HOPE
Photo courtesy of SunTerra Produce
In a world turned upside down, farmers help feed those in need
Story by Kevin Hecteman • Photos by Joselito Villero
Pandemics can have a way of bringing out the best in people. When restaurants were required to close or cut back, a lot of fresh food had nowhere to go; meanwhile, millions of people thrown out of work found themselves scrambling to feed their families. And that led to many farmers helping their communities get through the rough times by sending their bounty—directly or indirectly—to food banks and other organizations. Steve Brazeel of Orange County-based SunTerra Produce signed up to help through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers to Families Food Box Program. USDA’s goal: Buy excess inventory from farmers and ranchers and route it to those in need. As a grower, packer and shipper of a wide array of fruits and vegetables, Brazeel was well-positioned to help families in need as well as farmers. “That was part of our effort, to help out local and smaller farmers in addition to the larger ones that were impacted by the crisis,” Brazeel said, adding that his role allows him “to be able to purchase product from a farmer who is struggling to move his crop and be able to pay him or her a decent price for that crop.” Those crops come from all over California—sweet corn, onions and cantaloupes from the Imperial Valley, tree fruit from the Central Valley, and lettuce from Salinas and Santa Maria all have found their way to SunTerra’s packinghouse in the Imperial Valley. From there, boxes go to 10 food banks in four states. “We can harvest lettuce on a Monday, and it can be in somebody’s home on the Navajo Nation by Wednesday,” Brazeel said.
Many of the boxes being delivered to clients of the Imperial Valley Food Bank, left, contain fresh fruits and vegetables from California farms that had been intended for food service before the pandemic.
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