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California agriculture produces more than 350 commodities with a combined value in excess of $28 billion. The processing of many of these crops results in the production of residue streams that face increasing regulatory pressure to reduce environmental impacts and provide for sustainable management and use. Surveys of food and other processing and waste management sectors combined with published state data yield a total resource in excess of 4 million metric tons dry matter, with close to half of this likely to be available for utilization. About two-thirds of the available resource is produced as high moisture residues that could support close to 130 MWe of power generation by anaerobic digestion and other conversion techniques. The other third is generated as low moisture materials, many of which are already employed as fuel in direct combustion biomass power plants. Cost of energy conversion remains high for biochemical systems, with tipping or disposal fees of the order of $30 50 Mg-1 required to align power costs with current market prices. Identifying ways to reduce capital and operating costs of energy conversion, extend operating seasons to increase capacity factor such as by centralizing facilities and combining resource streams, and monetize environmental benefits remain important goals for restructuring food and processing waste management in the state.