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CapitalPress.com
January 15, 2016
People & Places
Urban markets aid next generation
Sandi McGinnis-
Garcia and niece
step into new roles
as farm operators
Western
Innovator
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
WATSONVILLE, Calif.
— When Howard McGin-
nis retired from 47 years in
farming recently, his daughter
jumped at the opportunity to
run the operation.
“I grew up on the farm and
started driving a tractor when
I was 9 years old,” Sandi Mc-
Ginnis-Garcia said. “There
were five kids and but only my
niece, Sara Evett, and I were
interested in taking over from
Dad. We, as co-owners, turned
everything over to a (limited
liability corporation).”
The 17½-acre McGinnis
Ranch is 99 miles south of San
Francisco. All of the produce
is sold to consumers through
San Francisco farmers’ mar-
kets: Ferry Plaza, Alemany
and in Menlo Park. Any left-
over produce is donated to a
food pantry in a local shelter
and leftover flowers are taken
to various locations including
a senior center and a church.
Brie Mazurek, marketing
and communications man-
ager of the Center for Urban
Education about Sustainable
Agriculture at Ferry Plaza
Farmers’ Market, had praise
for McGinnis-Garcia and her
contributions to the success of
the market.
Sandi McGinnis-
Garcia
Hometown: Watsonville,
Calif.
Family: Two children
Julia Hollister/ For the Capital Press
Sandi McGinnis-Garcia, left, and niece Sara Evett sell their produce at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Mar-
kets in San Francisco and other locations. They are continuing the operation of their family farm.
“McGinnis Ranch has been
part of CUESA’s Ferry Plaza
Farmers’ Market community
for more than 15 years, bring-
ing their beautiful bouquets,
berries and vegetables,” she
said. “As an organization that
supports farmers in making
their operations more sustain-
able, we’re excited to see the
next generation stepping in to
carry on that family farming
legacy and transition to organ-
ic.”
McGinnis-Garcia also no-
ticed some changes in the con-
sumers over the years.
“The biggest changes I
have witnessed in 30 years of
going to farmers’ markets are
that people are demanding
organic produce,” she said.
“They are more aware of how
food is grown and where it
comes from and they want to
buy local.”
The crops — grown in
sandy soil with a combina-
tion of commercial fertilizer
and mushroom compost —
includes carrots, fava beans,
flowers, green beans, logan-
berries, raspberries, winter
squash, strawberries, English
peas, broccoli, zucchini,
beets, pumpkins and olallie
berries.
Education is part of their
service to customers.
For example, “I always
advise customers to break the
bushy green tops off the baby
carrots first,” McGinnis-Gar-
cia said. “That way the carrots
will stay fresher longer be-
cause they are not providing
nutrients that keep the tops
alive. On the farm, we use
the greens for compost and
mulch. The cucumber beetle
doesn’t like to eat the carrot
tops so we put them around
the flower beds.”
The farm currently uses
an Integrated Pest Manage-
ment approach that includes
beneficial insects and crop
rotation but McGinnis-Garcia
said they are transitioning to
organic, a three-year process.
The farmland — which
sits on a 12 percent grade —
is steep and drains well. The
grade allows maximum sun
exposure and extends the
farm’s growing season sig-
By CANDICE CHOI
AP Food Industry Writer
Courtesy of Yamhill-Carlton FFA
Left to right are members of the Yamhill-Carlton FFA’s Oregon state Agricultural Sales competition winners:
Elsie Duyn, a junior; Abbey Berhorst , a junior; Liberty Greenlund, a senior; and Hayley DeHaan, a senior.
Yamhill-Carlton FFA wins
state Ag Sales competition
component that proves their
comprehension of prospect-
ing for new customers, han-
dling customer relations/
complaints, print advertising
creation and telephone or-
der-taking skills. The fourth
component is a team activity
where the team is given a new
product to develop a compre-
hensive marketing strategy
and present to a panel of judg-
es in just under one hour.
The team consisted of El-
sie Duyn, Hayley DeHaan,
Liberty Greenlund and Abbey
Berhorst.
The team also recent-
ly took second place at the
Lower Willamette District
Ag Sales event, held at Day-
ton High School on Nov. 19,
which qualified them to com-
pete at the state level. Their
months of practice and ded-
ication were validated when
they achieved first place out
of 19 teams from across the
state Dec. 5 at Ontario High
School.
The team will go on to
compete as Oregon’s repre-
sentative at the National FFA
Agriculture Sales Competi-
tion held in Indianapolis, Ind.,
in the fall of 2016.
Quote: “I believe in retaining
as much ag land as possi-
ble. My grandmother was a
farmer, too, so I am happy to
be a part of four generations
of time-honored values.
And, I also enjoy a good
challenge.”
nificantly. She predicts they
will continue to pick beans
and berries until the first frost.
Water is not a problem
now. The farm uses most-
ly drip irrigation, and some
sprinkler irrigation from two
deep wells on the property.
“In my opinion, the big-
gest challenge facing agricul-
ture today is land access,” she
said. “There is not as much
land to be had and if I were
a beginning farmer I couldn’t
do what I am doing now. Ev-
erything I have was already
in place when I took over, so
I didn’t have to consider the
cost of land, cost of getting
started and setting up market
outlets.”
To submit an event go to the
Community Events calendar on the
home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Sub-
mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press,
1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR
97301.
2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi-
lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific
Grove, Calif.
Friday, Jan. 22
Tuesday, Jan. 19
Northwest Hay Expo, Three Rivers
Convention Center, Kennewick, Wash.
NEW YORK (AP) —
Campbell Soup says it sup-
ports a mandatory national
labeling standard for products
containing genetically modi-
fied ingredients.
