“Growing up as a farmer’s daughter in the Salinas Valley of California was a dirty job, but it turns out I was the perfect kid for the profession! It allowed me to spend endless hours after school, on weekends, and during the summer riding shotgun in my dad’s work truck checking on water pumps that serviced 40,000+ acres of lettuce. We talked to land owners, contract farmers, safety inspectors, and harvest crews daily; I even “helped” pick alongside strawberry pickers in Watsonville. It was obvious to me at an early age that once you knew about produce and the long list of people it touches, it becomes a part of your life. To this day I keep up with the weather religiously, cringe when I read of excess rain or severe drought, and sigh deeply each time I hear of a labor shortage.
Three years ago I joined Ben E. Keith Foods as the Mid-South Marketing Manager and was given the task of promoting all kinds of different foods, but my favorite is produce. I love the science behind the product—the idea that supply and demand is always changing and the fact that it has a long line of people behind it.”
