Newsom’s Organic Goal and Income Spent on Food Steady

**In April, Governor Gavin Newsom announced California’s goal to convert 10% of its cropland to organic by 2030, but that could be a heavy lift considering recent trends.

In 2022, after years of expansion, about 4% of the state’s cropland was organic, but has now declined for two straight years.

Some are pushing the state, a major food buyer for public institutions, to leverage its purchasing power to create the market needed to achieve the goals.

**The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association will host its 2024 Annual Meeting December 5-7 in San Antonio.

This year, USCA will host panel discussions on animal IDs, marketing, competition, livestock risk protection, and new and emerging technologies within the industry.

USCA President Justin Tupper says each year, the meeting serves as the guidepost for how and what USCA will focus on in terms of policy and issue priorities.

**In 2023, U.S. consumers spent an average of 11.2% of their disposable personal income on food, consistent with 2022.

Consumer preferences between food-AT-home and AWAY-from-home have since returned to pre-COVID trends.

Specifically, 5.3% of disposable personal income was spent on food AT home, down from 5.6% in 2022.

Food AWAY from home rose to 5.9% from 5.6% the previous year.

Worth noting, disposable personal income rose by 8.1% in 2023.