1. Over the last few months, we’ve been learning about what our friends at the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT) are doing to protect farmland in our growing region. In the face of intense development pressure, their work is essential in preserving farmland and the rich soil we are so blessed with in Brentwood. During the week of August 23rd we will hold a fundraising drive to support BALT’s work. We hope you’ll consider making a donation. We’ll be back in touch with more information in a couple of weeks.
2. Sign the Change.Org petition urging the State of California to allocate $160 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to help rebuild healthy soils in California. The Petition aims to demonstrate support for three important proposals: • $20 million to Governor Brown’s Healthy Soil Initiative, including funding for Carbon Farming in Assembly Member Levine’s AB 761 (http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/EnvironmentalStewardship/HealthySoils.html) • $65 million to Senator Wolk’s Bill SB 367 (Agriculture Climate Benefits Act) for regenerative agriculture, including $25 million for on-farm projects that build soil and $40 million to permanent farmland easements and practices that reduce and sequester carbon. (http://calclimateag.org/sb-367/) • $75 million to fund CalRecycle’s composting and recycling efforts, helping California build the 100 new composting facilities that will be necessary to recover our organic waste, as was proposed in the As- sembly’s budget recommendations. Go to thesoilstory.com to sign the petition and watch a short and an informative video on the promise of carbon sequestration through sustainable agricultural production.