Dear donors and supporters,
Happy May! Spring is here and with it comes plenty of events and celebrations including anticipation around graduation here at Hartnell College. I always look forward to celebrating the achievements and successes of our students alongside supporters like you!
Just last week, I shared the stage with my mentee, Ana Ibarra, at the Women’s Education and Leadership Institute (WELI) Soirée. Ana’s and my journey seemed to have come full circle at that moment as we now have the opportunity to work closely and celebrate successes together. In mentoring, we may not always have the opportunity to reflect on how it has shaped us and hear how a mentee has been impacted, so this was a special moment that reminded us both about the power of mentorship.
Today, we are proud to welcome back The Western Food Safety Conference, now being offered in a hybrid model. Retired Ag Professor Neil Ledford shares a bit of the history of this event in the story below. As always, our success is thanks to all the support we get from you; our industry professionals, and community leaders.
Wishing you a great week.
Be well,
Jackie Cruz
VP Advancement and Development
Executive Director for Hartnell College Foundation
WESTERN FOOD SAFETY CONFERENCE
Better than ever 16 years later
The Western Food Safety Conference is back at Hartnell College today and tomorrow, May 4-5! The conference is being offered using a hybrid model to accommodate more of the industry’s best to participate in learning the latest innovation in food safety with experts coming from different parts of the United States and the World. It is led by Food Safety Committee Chair, Jess Hoggs and Dean of Agriculture and Business Technology Institute at Hartnell, Clint Cowden.
“Workforce training for the practitioners and professionals in Ag is happening here at Hartnell College,” said VP of Advancement and Development and Executive Director of the Hartnell College Foundation, Jackie Cruz. “Students get first-class access to these pieces of training to prepare them to work in the AgTech industry.”
The Western Food Safety Conference brings together all levels of the agricultural workforce and support services to California’s Central Coast for two days of intensive training on the most current food safety issues and concerns for fresh fruits and vegetables.
This year, the conference gratefully welcomes two outstanding keynote speakers, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, Bruce Taylor as well as Consumer Safety Officer of Fresh Produce Branch, David T. Ingram, Ph.D. Hundreds are registered to attend in person or virtually to learn about the latest and most relevant tools for success in Food Safety today.
“We had 75 people attend the first training,” said retired Hartnell Professor of Ag, Neil Ledford. “The original food safety training program was titled, “Introduction to GAPS and Food Safety Practices” and was held at Hartnell College in April 2007.”
The need for food safety training was originally brought up during a Post-Harvest/Food Safety Advisory committee meeting in March 2007 in response to an e-coli outbreak that had occurred in spinach in September 2006.
The first meeting of a dedicated Food Safety Advisory Committee was held on March 9, 2007, at the Farm Bureau office in Salinas and was led by Mr. Ledford. The originating members of the Food Safety Committee along with Ledford were:
- Andrew Fernandez, Taylor Farms
- Afreen Malik, Ocean Mist Farms
- Kari Valdes, Mills Family Farms
- Emmett Linder, Driscoll’s
- Dan Armstrong, Fresh Express
- David Cramer, Grower Shipper Association
- Larissa Daniel, Driscoll’s
- Linda Moore, Driscoll’s
- Cosme Pina – Taylor Farms
- Francisco Valdez – Taylor Farms
Additional members were added over the following months and years. Ledford said that it was interesting to see all of the big names in ag come together and unite for a single purpose: collaborate to make ag safe for all.
“They were competitors, but came together to everyone’s benefit and to get educated and trained,” Ledford said. “When the outbreak happened, we said ‘we better do something!’”
The first training was so popular that a second was produced in the fall of the same year. Ledford said that he took the curriculum to other places so it was duplicated. As a result, additional early training programs were held under the same name at the Barbara Worth Country Club in El Centro, CA in October 2007 and at Yuma Community College in January 2009.
The success of these early training programs demonstrated the acute need for training in safe growing practices and education in food safety principles within the produce industry.
