Hollister
– Local grower Kay Filice became the first woman to head the
Central California Grower-Shipper Association’s board of directors
in its 77-year history.
Hollister – Local grower Kay Filice became the first woman to head the Central California Grower-Shipper Association’s board of directors in its 77-year history.
The association acts as a liaison between the regional produce industry and local, state and federal governments. The organization comprises 300 produce shippers, growers and processors from Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Benito counties.
The appointment reflects the growing role that women are playing in agriculture, said Joe Pezzini, the outgoing chairman of the board and vice president of Ocean Mist Farms in Salinas.
“It’s taken us 77 years to get it right,” Pezzini said. “She really does embody that role.”
Filice also brings a different viewpoint for the industry.
“I bring a perspective from outside,” she said. “I haven’t been steeped in the industry for years.”
The Iowa native and 30-year Hollister resident began farming only eight years ago, when her husband, Chuck Filice, passed away. Filice Farms’ main crops include spinach, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes.
For Filice, educating the public and media about the industry’s efforts to improve food safety will be a top priority and her greatest challenge during her yearlong term as chairwoman.
Filice said lifelong farmers tend to assume the public knows what steps growers take to ensure food safety.
“I think with the crisis over the last year people have lost a lot of confidence,” Filice said.
The September 2006 outbreak linked to spinach processed in San Benito County killed three and sickened more than 200 throughout the country. The San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office has estimated more than $6 million in losses for local growers from the E. coli outbreak.
Restoring consumer confidence means showing the public what systems the industry has implemented to protect them, Filice said.
Pezzini said Filice will rise to the challenge, using her background in marketing to educate the public about the industry’s food safety practices.
Besides education efforts, Filice said she will work with government officials to further research on food-borne illnesses.
Some research on food-borne illness is already under way. In an effort to restore consumer confidence and increase food safety, the industry has pledged $4.5 million to open a state-of-the-art research center at the University of California at Davis, Filice said.
The center is part of an ongoing effort to work with government officials and university specialists to gain a better understanding of food-borne illnesses, she said.
Richard Silva, vice president of the San Benito County Farm Bureau and a row crop grower with Top Flavor Farms, said the bureau and the grower-shipper association are both working to create a higher standard for food safety.
“Kay is a woman that everyone in the community holds in high esteem,” Silva said. “We’re proud of the work she’s been doing in the agricultural industry.”
The chairwoman has served on the board of directors for three years. Two years ago, Filice was named treasurer. For the past year, Filice was the vice chairwoman.
“I think we all have a responsibility to serve the industry in any way that we can,” Filice said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mv*********@fr***********.com.
