Javier Zamora: Helping Farm Workers Succeed In California

#097: Organic California farmer Javier Zamora talks about his role connecting  farmworkers to the resources, land, and skills they need to launch their own farming ventures through ALBA, the Agriculture And Land-Based Training Association, a program which he himself graduated from before opening JSM Organics.

Javier Zamora is the founder of JSM Organics, a 200 acre Real Organic Project-certified farm in Monterey County California that grows vegetables, fruits, and flowers. He is very active with ALBA, the Agriculture And Land-Based Training Association, which trains and connects farmworkers to the skills, resources, and land they need to launch their own farms. Javier himself is a graduate of ALBA.

https://www.jsmorganics.com/

https://albafarmers.org/

To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/javier-zamora-helping-farmworkers-succeed-california-episode-ninety-seven

The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.

The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).

To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:

https://www.realorganicproject.org/farms

We believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.

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