A truck loaded with equipment waits outside the Taylor Farms facility early in the morning.
On Oct. 23, 2024, Salinas FFA toured the Abbott Street Taylor Farms facility in Salinas, Calif. Salinas FFA Alum Michelle Roberts led the tour, which helped members get an inside look at how Taylor Farms operates during the Salinas Valley growing season.
Taylor Farms is a family-owned business based in Salinas and is the leading producer of salads and fresh foods in North America. The company was founded in 1995 by Bruce Taylor and his business partners. Since then, it has led America’s production of packaged healthy and fresh foods, including fresh salads, and is now branching into snacks and meals.
Roberts and Colette Gendron of Taylor Farms started the tour by explaining to members how the fresh produce trucks are received after the early morning harvest and transported to the facility.
As members walked across the property, Roberts explained how Taylor Farms Salinas works with other Taylor Farms locations to provide fresh produce year-round. With more than 20 facilities located throughout the United States, the company processes and distributes fresh and healthy foods to customers daily across all three segments—retail, deli and food service.
A map on the wall shows Taylor Farms locations across the U.S. and Mexico.
Members walked to the observation hall above the processing facility, where they could watch each step of the process. Through the windows, they could see the different rooms where the lettuce was being washed, dried and packaged.
The first step of the process was observing the washing room. After being chopped and sorted, the lettuce was washed through triple-wash flume systems. The washed lettuce was then brought to the drying room, where it was spun dry in machines resembling large home kitchen salad spinners. Once fully dried, the lettuce was sorted, weighed and packaged up for various products. From there, the lettuce would be transported around the United States.
Salinas FFA members observe the washing room.
Getting a behind-the-scenes tour at the Taylor Farms Salinas state-of-the-art facility gave members an inside look at agriculture, an industry that FFA is preparing them to lead.
Lettuce travels up converter belts in the drying room after being spun.
Roberts believes that being in FFA helps members build the skills to apply themselves in the professional world.
“FFA was instrumental in my high school career, especially on the leadership side,” she adds. “Becoming an FFA officer was a goal of mine and pushed me out of my comfort zone, teaching me lifelong leadership skills.”
As an FFA member, Roberts raised livestock, participated in competitions and built connections within agriculture, which allowed her to grow her professional networks. According to her, FFA was “a huge building block for me professionally.”
In addition to Roberts, Taylor Farms employs many former local and statewide FFA members, including Kellie Nino and Steve Davis.
Nino works in the Taylor Farms retail segment and is a Hollister FFA Alum. During her time in FFA, she was a chapter officer multiple times, a sectional and regional officer, a national convention delegate and was awarded her American FFA Degree in 2012.
Davis, who’s a Santa Paula FFA Alum, was the 1985-86 California FFA state president. He has worked at Taylor Farms for 16 years and is also the president of California Rodeo Salinas.
Taylor Farms offers a summer internship program for undergraduate students interested in learning more about their business. These opportunities provide FFA members and alums with work experience in agriculture while continuing their education.
Tours like these help FFA members learn more about local agriculture and explore the diverse careers that agriculture offers.
Special thank you to Michelle Roberts, Colette Gendron, Kellie Nino, Steve Davis and Taylor Farms Salinas for contributing to this article.
