After 16 years as the staff lead for the Center for Produce Safety, Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli will begin a new chapter in mid-2025, the organization announced in a news release. As executive director since 2008, she has guided the nonprofit that has invested more than $46 million to fund produce-specific food safety research, according to a news release.
“The CPS mission is to fund research, find solutions and fuel change in fresh produce food safety,” Fernandez-Fenaroli said. “For me, the underlying strength that makes that possible is the world-class group of volunteers who have offered their time and expertise to make CPS the success it is today. I will miss working with these amazing people. They are the reason I know CPS will continue to advance its all-important work.”
CPS Board Chair Joe Pezzini, senior director of agricultural operations at Taylor Farms, said details about the search for a new executive director will be forthcoming, but over the next several months the organization will take time to recognize Fernandez-Fenaroli’s contributions to CPS and the industry.
“Bonnie has been the backbone of CPS for nearly two decades,” Pezzini said. “All of the rest of us have our day jobs while we’re volunteering with CPS, but her sole focus has been on this vital work to enhance produce safety.”
He said the enabling factor in CPS’ growth has been Fernandez-Fenaroli’s respect that she built over the past 16 years for the produce industry, noting her skills in diplomacy and connecting the right folks at the right time to accomplish big tasks.
“Bonnie has led the effort to make food safety research something relevant with critical importance — thus having a profound effect on the nation’s food supply,” Pezzini said. “Without her leading the charge, I truly believe the industry would be much farther behind in the safety of its products and possibly subject to countless more recalls and outbreaks. CPS has raised the bar on produce safety knowledge.”
Fernandez-Fenaroli said she sees the next five years as particularly exciting for CPS.
“I look forward to seeing how the board, the Technical Committee, and the new executive director accelerate the work of CPS,” she said. “I’m not much for looking in the rearview mirror, but when I do look back at how much CPS has accomplished since 2008, I’m beyond confident that the future will bring more ground-breaking research and practical solutions that will fuel the change needed to enhance produce safety even further.”
