California Harvesters, Inc. (CHI) is an employee benefit company supplying agricultural labor to growers in California’s Central Valley. The company acts as a kind farm labor contracting company, designed to create high-quality farm labor jobs connected to an ecosystem of support. As well as streamlining visa and staff management tasks for clients, California Harvesters are able to support their talented pickers with health, training and language skills.
Their manifesto:
The driving question behind California Harvesters is how to make farm work a good job that provides benefits, opportunities for personal and professional growth, and respect. California Harvesters is governed by a trust, of which workers become members once they log a certain number of hours with California Harvesters. Eventually, trust members will be elected to the Board of Directors, and will participate in making major business decisions.
The total farm value of California's fruits and nuts alone was $16.84 billion in the 2022 crop year, representing almost 30% of the nation's total. California is responsible for nearly three-quarters of the country's fruits and nuts, exporting almost $5 billion worth of fruits and nuts annually, solidifying its role as a key supplier to the global market.
In 2018, journalist Rick Wartzman visited California Harvesters to uncover the role they were playing in securing of the state's fruit picking prosperity, publishing on Fast Company.
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