Chris Ezaki

Location:

Kingsburg, California

Certification(s):

CCOF

Chris Ezaki - "I've always been a part of the Farm "

A farmer of organic peaches, Chris lives to the east of Kingsburg, in the Central Valley of California. He’s been a farmer all his life. He performs a bit of a ‘triple play’ each day. Besides farming, he is a volunteer fireman, is uncle to 3 small nephews that are often on the ranch with him, and holds down a ‘full-time job’ in a different field, although related. Chris is a crop adjuster for Rural Community Insurance Service. “One way I cope with farming adversity, such as unfortunate weather events, is that I deal with people every day that have loss. Some are fire-related, some are crop losses, but they are all difficult situations. In light of those, I feel appreciative of what I have.”

1990 brought Chris to a new level of understanding of farming, one that eventually led Chris into growing organically. He had the opportunity of studying agriculture under Mark Davidson, a college professor that taught soil science in a way that challenged his thinking and ‘connected the dots’ for Chris in many ways. I finally understood that everything I needed to farm organically was right under my nose!” Now Chris understands that farming is more than just spraying some chemicals on the trees and making sure you keep the weeds under control with the latest herbicide. Its about soil health and understanding of the ecosystem our farm lives in.

Chris sells his produce through the label Homegrown, which represents over 40 family farms across California and Oregon.

www.hgofarms.com

Crops:

Peaches

Our Growers Are Our Heroes

We got into this business because we wanted to help small scale organic farmers here at home gain access to the larger commercial marketplace, and to ensure their families and communities thrive. Over the past decade or so, we have endeavored to do this, step by step, with over ninety B.C. farms.

Our hearts still belong to the small scale growers. We have visited dozens of farms in B.C., working with growers to see them move to larger and more financially sustainable operations.

We feel encouraged by the impressive increase in consumer demand for organics and local. We also acknowledge that we might not be able to grow all our own food year round. Even more so now, as our climate changes, no harvest is a safe bet.

So over the years, we have extended our relationships with small scale farmers to include farms down the Pacific Coast, through Washington, Oregon and California, then on to Mexico and South America. Together, this network of growers keep us all fed year round. And for this we are grateful.