GSA Celebrates Our Farming Community

During National Fruit and Vegetable Month, the Grower Shipper Association wants to celebrate the farmers and teams who work hard every day to bring these healthy and wholesome foods to consumers. Therefore we will be doing a series of new blogs featuring interviews with farmers and farm employees, including their biggest challenges, why they love farming and their favorite part of the day. Today we feature Chris Filice of Filice Farms.

Filice Farms is a third generation farming company which grows both conventional and organic produce, including bell peppers, onions, lettuces, spinach, celery, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, cilantro, and cherries in San Benito County. Chris returned to the company in 2015 to join his mom, Kay, and the rest of the Filice Farms team. Chris, his wife and two young daughters live in the farming community of Gilroy.

What is your favorite part of the work day?

In the morning with the sun coming up and seeing the tractors work and the harvest beginning. When I see the sun coming up over the mountains I feel privileged to have the opportunity to do what I do.

I also love that I get to work outside with people who share the same passion. Every day we grow nutritious food for consumers across the nation to enjoy, and it is very rewarding.

And, farming is never boring. The days just go by so fast. You can be an accountant, salesman, manager and tractor driver all in the same day.

What is the most challenging part about farming today?

Our costs are always increasing, especially with labor and all the required regulations that now go into farming. These increasing costs are becoming very challenging as more and more laws and regulations come into place. I would also say that water shortages and the lack of water storage in California is always concerning. So we are always trying to do more with less.

Why did you choose to return to a life of farming when many farm kids have moved to other professions?

I did look at other industries and professions but I found I just loved this. Having grown up in this community, going to work with my dad at a young age, I developed a love of farming, the people and the nutritious products we grow. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to come back. There is no doubt it is difficult and constantly challenging and changing but this is the life for me.

When it comes to food safety, what motivates you?

We have a responsibility to our customers, our consumers and the community to grow safe food and we always try and go above and beyond and establish a culture throughout our company. You can never take time off from food safety. Everything we grow we take home to our families, our friends and our neighbors so we have to continually improve and work constantly to minimize any risks.

What is your favorite crop to grow?

I actually have two. The first is bell peppers. They are in the ground for eight months so we pick them four or five times. You have to put a lot of effort into growing these and you see the changes in the crop constantly. I have been in different fruit and vegetable fields all my life and peppers are still my favorite smell on the farm.

The other crop is cherries and I think it is also because I grew up walking through cherry orchards with my dad. Nothing is prettier than seeing these orchards against the mountains or a tree filled with ripe cherries. This crop takes 365 days of work for five to seven days of harvest so it is much different than a row crop.

But all of the crops we grow are a labor of love.

Next week we will hear from a Human Resources Manager who is a thoughtful and innovative professional leading not only her team, but human resources managers throughout the region. Stay tuned.