A Program to Combat Food Contamination

The initiative, unfolding along neatly planted rows of berries at the Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce’s Sierra Farm here, is an effort to prevent the types of bacterial outbreaks of salmonella, listeria or E.coli that have sickened consumers who ate contaminated cantaloupes, spinach or other produce.

One of the workers, Valentin Esteban, is on the front lines of the new effort, having gone through a training program that helps him avoid practices that lead to possible bacterial contamination that could undermine the safety and quality of the strawberries he picks.

In exchange, Andrew & Williamson is providing Mr. Esteban better pay and working conditions than many migrant farmworkers receive, a base pay of $9.05 an hour versus the $8 average in the area.

“Sure, the money is important, but I also feel good because I am helping to improve quality and safety,” Mr. Esteban said. “Those things are important to my family, too.”

Last summer, more than 250 people in 24 states were sickened and three died after eating cantaloupes contaminated with salmonella. A year earlier, cantaloupe tainted with listeria killed 33 people.

The Food and Drug Administration laid the blame on conditions like stagnant pools of water and dirty surfaces in packing areas, problems that farm workers could help prevent.

“In those cases, the workers weren’t trained to address it or even recognize that those conditions might be problematic,” said Peter O’Driscoll, project director of Oxfam America’s Equitable Food Initiative. “Farm workers can be the eyes and ears of the farm, helping to improve food safety and pest contamination.”

Under the new program, with Andrew & Williamson the first grower to participate, berries sold under the label “Limited Edition,” would carry certification to inform consumers that food safety protocols had been followed and that the workers who harvested the crop were treated fairly.

With Andrew & Williamson paying higher wages than almost all its competitors, the participants in the program hope that the promise of better-quality, safer fruit and better conditions for workers will entice distributors, retailers and consumers to pay a little more, too.

Costco has agreed to play a major part and pay a little extra for the berries once they are certified.

“Who is it that’s delivering the result — safer, higher-quality berries? Those workers,” said Jeff Lyons, the company’s senior vice president for fresh foods. “So yes, I’m willing to pay more, so long as the certification really means something.”

Costco’s participation was critical, said Dan Glickman, an Oxfam America board member who was agriculture secretary during the Clinton administration. “This can’t be a field of dreams, where if we grow it this way, they will buy it no matter the cost,” Mr. Glickman said. “Having a retailer like Costco buy into it was key.”

Ernie Farley, a partner of Andrew & Williamson, pointed to the important role that farm workers play. “This program means that instead of one auditor coming around once in a while to check on things, we have 400 auditors on the job all the time.”

The company, which grows berries, tomatoes and cucumbers, pays a higher base wage than most growers, according to the United Farm Workers union. Andrew & Williamson also provides clean bathrooms, gloves to protect pickers’ hands, folding chairs to sit on at lunchtime and other seemingly small but much appreciated perks, like cups for water from coolers, a rare luxury for the workers.

In the program, the workers are trained in practices that enhance food safety — from not wearing jewelry that might fall into boxes of berries to spotting signs of contaminants and insects or other pests that might spoil crops. These practices can reduce the use of pesticides, something that the environmental groups participating in the project are pushing for.

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