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Essential produce is no longer just for Birkenstock-donning, flannel shirt-wearing, hanker-haired hippies from San Francisco.
That stereotype is long gone.
What isn’t gone — and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon — is a burgeoning team of consumers throughout the world who desire fresh fruits and vegetables that are let out of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
John France, a state farmer and businessman, is one of many who has answered consumers’ call for these crops, which can be labeled and sold as “methodical” only if they meet certain federal regulations and criteria.
France, a certified grower of primary crops since 1989, is the president of Porterville-based Homegrown Native Farms, which markets and sells 15 different organic commodities for 45 farmers throughout California and Oregon.
Last year, Homegrown administered the trade of more than 1 million cartons of organic produce for its growers. The company’s trite storage and main distribution center, from which the organic goods are shipped nationwide and to Canada, is located in the nugatory Kern County town of Arvin.
Source: Porterville Recorder