{"id":4812,"date":"2015-02-27T09:24:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T13:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=4812"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:58:27","slug":"california-governor-reappoints-edf-working-lands-director-to-state-food-and-agriculture-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2015\/02\/27\/california-governor-reappoints-edf-working-lands-director-to-state-food-and-agriculture-board\/","title":{"rendered":"California governor reappoints EDF working lands director to state food and agriculture board"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eric<\/a>
Eric Holst, director of EDF’s working lands program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eric Holst<\/a>, senior director of Environmental Defense Fund\u2019s working lands program, has been reappointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Governor Jerry Brown.<\/p>\n

Holst has served on the board \u2013 a fifteen-member state board appointed by the governor to represent a range of agricultural commodities, geographic regions and academic systems \u2013 since 2012. The board encourages public participation and input in all matters concerning agriculture and food policy within the state, from hunger and malnutrition to climate change and environmental markets. But the dominant focus over the last year has been drought and how to mitigate impacts on California agriculture.<\/p>\n

A natural choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holst has been a leader in developing innovative partnerships with farmers, ranchers and foresters to improve environmental and economic performance on working lands for more than a decade, both in California and elsewhere across the country.<\/p>\n

Since he arrived at EDF in 2006 (based in Sacramento), Holst has worked with landowners to develop conservation tools like habitat exchanges<\/a> that benefit agriculture and the environment. He is an expert in developing strategies that improve livelihoods and environmental conditions on working forests, farms and ranches.<\/p>\n

Holst was previously executive director of the Resources Legacy Fund and program officer for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. He has also worked for the Rainforest Alliance and the Ford Foundation.<\/p>\n

A voice for the environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Craig<\/a>
Craig McNamara, President of Sierra Orchards and the California State Board of Food and Agriculture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEric\u2019s participation on the State Board of Food and Agriculture is critical in accomplishing the board\u2019s mission of advising both the governor and the secretary of agriculture on all issues pertaining to California agriculture,\u201d said Robert Craig McNamara, president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and Sierra Orchards, a diversified farming operation producing primarily organic walnuts.<\/p>\n

Holst got to know McNamara about 10 years ago when he worked as a consultant to the Center for Land Based Learning, a nonprofit that McNamara founded.<\/p>\n

\u201cCraig has been an inspiration to me as someone who has found a way to be a great farmer while prioritizing environmental stewardship,\u201d Holst said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one of two board members representing the environmental community, Eric contributes significantly on issues pertaining to regulations, water and California\u2019s continuing drought,\u201d McNamara said. \u201cWe are very pleased that he will be serving another four year term on the board.”<\/p>\n

California\u2019s farmers, ranchers and foresters provide numerous benefits to the people of California including food, fiber and numerous ecosystem benefits such as clean air<\/a> and wildlife habitat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for the opportunity to continue representing these interests and to bringing wider-recognition to the multiple environmental benefits provided by California\u2019s working lands,\u201d Holst said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Holst, senior director of Environmental Defense Fund\u2019s working lands program, has been reappointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Governor Jerry Brown. Holst has served on the board \u2013 a fifteen-member state board appointed by the governor to represent a range of agricultural commodities, geographic regions and academic systems \u2013 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9595,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120554],"tags":[200,71812,71814,190,383,71765,71813,67067,71811,71815],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-california","tag-california-state-board","tag-craig-mcnamara","tag-drought","tag-environmental-defense-fund","tag-eric-holst","tag-food-and-agriculture","tag-habitat-exchange-2","tag-jerry-brown","tag-sierra-orchards"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16036,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812\/revisions\/16036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4812"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}