To continue on from yesterday's post, the first stop on the Know a California Farmer Farm Fresh Tour began at a family farm that produces lettuce as its main crop.
Tanimura and Antle Farm in the town of Spreckles, close to Salinas, farms produce on 30,000 acres in California and in Arizona. This family farm provides 20% of the nation's lettuce supply. Some of their products include artisan lettuce and artisan red onions, iceberg, beets, bok choy, celery, and broccoli just to name a few.
The Tanimura family, as first generation Japanese-Americans, built a successful iceberg lettuce business in the 1920's. During WWII, they lost everything and spent three years in Japanese internment camps. In 1947 the Tanimuras began farming again.
Lester Antle began as a lettuce packer in 1930. Lester and his son, Bud, opened their own lettuce operation in 1942. The two families worked side by side and in 1982 formed Tanimura and Antle.
I had never visited a family farm of this size before but have driven by many going through California's Central Valley and was very excited about getting an up close look at the hands-on farming I witnessed at Tanimura and Antle. I found the farm's employee statistics and benefits interesting as well. Here are some of them:
- They employ 2,500 people, 133 of them are proud members of what they celebrate as their "20 Plus Years Club". Employees for 20 years or longer.
- Employees are given full benefits
- Vision and life insurance
- 401 {k} with match and profit sharing
- Free bus transportation
- Free on sight day care for children up to five years old
- pay can range up to $16.00 per hour
Even with all the benefits at Tanimura and Antle and the high unemployment rate in California, Americans don't seem to want these jobs. Brian Antle told us that after publicizing a hiring of 450 field jobs, not one American applied.
This is Tanimura and Antle's artisan lettuce, planted in rows with five varieties. Harvested at the same time, it is packed in boxes or clam shells right in the field and sent off to restaurants and stores. From farm to truck within hours of harvesting.
