter, and two dogs. To get involved with the South Coast Region farm to school movement, please contact Chris at Chris.Massa@cdfa.ca.gov.

Sophia Riemer Bopp, MPH, RDN, is the Farm to School Southern California Operations Manager at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where she is working to expand and support equitable farm to school programming. Sophia has national, state, and local experience in farm to school through her time as National Farm to School Network's Farm to ECE Program Manager, Washington State's Farm to ECE Coordinator, and as Program Manager for a farm to afterschool program held in Title 1 schools. Based in Long Beach, CA, Sophia is dedicated to bringing her experience in network building and collaborative change to help uplift and empower the farm to school movement in her hometown. To get involved with the Southern California farm to school movement, please contact Sophia at Sophia.Bopp@cdfa.ca.gov.

Carmen Carrasco is the Farm to School Network Lead for the Greater Los Angeles Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Raised in an agricultural family, she values traditional farming and believes in equitable access to local, nourishing food. Based in Los Angeles, she works to connect schools with local producers.

Carmen has been with CDFA for four years, most recently as the Small Farm Business Liaison in the Farm Equity Program, supporting small-scale and BIPOC farmers through policy and outreach. Her background includes work in local government and nonprofits, developing regenerative ag programs for immigrant farmers and Spanish-language outreach. She holds a BA in International Business from San Diego State University and spends time on her family's farm in Oaxaca, Mexico. To get involved with the Greater LA Region farm to school movement, please contact Carmen at carmen.carrasco@cdfa.ca.gov.

Tracey Kimura is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the Greater LA Region at the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where she supports local farmers with opportunities to sell to school districts. Tracey was born and raised in the Inland Valley of Southern California and has worked in the region for almost a decade with experience in a range of urban agriculture settings including school gardens, small farms, and community gardens, where she gained experience in all aspects of urban farming including production, sales, marketing, grant writing, administration, and event planning. Before joining CDFA, Tracey worked at UC Riverside R'garden, Cal Poly Pomona Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, Pomona Unified School District, and Huerta del Valle. To get involved with the Greater LA Region farm to school movement, please contact Tracey at tracey.kimura@cdfa.ca.gov.

Jennifer Huang is the Farm to School Regional Producer Engagement Specialist for the Southern Region. As a registered dietitian with an M.S. in Food Policy from Tufts University, she is excited to connect local farmers with local schools and collaborate with regional stakeholders to strengthen farm to school programs! Before joining CDFA, Jennifer specialized in nutrition labeling and commercialization of organic products and K-12 foods. Based in San Diego, she is also active in her local Taiwanese American community. To get involved with the Southern Region farm to school movement, please email Jennifer at Jennifer.Huang@cdfa.ca.gov.