California State Treasurer Fiona Ma was deeply honored to receive the first-ever Champion of Agriculture Award from the California Farm Bureau.
Fiona Ma did not grow up in an agricultural family, and she is the first to admit she does not have a green thumb. But her journey into agriculture began during her time in the California State Assembly in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession, when then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed selling the historic San Francisco Cow Palace to help balance the state budget.
That same weekend, Cotton Rosser and Seth Doulton — who were hosting the Grand National Rodeo — met with Fiona Ma to share the history and importance of the Cow Palace, the first District Agricultural Association in California. That conversation proved pivotal and marked the beginning of her deep and lasting commitment to agriculture.
Since then, Fiona has toured farms, ranches, and agricultural facilities connected to more than 250 of the over 400 products grown in California, gaining firsthand insight into the hard work and resilience of the state’s farmers and ranchers.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, global trade disruptions, tariffs, and the war in Ukraine, Fiona Ma doubled down on her commitment by co-founding, alongside Seth Doulton, the San Francisco Farm Bureau — the 54th chapter in California — to help raise awareness in urban communities about the importance of supporting agriculture.
Fiona often emphasizes a simple truth: as humans, we rely on three essentials — air, water, and food. Protecting the people who produce our food must be a priority. Food security is national security, and there is no culture without agriculture.
