California Growing Urban Agriculture Advisory Committee
The CA Urban Ag Advisory Committee will provide leadership and guidance to support the development, sustainability, and connectivity of urban agriculture networks in California. It will advise CAFF on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the statewide microgrant program and facilitate regional gatherings to uplift urban growers’ voices in CAFF’s policy priorities.
These seven urban agriculture experts are from various regions in California, and are working to guide the microgrant subaward program, organize and support regional farmer gatherings, and help identify systemic barriers and needed programmatic support. Funded by the CA Department of Food & Agriculture’s Farm to Fork Office, the present committee period runs through November of 2026.
Read more about our committee members below!
Va Her
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Consultant – Hmong Business Incubator Center
Region: Fresno County
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Business Technical Assistance to small farm and food business
Favorite Hobby: Karate is a way of life.
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: Be able to provide more resources to the BIPOC community.
Prema Walker
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Founder/CEO – Prema’s Permaculture & Composting
Region: Inland Empire
Agriculture/Organization Focus Area: Composting and Urban Farming
Favorite Vegetable: Okra
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: To provide the point of view of an immigrant woman trying to establish a profitable urban farm business.
Kristin Kvernland
Job Title/Farm/Organization: Farmer/Owner: Footprint Farm, Supply Chain Lead: Foodshed Cooperative
Region: San Diego
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Farming
Favorite Vegetable: Broccoli
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: 15+ years of lived experience working in the food system.
Krista Marshall
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Farm Lead – NorCal Resist Seeds of Solidarity Urban Farm
Region: Sacramento
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Urban Agroecology
Favorite Hobby: I love fiber arts and the connections between fiber, craft, and agriculture
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: We are a community run mutual aid farm so I think I bring useful perspectives on community power building and collective land stewardship.
Bianca Bonilla
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Founder and Executive Director – Plants, People, Community
Region: Southern California
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Ethnobotany, environmental justice, seed sovereignty, culturally rooted foodways, and community-led urban agriculture.
Favorite Hobby: Being with my daughter and growing milpas are my two favorite things!
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: A community-grounded lens, shaped by my experience as a farmer and community educator, that bridges culture, ecology, and practical implementation, helping ensure urban ag policies and programs are equitable, culturally relevant, and usable on the ground.
Moretta “Mo” Brown
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Owner/Operator – Berkeley Basket CSA LLC
Region: Bay Area
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Mixed vegetable and flower production in Berkeley & North Oakland backyards to provide food to our CSA program.
Favorite Hobby: Birding
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: I bring on-the-ground knowledge from operating a small but mighty CSA, training new farmers, and advocating for policies that uplift marginalized growers and expand urban agriculture in Berkeley.
Aaron De La Cerda
Job Title/Organization/Farm: Director of Farm and Garden Programs, Fresno Metro Ministries; Farmer at De La Tierra Farm
Region: Fresno
Agriculture/Organization Focus Areas: Food Security & Localized Food Network, Corn & Watermelon
Favorite Vegetable: Beans
What is the #1 thing you bring to the CAFF urban agriculture advisory committee?: Experience that bridging farm experience with market creation and connection to local producers that made it all possible.