Former farmworker now has his own Salinas Valley farm
A former farmworker now has his own six-acre farm outside of Salinas thanks to a nonprofit focused on giving those who work the land new opportunities.
It's sunrise in the Salinas Valley, and 29 year old Espiridon Santos has already been at work for four hours, harvesting his zucchini.
"You have to see which one qualifies. This one is extra fancy. It's looking good," he said, carefully placing a zucchini in a bucket.
"You don't have any Sundays. You don't have any family events. Your birthday, you have to work. You have to be here all day, pushing harder and harder and harder," Santos said.
But he isn't working that hard for just anyone. For the first time in his life, he's his own boss.
"I came here looking for the American dream," Santos said.
Santos is the owner of La Bisnaga Organic Farms. It's small, just six and a half acres outside of Salinas. But its neat rows of zucchini, broccolini, celery and green beans are well tended, productive and bursting with color. Santos works the land himself and often hires his father, mother, sister, and brother to help him harvest.
The family immigrated from Mexico when Santos was just 15. They started with nothing, often working on large corporation farms like this by day, and sleeping on bare floors in a rented room at night. That all changed when he found a program to help fledgling farmers.
"I picked strawberries. And after working on the strawberry fields for six years, I found ALBA. Someone told me about ALBA," he said.
ALBA is the Agriculture Land Based Training Association, which has its roots in President Johnson's War on Poverty from the 1960's. Since then, it has evolved into a public and privately-funded organic farm incubator with classrooms, equipment and acres of prime land which it leases to farm workers who dream of something bigger.
"Our goal is not to grow vegetables. It's to grow farmers and help create a pipeline for new organic farmers in California," said
Nathan Harkleroad, who is ALBA's Education Program Director.
"As you probably know, farmers are aging out in California and across the country and we need new farmers to fill their boots. And in our experience farm workers are a great pool of talent to do that. They usually come with some farm experience in Mexico and have been learning on the job in California. They have the work ethic and the drive to get a business off the ground," Harkleroad said.
Santos enrolled in the program three years ago, and took English classes at night. ALBA taught him organic farming, business planning, marketing and food safety regulations.
"When I started the courses, I saw my future. And then when they give me the land, I couldn't believe it. I had a half acre to start my small business and become my own owner. As you can see, I am so happy that ALBA helped me with my dream," Santos said.
Santos' farm is now certified organic; and he gets top dollar for his produce, which sells to distributors who ship to well-known grocery chains throughout California.
And he continues to invest in himself, putting his profits into equipment and planning for when he goes on his own.
Farmers must exit the ALBA program after 5 years. But by then, Santos should have enough experience to complete the transition from farm worker to independent farm owner.
"We have a huge need for more equity in our food system. The writing is on the wall. 90 percent of the farmworkers are Latino, immigrants from Mexico or other parts of Central America," Harkleroad said.
"But only 4 percent are farm owners. So, we want the demographics of our farm owners to more closely represent the demographics of our state and country. And that's what we're all about."
Santos's goal is to have a 50 acre ranch of his own.
"My family said they see me work hard and they want to work harder than me. That's how I'm successful now," Santos said, adding that he plans to keep on working hard to make the next phase of his American dream come true.