The theme for this year’s Ag Day at the state capitol is “Growing Careers & Opportunities.” This is an important theme and a value that is both embraced and demonstrated on strawberry farms and communities across the state and since the crop was first introduced in the early 1900s.
California’s strawberry farmers produce nearly 90% of our nation’s strawberries, many on multi-generational, family-owned farms. But they’re not just growing strawberries — they’re building a workforce that promotes equity, advancement, and reflects the diversity of California’s farming communities.
For generations, strawberry farming in California has elevated farmworkers — engaging workers through training, providing competitive wages and benefits, and empowering opportunities for advancement — from picker to truck driver, to supervisor and even farm owner.
The American Dream Crop
The phenomenon of the American Dream transcends ethnicity and economic status, with early European Americans introducing strawberries in the early 20th Century. After a time, many Japanese Americans became owners in the 1930s. This trend continued with a surge of Mexican-Americans seizing opportunities to become farm owners in the 1950s.
California strawberry farming today reflects America’s proud immigrant history and what has made this state and country the land of opportunity.
Women have also become a greater force in strawberry farming, reminding us that big dreams sometimes start very small, just like a strawberry plant flourishes from a small root to a beautiful, colorful plant that yields vibrant, red berries.
What has fostered this opportunity for so many?
The answer lies in several qualities unique to strawberries themselves: Small plots of land can support a new business due to the high yield and long harvest season for strawberries. Upward mobility is easier given these lower barriers to entry.
Beyond the Farms: A Growing Industry
Beyond the strawberry farms, strawberries are responsible for the jobs of an entire network of workers in transportation, packaging, shipping, and marketing.
Additionally, strawberries are now generating opportunities in research and technology, as is evident at California State University, San Luis Obispo, which houses the California Strawberry Center. Now in its tenth year, the center continues to be dedicated to advancing automation, entomology, plant pathology, and other sustainable strawberry farming practices that benefit growers and the environment.
Rooted in Sustainability
Fighting plastic waste is a prime example of how California’s strawberry growers and environmental scientists are converting innovation into real-world benefits. Our farmers have been in the vanguard of optimizing the recycling process to boost the recycling rates of plastic clamshells.
Today, California berry clamshells are officially 100% recyclable and exceed nearly all of California’s requirements.
- Berry farmers are sourcing new berry clamshells with recycled plastic from post-consumer clamshells to create a circular economy.
- We are leading by example to show how farmers are moving faster and more cost-effectively than regulations to invent and optimize the most sustainable berry package in the world.
Strawberry growers have set similar goals of further limiting the use of pesticides and fumigation, investing more in research for alternatives than any other crop. Aggressively tackling these goals solves problems and contributes to the staggering level of opportunity that revolves around the beautiful and vibrant California strawberry.
Growing Organically
More organic strawberries are grown in California than anywhere else in the world. And most farmers employ organic practices on conventional farms, and that includes using the same sustainable management practices for controlling insect pests. In fact, many farmers grow both organic and conventional strawberries.
