Female Fruit and Nut Industry Trailblazer Gets a Seat at the Table

Carol Chandler of Chandler Farms

Carol Chandler is partner of Chandler Farms in Selma, CA, a fourth-generation family farming operation founded by W.F. Chandler in 1880.
Photo by David Eddy

Carol Chandler vividly recalls her first trip to the nation’s capital with Western Growers, in part because of her unique position in the delegation seeking to advocate on industry issues.

“I was the only woman in the room, going back to Washington (DC),” she says. “The female legislators noticed that, especially (Senator) Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).”

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How times have changed. In part because of Chandler’s efforts, there are now four women serving on the board of directors of Western Growers. Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado, and New Mexico. Their members and their workers provide more than half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts, including nearly half of America’s fresh organic produce.

Western Growers recently honored Chandler in early November with the 2021 Award of Honor. The Award of Honor is Western Growers’ highest recognition of achievement and is given to individuals who have contributed extensively to the agricultural community.

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CENTURY FARM

Chandler is partner of Chandler Farms in Selma, CA, a fourth-generation family farming operation that was founded by W.F. Chandler in 1880. They grow several hundred acres of almonds, wine grapes, and citrus, and until recently peaches, plums, and nectarines, which stopped penciling out because of labor costs.

Besides serving on the board of Western Growers, including her current tenure as Treasurer, Chandler and her husband Bill were also named Agriculturists of the Year by the California State Fair Board of Directors in 2020.

“Underneath Carol’s warm and gracious demeanor lies a fierce and committed advocate for agriculture’s rightful place in our society,” says Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “There are few in our industry who have given so much time and energy in service to the greater good, and even fewer who have mustered the strength to stick with the fight even as others withdraw from disappointment. Advocacy is not for the faint of heart, which is one of many reasons Carol is so deserving of our highest honor.”

The Chandler Farms family

Carol Chandler operates Chandler Farms with her husband and sons, who came back to the family farm several years ago. John was a consultant to the state Senate Agriculture Committee, and Tom a banker. “It’s a perfect mix of skills,” she says.
Photo by Amy Wellenkamp, Western Growers

Chandler’s list of accomplishments is long. She was chair of the President’s Water Task Force for California State University at Fresno; serves on the University of California President’s Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources; and held positions with the University of California Board of Regents, the California State University Board of Trustees, and the Fresno State Board of Governors. She is past state president of California Women for Agriculture, and she was named Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature twice, in 1992 and 2002.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Davis and a master’s degree from California State University at Fresno, Chandler taught in the San Joaquin Valley, including Fresno City College. Chandler’s achievements and service were to be recognized, as of this writing, at the Award of Honor Dinner Gala at the Western Growers 2021 Annual Meeting in November.

“It’s quite an honor. Western Growers is clearly one of the premier agricultural organizations. I was overwhelmed to be chosen for the Award of Honor,” Chandler says. “It’s meant so much to me to be on the Board of Western Growers through
he years.”

Part of the reason the award was so unexpected is Chandler serves on the Western Growers Executive Board, which makes the decision.

“They hid it from me,” she says, smiling. “It was very unexpected, and I’m just extremely grateful they would honor me.”

GETTING INVOLVED

Chandler originally got into agricultural advocacy during the United Farm Workers table grape boycott in the early 1970s.

“We felt the farmer’s story wasn’t getting told, and we wanted to tell the other side of the story. We were moms, and we were shoppers, and we could offer a different viewpoint,” she says. “Also, farmers felt we treat our employees like family, and that story wasn’t being told either. It was time for us to say, ‘Wait a minute, there’s another side to this.’”

Chandler says the experience spurred her to look into other issues. She got interested in legislation and how it affects agriculture. Many other issues have caught her attention through the years, such as the state’s overtime laws and wage hikes. Labor issues have been almost superseded this year, though, with the state’s recent drought declaration. Chandler has adjusted her gaze accordingly.

“A lot of government agencies have a lot of power,” she says. “DWR (California Department of Water Resources) listens to environmentalists more than the actual people who are growing the crops.”

But Chandler believes women can have more impact because of their role in society, not just farming.

“I go to the grocery store, I see the price of our produce going up, but I don’t see our prices going up,” she says. “We have to keep our message out there.”

MENTORING

Today, Chandler notes there are a total of four women serving on the board of Western Growers. Besides Chandler, there is Loren Booth, Booth Ranches, LLC, and Catherine Fanucchi, Tri-Fanucchi Farms of Kern County, which grows vegetables, almonds, and both table and wine grapes.

The final member of the foursome is Anna Alexander, an attorney who worked in hedge funds until meeting her husband Paul Allen who today operates Main Street Produce, Inc., a produce shipping and marketing company, and Freshway Farms, LLC, a strawberry, raspberry, and vegetable farming company. Alexander also serves as Compliance Counsel for those entities. Alexander says that in part thanks to Chandler, there are far more women in leadership roles.

“She’s been a trailblazer for sure. She absolutely made it possible for women like me to get where I am, and I’m very aware of that,” she says. “I joined the Western Growers board last year, and I felt completely welcomed and appreciated. That’s largely because Carol paved the way there. It’s nice to follow in the footsteps of someone like her.”

For instance, Alexander says she was inspired to join California Women for Agriculture (CWA), “a fabulous group”
in 2009.

“It allowed me to assume entry-level leadership roles, such as working in public policy with the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Advisory Committee,” she says. “That wouldn’t have been possible without CWA involvement.”

CWA was formed in 1975 in the Coachella Valley. It includes a cross section of members, including consumers, as well as farmers and ranchers. Today it has more than 20 chapters and 1,300-plus members across the state and is the most active all-volunteer agricultural organization in
the state.

“I just see more and more women sitting at the table where decisions are made,” says Alexander. “We’re tapping a larger talent pool — and more talented people can only be good for the industry.”

FUTURE PLANS

A few years ago, Chandler was instrumental in forming Western Growers Women, and they had a great response from that very first meeting in Fresno. The goal: To get women involved in advocacy and what she terms “boardmanship.”

“I love serving on boards. I enjoy the governing process, but not all women feel confidence at first, and it’s important to gain that knowledge and confidence.”

She thinks the key is giving women confidence, through mentoring by women such as herself, better enabling them to use the skills they already possess.

“I don’t think we should be labeled,” she says. “We should be viewed as an integral part of the industry. We can contribute as growers and as women.”

“It’s not about equality; we don’t want people to just say we need more women,” she says. “We’d rather hear them say, ‘I want Susan Smith because of her skills and what she brings.’ We each have something we bring.”

For example, Chandler notes that while she and Booth have spent their careers in farming, both Fanucchi and Alexander were originally attorneys who now bring fresh perspectives because of their backgrounds.

“There are lots of professional women in ag today, it would be great if they could have the opportunity give back to the industry — this is the way they can do that,” she says. “It’s exciting. Women really feel now like they have a voice,” she says, recalling that first trip to Washington, DC, “There are a lot of women legislators now — I’d like us to make that connection.”

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