MARCH 20 IS CALIFORNIA AG DAY AT THE CAPITOL: FARMERS AND RANCHERS CELEBRATE “THE CALIFORNIA ADVANTAGE” WITH THE WORLD’S LARGEST SCHOOL LUNCH TRAY, FARM ANIMALS, TRACTORS AND RODEO QUEENS

Event to take place rain or shine

WHEN:    Wednesday, March 20, 2013

§  Legislators and staff tour booths from 10:30 to 11:30 am

§  Open to the public 11:30 am to 1 pm

§  Stage program begins at noon; at approximately 12:30 pm, legislators and ag leaders will feed 700 local school kids from the “World’s Largest School Lunch Tray”

§  Event to take place rain or shine

WHERE: California State Capitol, West Steps

WHO:       CDFA Secretary Karen Ross

Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture

Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture

Senator Anthony Cannella, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture

Assemblymember Frank Bigelow, author of HR 12 honoring the 100th anniversary of 4-H

Kenny Watkins, First Vice President of the California Farm Bureau Federation

Karri Hammerstrom, President of California Women for Agriculture

Judy Culbertson, Executive Director of California Foundation for Ag in the Classroom

Emcee Laura McIntosh, Host of “Bringing it Home” PBS TV program

WHAT:    “Ag Day: The California Advantage” This event gives farming and ranching leaders an opportunity to show legislators and the public how they produce California’s amazing agricultural bounty. This year’s theme is “The California Advantage,” acknowledging all of the special elements that make our state so productive and so innovative: climate, soils, water, research, technology, labor… it all adds up to world-renowned productivity, variety and quality.

                        The World’s Largest School Lunch Tray: The folks from the PBS show “Bringing It Home with Laura McIntosh” are working with us this year to showcase the “World’s Largest School Lunch Tray,” an 8-foot-by-10-foot reproduction of the ubiquitous trays that students everywhere use to enjoy what California farmers grow.

WHY:       Because when it comes to agriculture, no other place on earth can do what California does. That’s “The California Advantage.”