US: Former California Secretary of Agriculture joins Urban Produce board

Urban Produce, a CEA organic vertical farm, using patented vertical growing technology, announced the appointment of its newest board member, A.G. Kawamura. The former Secretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture (2003-2010) has joined Urban Produce’s board of agriculture industry leaders and innovators.



The Urban Produce board is now comprised of 5 leaders who offer expertise in sustainability and urban farming. The board members provide insight and support to further Urban Produce’s mission to build sustainable farms in urban areas worldwide, and address issues concerning the rapidly evolving urban agriculture landscape.

“I am proud to welcome A.G. Kawamura, whose work has helped shape and define California’s agricultural industry,” commented Urban Produce CEO Ed Horton. “A.G.’s extensive expertise in innovative farming and sustainable agriculture will be invaluable to the Urban Produce Board.”

Kawamura serves on several boards and committees including as co-chair of Solutions From the Land (SFL), a nationally recognized non-profit organization that provides climate-smart management practices and strategies to farmers, ranchers, foresters, and stakeholders; AGree Initiative’s Ag Advisory Committee; the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR), a policy division of the National Academy of Sciences’ Natural Resource Council; Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Ag Advisory Committee; American Farmland Trust; Advisory Committee for the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI) at U.C. Davis; former chair and current board member of the Western Growers Association. He is dedicated to the goal of ending hunger in his lifetime, and has worked in innovative ways to provide fresh produce to local food banks through his regional non-profit, Solutions For Urban Agriculture (SFUA). Currently, and through his company, Orange County Produce, LLC, he and his brother Matt Kawamura are building an exciting, interactive 21st century agricultural solution showcase at the OC Great Park in Irvine, CA.

An advocate of water and energy innovation and responsibility, Kawamura also serves as a trustee on the boards of the Southern California Water Committee, WateReuse California, and is a founding member of the Delta Vision Foundation. He is a national steering committee member of the 25x25 Alliance, a national coalition of renewable energy stakeholders. As a member of the newly announced national Agricultural Advisory Committee for the U.S. Republican presidential nominee, Kawamura will look to help share the new thinking around food, water and energy security for the U.S. in the years ahead.

“I’m delighted to join the Urban Produce Board,” commented A.G. Kawamura, an industry veteran and 3rd generation progressive farmer from California. “With the rapid expansion of urban agriculture, innovative vertical farms like Urban Produce offer a solution to the changing landscape. I look forward to collaborating with Urban Produce and its board of like-minded visionaries.”

For more information:
Urban Produce
info@urbanproduce.com
www.urbanproduce.com