Current and former elected officials met with food safety experts in Yuma on Friday. A press conference at the Yuma Agricultural Center was part of the Extreme Weather Emergency Tour.
Their message? Climate-fueled drought and heat are threats to the Colorado River and the ag economy in Yuma and Arizona.
Valentin Sierra is the director of food safety and quality assurance at Amigo Farms in Yuma. He said that in the summer local growers rotate crops to save water. That’s not so easy to do.
Ginger Sykes Torres is vice president of resiliency programs at Local First Arizona in Phoenix. She said farmers lose money and the food system is less stable because of climate change.
“The Trump administration is dismantling USDA programs," Sykes Torres said… "Cutting these programs is shortsighted and leaves growers more vulnerable to climate change.
Sierra and Sykes Torres were joined by Arizona State Rep. Mariana Sandoval. Her District 23 includes part of Yuma County. Also in attendance was Charlene Fernandez, the former state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and Robert Masson, an assistant agricultural agent with the University of Arizona's Yuma County Cooperative Extension.
They all called on Arizona residents to contact their local and federal elected officials and ask them to not support any more cuts to ag programs.
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Stay tuned to KAWC to hear from local and state officials on how climate change is impacting ag and water.
