CA: Program trains farmworkers to be organic farmers

[phantom power]

Martinez, who escaped the civil war in El Salvador three decades ago, used to pack tomatoes and harvest grapes for long hours and little pay in Central California. Then, one day, she heard an announcement on the radio: She could become a grower herself.

She enrolled in a small farmer education program in Salinas that trains farmworkers to establish and manage organic farms. Today, she grows four acres of organic strawberries in the Salinas Valley and sells them to Whole Foods markets.

"I really like being out here working," Martinez said, "because I'm working for myself."

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, known as ALBA, helps bring minority, low-income farmworkers into a profession long dominated by Anglos. Since the program started in 2001, it has created more than 80 small farm businesses.

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/615/3140451/Program-trains-farmworkers-to-be-organic-farmers-

[KurtNYC]

1. Demand for organic continues to grow faster than supply

Hopefully a program like this helps. Thanks for sharing this.

[BlueToTheBone]

2. Win/Win n.t