Tip of the Iceberg podcast — Farmer Vern on climbing the staff-satisfaction ladder
What's a couple inches on a ladder? It can mean the world to farmworkers, or even retail, distribution and warehouse workers.
Vernon Peterson, a fourth-generation grower in Kingsburg, Calif., adjusted his orchard ladders with 10-inch steps and 45-degree stability teeth after hearing the need from his farmworkers at Abundant Harvest Organics, part of Homegrown Organic Farms.
"Ladders are a big deal in the field," he said. "It took one guy. It cost me a couple bucks a ladder and a guy a couple days to install. It wasn’t that big a deal, but folks really appreciated it, and it was their idea."
Peterson farms organic tree fruit, such as peaches, plums, nectarines and persimmons.
His farm is Equitable Food Initiative certified and is an early adopter of regenerative organic certification at the gold level.
Listen to the whole conversation between Peterson and LeAnne Rhodes Ruzzamenti, EFI's director of marketing communications:
Certifications play a key role in Peterson's sustainability efforts.
“There are just a whole lot of weasel words in this business, right?" Peterson said. "There are words like ‘sustainability.’ There’s ‘green.’ There’s ‘regenerative.’ There’s stuff that anybody can say they are. But when you get down to EFI certification or regenerative organic certification, now you’re talking. Now you’ve got something that’s real."
This kind of change has to work from the bottom up, rather than the top down, he said. “The top can inspire, but the people who know how the world turns, how to get the job done, if they’re not involved in the process of decision-making, you’re never going to get it done by dictating from the top down," he said.
EFI has given his company a structure, a framework to make changes in worker conditions.
Representatives from all levels of the operation — field, packing shed, cold storage, quality control, sales — have a voice in improving the farm.
"Everyone can speak to the process, make that process better, more efficient, more effective. And it’s demonstrable," he said.
Peterson has "easily" seen a 50-55% improvement in worker effectiveness.
Want to hear more? Listen to the Tip of the Iceberg podcast.
