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Workshop #1: April 12th, 2018

The first workshop on April 12 was well attended. Due to the flooding on the originally scheduled date, this workshop also incorporated the originally schedule second workshop. The agenda and links below are from the combined workshop.

Detailed notes from the workshop in PDF format are available via this link.

Welcome

Kris Casto, president of the Mariposa Agri-Nature Associate Board introduced herself, the other board members, and presented the MANA mission and goals. She also gave an overview on this workship series, and an introductory talk on "What is Entrepreneurship?" For a PDF or power-point copy of her talk, see below.

• Kris's talk in PDF format
• Kris's talk in Power Point format

History of the Farm & Ranch Tour.

MANA board member JJ Gillispie, who has been working on the tour and with MANA since the beginning, gave an overview of past tours.

• Farms and Ranches of Mariposa County – 2017 Farm and Ranch Tour

Success stories

Kim Costa, Costa Livos Olive Oil. Kim gave a lively presentation emphasizing her love of doing business in Mariposa, and the general support her and Don have received. A link to their business web site is provided below.

Dave and Beth Lancaster of Sierra Cider talked about their cider business, and emphasized the cooperation they receive from local people, including from local wineries. A link to their business web site is provided below.

Raw Roots Farm was originally also going to be present, but had to cancel for personal reasons. However, much information about their business can be found on their web site, provided below.

• Costa Livos Olive Oil
• Sierra Cider
• Raw Roots Farm

Reasons to Collaborate

MANA board member Susan Labozetta presented information related to collaboration, and emphasized resources available from UC Davis.

• Agritourism and Nature Tourism in California – Second edition (book)
• Small Farm Handbook – Second edition (book)
• Other publications from UC Davis
• UC Davis Small Farms program home page – includes dozens of great links!

Zoning and Land Use

Sarah Williams, County Planning Director gave a thorough overview of what kind of businesses are allowed in the county and why. For a PDF or power-point copy of her talk, see below.

• Sarah's talk in PDF format
• Sarah's talk in Power Point format
• Important links from Sarah's talk – permits, codes, regulations, policies (PDF)

Health Department Regulations

Kerri Gibbons, Registered Environmental Health Specialist spoke about county Health Department regulations, including information about community kitchens.

Cottage laws

JJ spoke about her experience with running a home-based bakery and how Mariposa County's cottage laws have evolved to help small home-based businesses.

California State regulation example: Egg production

Susan spoke about her experience as a local, small egg producer, emphasizing that it is primarily a state governed issue, and that under most circumstances is an easy business to get into.

• Regulations of the CDFA Pertaining to Eggs and Egg Container

Future meetings

Kris opened the floor for requests for future topics, or for confirmation of the currently proposed topics. Please see below for future meeting information. Requests for future topics may be emailed to Kris@MariposaAgriNature.org.

For more about the Mariposa Agri-nature Association, please see our home page.