California

FruitGuys Farm-to-School Program: 2023-24 Highlights

By Lex Flamm on June 11, 2024

The 2023-24 school year was the busiest yet for the FruitGuys Farm-to-School Program, and we couldn’t be more proud of the work our school team has done to bring fresh fruit and vegetables to students …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News Tagged With: California, farm-to-school program, fresh fruit, vegetarian

Meet The Fresh Fruit Delivery Drivers Bringing Produce to You

By The FruitGuys on June 7, 2024

It would be pretty fantastic if the fruit in your office could magically replenish overnight. Imagine apples dropping from the ceiling like Christmas presents sliding down the chimney! The FruitGuys’ …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, fresh fruit, Texas

‘Structure’ Is the Magic Word: Employee Mental Health Tips

By Erin Mittelstaedt on May 29, 2024

In 2013, I signed up for a weekly mediation class at the San Francisco Zen Center on a whim. I’m still not a regular meditator but it was a valuable and important class for me. The part that I …

Filed Under: Chief Banana Tagged With: California, healthy office, return to office

Need Pride Month Snacks for the Office? Try Two Chicks Jerky!

By Lex Flamm on May 24, 2024

In the summer of 2012, married couple Shannon Ronan and Breelyn MacDonald put their bartending jobs on hold, tossed their backpacks into the back of their Honda Fit, and left their home in San Rafael, …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, healthy office, healthy snacks

Farmer of the Month: John Warmerdam of New Excelsior Farming

By Lex Flamm on May 3, 2024

When John Warmerdam was a kid, his school bus didn’t drop him off at home—or even at the corner near his house. Instead, it took him to his family’s fruit packing shed. “That’s where my …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, family farm, farmer of the month, stone fruit

Farmer of the Month: Javier Zamora of JSM Organics

By Lex Flamm on April 19, 2024

Stepping out of the car and onto the soil of JSM Organics in Royal Oaks, California, felt like setting foot in an orderly kind of paradise. Spring sunshine swept over the strawberry fields and …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: berries, California, california farms, farmer of the month, sustainable farming

Farmer of the Month: Emily Ayala of Friend’s Ranches

By Lex Flamm on March 11, 2024

Emily Ayala’s voice is both exhausted and euphoric. “We’re starting the harvest of Ojai Pixies today!” she told The FruitGuys over Zoom on Feb. 28, grinning into the camera. “I’ve been up since …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, citrus, family farm, farmer of the month

Farmer of the Month: Bianca Kaprielian of Fruit World

By Lex Flamm on February 23, 2024

At 9 a.m. on February 3, 2024, swimmers lined up on the shore of the San Francisco Bay. The chilly water beckoned, droplets leaping up and causing shivers. Then — splash! They dove in and surged …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, citrus, farmer of the month, farmers, small farms

Farmer of the Month: Vince Bernard of Bernard Ranch

By Lex Flamm on January 30, 2024

It can be tough to get a farmer on the phone during their busiest season. But when The FruitGuys called Vince Bernard of Bernard Ranch to check in on how his family farm in Riverside, CA, was doing, …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, citrus, family farm, farmer of the month, sustainable farming

Fun and Healthy Valentine’s Day Activities for Students

By Lex Flamm on January 23, 2024

Valentine’s Day in the classroom typically features an avalanche of chocolates, conversation hearts, and sugar highs — but you don’t have to join the chaos! With a bit of foresight, you can plan fun …

Filed Under: Health and Fitness Tagged With: California, farm-to-school program, fresh fruit, healthy kids

Save an Apple and Help a Farmer

By Chris Mittelstaedt on August 15, 2023

I wrote a couple weeks ago about how much I love Gravenstein apple season– and now it’s here! We will be making deliveries the weeks of August 21 and 28. You can experience this endangered heritage …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, Gravenstein, small farms, support small farms

The Gamble of Early Summer Fruit

By Chris Mittelstaedt on May 9, 2023

Long ago I wondered why slot machines used cherries as the winning images for hitting the jackpot. It didn’t make sense to me. Maybe a dollar sign, or a star, but cherries? It seemed odd. Yet a …

Filed Under: Chief Banana Tagged With: California, stone fruit, summer fruit

Women Growing Change: The Class of 2022 FruitGuys Community Fund Grantees

By Pia Hinckle on May 5, 2022

A diverse group of women farmers dominate the 2022 class of grantees for The FruitGuys Community Fund, the nonprofit’s 10th year of providing grants to small farms and agricultural nonprofits that …

Filed Under: Impact Tagged With: California, Chicago, fruitguys community fund, New York, small farms, small grants, sustainability

Farm Grantees Make Progress Despite Pandemic

By The FruitGuys Community Fund on September 18, 2020

The FruitGuys Community Fund 2020 grantee farms have sent us their interim updates, and in spite of the pandemic, these farms and organizations have done some incredible work! These 15 small farms and …

Filed Under: Impact Tagged With: California, Chicago, farm, farmers, fruitguys community fund, New York, Pennsylvania, pollinators, small farms, support small farms, sustainable agriculture

The 2020 FruitGuys Community Fund Grantees

By The FruitGuys Community Fund on May 13, 2020

During the COVID-19 crisis, small farms are showing once again just how essential they are to keeping our local communities fed, healthy, and functioning. The FruitGuys Community Fund is excited to …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, farm, farmers, fruitguys community fund, New York, Pennsylvania, pollinators, small farms, support small farms, sustainable agriculture

Eat the Endangered Gravenstein Apple

By Pia Hinckle on August 1, 2019

“Farming is a complex math problem,” sighs Dave Hale as he looks sadly at piles of wood chips that had been Gravenstein apple trees in the lot next to his thriving Sebastopol, CA, orchard. He tended …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, farm, Gravenstein

Less Time to Chill

By Pia Hinckle on April 23, 2015

Cherries are finicky trees. They don’t like it when it gets too hot, when there’s not enough rain, and when it doesn’t stay cold enough during the winter. For the last few winters, California’s …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: Agriculture, California, drought, stone fruit

Buy a Box; Save an Apple

By Miriam Wolf on July 25, 2014

Like the snowy owl and the snail darter, foods can be endangered too. If farmers stop growing your favorite variety of tomato because it’s too hard to ship or too prone to pests, we come that much …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: California, farm, GoodWorks, Gravenstein

Perspectives on Drought Part 1: Alexis Robertson of Skyelark Ranch

By Alexis Robertson on January 29, 2014

Recently, California’s growers and water districts approached Governor Jerry Brown to declare California in a state of drought. It has been one of the driest winters on record and the state’s …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: California, drought

California’s Bitter Drought

By Pia Hinckle on January 23, 2014

Image courtesy of NOAA California Governor Jerry Brown declared on January 17, 2014, what farmers and ranchers have known for some time -- the state is in a drought, possibly the worst one in …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News Tagged With: California, drought, farm, fruitguys community fund