Karen Ross

Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture

www.cdfa.ca.gov

[Nutrition is] not just about enough basic calories to survive, but the nutrition to thrive and really allow each individual to have access to that food and really achieve their potential.

Karen Ross agrees that with thoughtful management, every acre itself can be more productive, without tearing out more land, using more water and fertilizer. As the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Ross strives to support the California tradition of innovation and agricultural diversity by working with private industry, academia and public sector agencies. In her current role, Ross draws from her previous experiences as President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and chief of staff for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Ross has a B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a graduate of the Nebraska Ag Leadership Program. In 2005 she was recognized by the California Agriculture Leadership Foundation with a Profiles in Leadership award.

Food

Live Event Appearances

Past event

Crops, Cattle & Carbon

California’s 81,000 farms and ranches account for 6 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Making the farms more energy efficient, and ensuring that farmers can adapt to a warmer planet, will be a decades-long challenge, agreed a panel of experts gathered by Climate One, in San Francisco, on June 14.

Past event

New Food Revolution

One more hungry mouth to feed? Try 9.6 billion -- that’s the earth’s projected population by 2050, according to a United Nations report.

Dinner was on the table, figuratively speaking, at a recent Climate One event at The Commonwealth Club. It’s estimated the amount of food needed to feed the planet will double by mid-century, so how will we manage the world’s food supply? Is the solution to simply produce more food?

Past event

Is California Entering A Megadrought?

According to a recent study conducted by NASA and Cornell and Columbia universities, drier days are yet to come. In fact, they warn, the southwest region of the United States could be headed into a megadrought lasting several decades.

Past event

COVID-19 and Climate: Implications for our Food System

Will COVID-19 change our food system for good? Increased coronavirus outbreaks in food markets, food plants, and farmworker communities have impacted food access and put a spotlight on food insecurity. Farmers are hurting as supply chains for fresh, perishable foods shrivel. Meanwhile, food banks have seen a surge in demand that has required distribution support from the National Guard.