State Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) today named Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) as chairman of the Senate’s agriculture committee. Florez then announced the panel would be renamed the Senate Food and Agriculture Committee and refocused to reflect his view that, “For too long consumers, the people who eat (California produced) food every day, have not had a voice at the table in Sacramento. Instead, discussions have been dominated by the industry. It was my goal, when reorganizing the Food & Agriculture committee, to create the first ever legislative forum where consumers and policy makers can discuss the fundamental topics of food safety, sustainable farming, animal welfare and food security.”
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