We recently lost a dear friend and long-time sustainable agriculture advocate, Pete Price.  Pete wore many hats but among them, he was an early supporter and long-standing advisor to CalCAN.

His passion for sustainable agriculture came from his time at UC Davis, studying sustainable agriculture, becoming an early board member to the Community Alliance for Family Farmers (CAFF), and embracing the idea of the importance of small, family farmers in their role stewards of the land and participants in a democratic society.

Pete was a tough and passionate advocate for the environment. He worked for Speaker Willie Brown as his environmental advisor. Later he started his own lobby firm representing environmental and sustainable agriculture clients. He then returned to the Assembly to work for Speaker John Perez. again advising on environmental issues, before ending his career with Waste Management. All the while Pete maintained his long-standing involvement with CAFF.

He mentored many and demanded of all of us strong arguments and clear strategic thinking. He also loved a good laugh and shared his passion for music and good food.

Pete played a key role in the early days of CalCAN, representing us in the capital and helping to craft our first bills to create a climate change and agriculture program in California. That work resulted in the Climate Smart Agriculture programs, like Healthy Soils and more. He was proud of our collective accomplishments and he remained a regular advisor to our work, pushing us to deepen and broaden our efforts.

As many have noted Pete passed doing one of the things he loved – biking.

Our hearts go out to his family and to his many friends. We will miss you, Pete.