The maker of Pepperidge
Farm cookies, Prego sauces
and Spaghetti-Os says it will
withdraw its support from
various efforts opposing such
labeling, which has become a
contested issue in recent years.
The move marks a break from
industry groups that have
sought to make labeling vol-
untary.
About three-quarters of
Campbell’s products con-
tain GMOs. The company
has opposed a patchwork of
state-by-state legislation that
it believes would confuse cus-
tomers.
States have tried to address
the issue on their own and Ver-
mont passed legislation requir-
ing food makers to disclose
when certain products contain
genetically modified ingre-
dients by July. But industry
groups want to pre-empt such
efforts with federal legislation
that would make disclosures
voluntary, said Michele Si-
mon, a public health lawyer.
“They’re going for as little
as they can,” Simon said.
If a federal labeling stan-
dard isn’t established in a
“reasonable amount of time,”
Campbell says it will work
independently to disclose the
presence of GMOs in its prod-
ucts. The company did not
specify a timeline for doing so.
Genetically modified seeds
are engineered in laboratories
to have certain traits, such
as resistance to herbicides.
The majority of the country’s
corn and soybean crop is now
genetically modified, with
much of that going to animal
feed. Corn and soybeans are
also made into popular pro-
cessed food ingredients like
high-fructose corn syrup, corn
starch and soybean oil.
The food industry says
about 75 percent to 80 percent
of foods contain genetical-
ly modified ingredients. The
Food and Drug Administration
has said that GMOs are safe.
Still, the number of prod-
ucts stamped with a volun-
tary “non-GMO” label from
a third-party group has prolif-
erated as the issue has gained
attention. The label, which is
displayed on the front of pack-
ages, has become a marketing
tool in some cases, Simon not-
ed.
Campbell’s labeling for
GMO ingredients likely
wouldn’t be as prominent. An
image provided by the com-
pany to illustrate compliance
with the Vermont law showed
the back of a Spaghetti-Os
can with the words “Partially
produced with genetic engi-
neering” in small print at the
bottom.
The company also called
on the federal government to
propose a national standard
for non-GMO claims made on
food packaging.
Campbell Soup CEO De-
nise Morrison has been out-
spoken about the need for big
food makers to adapt to chang-
ing tastes. The company, based
in Camden, N.J., has been di-
versifying its packaged food
lineup with offerings that are
seen as fresher.
Its acquisitions in recent
years include premium juice
and carrot seller Bolthouse
Farms and Plum Organics,
which makes baby food.
Calendar
2016 Annual Rice Grower Meet-
ings, 8:30 a.m. Evangelical Church,
Richvale, Calif., and 1:30 p.m.,
Glenn Pheasant Hall, Glenn, Calif.
Wednesday, Jan. 20
2016 Annual Rice Grower Meet-
ings, 8:30 a.m., CIP Conference
Room, Colusa, Calif., and 1:30 p.m.,
Veterans Hall, Yuba City, Calif.
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester ..........................President
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Sid Freeman .................. Outside director
Mike Omeg .................... Outside director
Corporate officer
John Perry
Chief operating officer
Capital Press Managers
Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher
Joe Beach ..................................... Editor
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Occupation: Farmer
Campbell says it supports
standard for GMO labeling
The Yamhill-Carlton High
School FFA chapter traveled
to Ontario, Ore., High School
Friday, Dec. 4, to compete in
the Oregon state Agricultural
Sales CDE (Career Devel-
opment Event) competition.
This CDE is a four-part com-
petition.
The first part consists of a
50-question multiple choice
knowledge test on the com-
plexities of the sales process.
The second is a 15-minute
sales presentation where the
student sells a product of their
choosing to a judge or judges.
The third is a practicum
Capital Press
Methods of Measuring Fruit &
Vegetable Flavor, Color and Texture
Workshop, 8 a.m. University of Cali-
fornia-Davis Postharvest Technology
Center, Davis.
Thursday, Jan. 21
2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi-
lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific
Grove, Calif.
Northwest Hay Expo, Three
Rivers Convention Center, Kenne-
wick, Wash.
2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi-
lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific
Grove, Calif.
Saturday, Jan. 23
2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi-
lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific
Grove, Calif.
Washington-Oregon
Potato
Conference, Three Rivers Conven-
tion Center, Kennewick, Wash.
Wednesday, Jan. 27
Northwest Agricultural Show, 9
a.m.-8 p.m., Portland Expo Center,
2060 N. Marine Drive, Portland,
Ore., www.nwagshow.com
Monday, Jan. 25
Washington Oregon Potato
Conference, Three Rivers Conven-
tion Center, Kennewick, Wash.
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Cattle Industry Convention and
NCBA Trade Show, Convention
Center, San Diego, Calif.
Oregon Blueberry Conference,
Red Lion Hotel, Portland, Ore.
Northwest Agricultural Show,
9 a.m.-6 p.m., Portland Expo
Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive,
Portland, Ore., www.nwagshow.
com
Thursday, Jan. 28
Northwest Agricultural Show,
9 a.m.-3 p.m., Portland Expo
Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive, Port-
land, Ore., www.nwagshow.com
Washington Oregon Pota-
to Conference, Three Rivers
Convention Center, Kennewick,
Wash.
Cattle Industry Convention
and NCBA Trade Show, Conven-
tion Center, San Diego, Calif.
Organic Farming Conference,
The College of Idaho, Caldwell,
208-850-6504. The conference
will feature reduced tillage sys-
tems in organic production, or-
ganic certification and record
keeping tips, crop insurance op-
tions for organic producers and
virtual farm tours.
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