Readers Poll 2024

44 BEST OF MONTEREY COUNTY® 2024 montereycountynow.com/bestof Agriculture AGriculture and there’s room to grow. How did we get to this level of importance? The Transcontinental Railroad and Hartnell College. The college has a reputation for developing skills in fields like agriculture tech, agriculture production and sustainable crop management. While the Indigenous people of the Salinas Valley—and subsequent settlers—only had to provide for themselves and surrounding communities, Hartnell College educators can teach you to feed the world. Best Ag Nonprofit Food Bank for Monterey County 353 W. Rossi St., Salinas (831) 758-1523, foodbankformontereycounty.org Between the Indigenous people and settlers coming from the east, it would be hard to look at Monterey County’s fertile valleys and not see its potential for feeding the masses. The Food Bank for Monterey County capitalized on that potential and has fought against hunger for years. They distribute more than 5 million pounds of food annually with the help of volunteers and their over 145 nonprofit partners. In the future, they’re looking beyond being just a distribution center and are creating an onsite learning farm. Best Agriculture Business Association Monterey County Farm Bureau 1140 Abbott St. Suite C, Salinas (831) 751-3100, montereycfb.com Farming ain’t an easy gig—and Johnny Cash, having grown up in the agricultural community of the Arkansas Delta, knew this well. See The Farmer’s Almanac and Pickin’ Time. So too, the Monterey County Farm Bureau understands the challenges farmers face. Voted by readers as the best at helping farmers navigate complex issues such as shifting state policies, land and water management, and more, the Bureau has also been named Best County Farm Bureau of the Year by the California Farm Bureau in eight of the last 10 years. Best Farmers Market Vendor Everyone’s Harvest 31 Upper Ragsdale Drive #4, Monterey (831) 384-6961, everyonesharvest.org The Old West’s community gatherings are commonly associated with rodeos, saloons and gambling—but what about a healthier option? Since 2008, Monterey County residents have been fortunate to have nonprofit Everyone’s Harvest’s certified farmers markets, now in Salinas, Marina, Seaside and Pacific Grove. Every week, the markets serve up to 2,500 families with fresh and local organic produce. Originally started in 2002 as a capstone project by Iris Peppard when she was a student at CSU Monterey Bay, Everyone’s Harvest has grown to be widely recognized and a leader in helping consumers access affordable, healthy, fresh food—and giving local farmers a place to sell it. Best Specialty Crop Artichokes Thousands of people—young men, mostly—flooded into California in 1849, lured foolishly by the riches they believed to be found in gold. While they panned the streams, they ignored the true wealth hiding in plain sight. Rugged thistles growing on riverbanks may have appeared inedible then, but in 2023 the Monterey County artichoke crop gleaned a cool $37.8 million. And that was an off year thanks to flooding. Typically the crop is valued at over $45 million a year. So imagine a different history, one where a plant was discovered near Sutter’s Mill, setting off the great Artichoke Rush. Best Cash Crop Strawberries In the Oscar-winning Western Unforgiven, one of the characters is known as “Strawberry Alice” for the soft red hue in her hair. It’s a nod to the attraction of fresh berries, even in the windswept villages of the high plains. And Monterey County farms have capitalized, making it perennially the number-one crop in the region. Indeed, the local strawberry crop was worth $900 million in 2023—and that was a disappointing year, when a portion of the fields were lost to devastating floods. So as Gene Autry sang, “Strawberry fields forever…” Wait, or was that someone else? Anyway, strawberries are money, and that tastes oh so sweet. Best Agriculture Business Association | Monterey County Farm Bureau, Norm Groot, executive director

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