“It was a success! I never had a committee be so motivated,” he said. “We met every other week and everyone showed up.”
The word was out. After doing the training a few times, they gained momentum. The Food Safety Committee chose May as the month to have the conference. The partnership with Hartnell College was working out well and students started to benefit.
“It has been the wonderful partnership with the College and the Ag Steering Committee that has made it possible for the Western Food Safety Conference to be a total success,” said Cruz.
Neil said the conference has reached new levels of greatness. “It has come a long way,” he said, “The job of a community college is to develop students for transfer but also students to be ready to go on to local businesses and employers in the Salinas Valley.”
In addition to leading the Ag Steering Committee and the Food Safety Committee, Ledford had a passion for increasing opportunities for students. He reached out to the Foundation to start raising funds for new programs. The committees supported his vision and helped him raise $2 Million to start the Ag Business, Ag Production, Food Safety, Pest Management, and Ag Mechanics programs.
“I asked the committee to help guide us on what was needed for employees to be ready for the workforce and we got the support,” he said.
Neil Ledford was a faculty member at Hartnell College from 1978 to 1988 and returned in 2004 and retired in 2011. He began leading the Ag Steering Committee in 2006 and Food Safety Committee soon after. He is married to his bride of almost 50 years Mary and has three grown daughters and eight grandchildren.
The Hartnell College Foundation is indebted to Neil for his passion for students and for his visionary leadership in helping get the Western Food Safety Conference to the role of importance it holds today.
Proceeds of the Conference support scholarship funds for students in Ag or AgTech.
To learn more about the Western Food Safety Conference, go to https://
BEQUESTS
The easiest way to give
A bequest is one of the easiest gifts you can make to significantly impact our work. Your estate planning attorney can include a provision in your will that leaves a lasting gift to our organization. Your bequest could be a gift of specific assets (such as a vehicle, artwork, or coin collection), a dollar amount ($100, $1,000, or 10,000), or a percentage of your estate (3%, 10%, or even 25%).
A bequest could also be made from the residue of your estate or what is left after all gifts have been made to your heirs.
A charitable bequest is an easy way for you to help us in our work and benefit. Here are some of the benefits of bequest giving:
- It costs you nothing today to make a bequest
- Your bequest can be changed down the road
- You can still benefit your heirs with specific gifts
- A bequest may produce estate tax savings
- You can leave a legacy through a bequest
A popular gift to consider is a bequest from your IRA. If you leave your IRA to your children, your heirs could face a significant tax. Talk with your estate planner about the types of assets to leave to your family that can produce little or no tax. Then consider making a bequest of your IRA to us. We will receive the full proceeds free of tax and can use this gift to help further our mission.
Please contact your plan custodian to designate us as a beneficiary of your IRA.
A bequest is a wonderful way for you to help further the work of our organization and its mission.
A bequest is one of the easiest gifts you can make to significantly impact our work. Your estate planning attorney can include a provision in your will that leaves a lasting gift to our organization. Your bequest could be a gift of specific assets (such as a vehicle, artwork, or coin collection), a dollar amount ($100, $1,000, or 10,000), or a percentage of your estate (3%, 10%, or even 25%).
A bequest could also be made from the residue of your estate or what is left after all gifts have been made to your heirs.
A charitable bequest is an easy way for you to help us in our work and benefit. Here are some of the benefits of bequest giving:
- It costs you nothing today to make a bequest
- Your bequest can be changed down the road
- You can still benefit your heirs with specific gifts
- A bequest may produce estate tax savings
- You can leave a legacy through a bequest
A popular gift to consider is a bequest from your IRA. If you leave your IRA to your children, your heirs could face a significant tax. Talk with your estate planner about the types of assets to leave to your family that can produce little or no tax. Then consider making a bequest of your IRA to us. We will receive the full proceeds free of tax and can use this gift to help further our mission.
Please contact your plan custodian to designate us as a beneficiary of your IRA.
A bequest is a wonderful way for you to help further the work of our organization and its mission.