A.G. Kawamura

Panel of Advisors Member, Global Food and Agriculture Program
Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Founding Cochair, Solutions from the Land; Former Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture

A.G. Kawamura is a third-generation grower and shipper from Orange County, California. He is the former secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (2003-2010). He serves on several boards and committees including: founding chair of Solutions from the Land; Global Food and Agriculture Program Panel of Advisors for the Chicago Council for Global Affairs; American Farmland Trust board member; Farm Foundation board member; Western Growers Association board member and former chair. For over 30 years Kawamura has worked locally, nationally and internationally, looking for agricultural solutions to the toughest challenges of our time, through the nexus of water, energy, food, new technology, and trade. He remains active in policy discussions on food security and agricultural resilience. As a progressive urban farmer, he has a lifetime of experience working within the shrinking rural and urban boundaries of southern California. Through his company, Orange County Produce, LLC, he is building a collaborative, interactive 21st century 70-acre agricultural showcase at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. Kawamura graduated with a BA from UC Berkeley.