Carrot, Celery Harvests Part Of Rousseau Farm’s Guided Tour

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As part of The 2014 Consumer Connection event put on by the Produce for Better Health Foundation, attendees had the opportunity to visit one of American Vegetable Grower’s Top 100 Growers, in Phoenix, AZ, and Meister Media Worldwide editor Lyneida Melendez was there to take part in the tour.

Rousseau Farming Company has 9,500 acres of crops spread across the U.S., 243 of which are dedicated to organic production. The company grows close to 20 different vegetable crops including carrots, sweet onion, celery, broccoli, cole crops, lettuce, spinach, chard, cilantro, parsley, leeks, and seedless watermelon.

The harvesting season, which begins mid-October and extends until around mid-July, requires close to 750 hand laborers and close to 100 employees in management positions.

Event attendees had the chance to visit the carrot, celery, and onion fields, and take an informal tour of lettuce fields, kohlrabi fields, and black and purple parsley fields.

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According to Rousseau Farming Company’s owner Will Rousseau, the company grows on 3,600 acres of Indian reservation at their Phoenix location, which they rent from the landowners on a monthly basis, respecting their preexisting living environments. Rousseau states that one of the benefits of growing on an Indian reservation is that the land can never be sold; the company has already been growing on this territory in Arizona for 20 years.

Harvesting Carrots
During the guided tour of the carrot fields, visitors were granted the opportunity to see how the plants were harvested up close. According to Cammy Weddle, Rousseau Farming’s manager of the food safety department, the  farm, Rousseau grows 200 acres of two different types of carrots: a longer, thicker carrot for cooking, and a thinner carrot, ideal for the baby carrot market. A large portion of the carrots are sent to Bolthouse Farms, which later packages the carrots under their brand name.

Carrots are the only crop at the farm that are harvested mechanically, and after they’re harvested, they’re washed and sorted according to size and diameter. Finally, the carrots are packaged and sent to the refrigeration room where they’re transported to their final destination. The entire process from harvest, to when they finally arrive to their final destination takes only 24 to 48 hours.

Harvesting Celery
The company has 180 acres of celery, which is planted at the end of October and harvested at the beginning of March. The celery harvest is done manually given that it must be cut much closer to the ground, and all of the packaging and postharvest handling for the celery is done in the field. Because of the food safety risks associated with this type of harvesting, the packers who work alongside the harvesters, are required to wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, a plastic apron, and gloves, which must be replaced daily to avoid any possible contamination.

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