Equitable Food Initiative announced that Windset Farms® is celebrating its 10th anniversary as an EFI-certified operation.
Since first achieving certification in 2015, the company has demonstrated consistent leadership in labor practices, food safety and pest management. With significant data collected by the company's teams and EFI audits, the greenhouse grower can prove that EFI's worker-manager collaboration model has been integrated into every part of the operations.
Some of the results are:
- $5.5 million in bonuses distributed to farmworkers since 2017
- 98 percent seasonal workers come back each year
- 70-plus workers trained in communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving through the EFI program
© Windset Farms
Since first achieving certification in 2015, Windset Farms has demonstrated consistent leadership in labor practices, food safety and pest management.
"Social responsibility allows the workers in our greenhouse to have ownership, to be part of the team," said Jeff Madu, Sr. VP of Operations at Windset Farms.
"Over the past decade, the company has consistently stood at the top of the class for meeting our rigorous standards," said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, director of marketing and communications for EFI.
The company has also leveraged EFI to increase transparency and safety by encouraging full incident reporting, including minor issues. This shift has created a safer workplace, reduced worker injuries, led to fewer missed workdays, lowered turnover and improved morale.
For operations manager Tony Pacheco, who is responsible for the health and safety of more than 300 workers at Windset Farms' Delta greenhouse, EFI's training has been a game changer. It transformed a traditional safety committee into a worker-manager collaboration team, which includes workers from across all departments of the organization and allows workers and managers to dissect issues together, create solutions and track results.
© EFI
L-R: Jeff Madu, LeAnne Ruzzamenti, Tony Pacheco
One project that stands out was about improving access to drinking water in the greenhouse. "These projects sound so simple in nature, but they are never easy to implement," Pacheco said. "The key is that EFI's approach involves everyone in the process. People know why it's taking time and they see their ideas turn into reality."
The company's commitment to EFI goes beyond its own operations. Starting in 2021, Windset Farms partnered with EFI and sustainability expert Measure to Improve on the Produce & Reduce Program, a pilot funded by the California Workforce Development Board's High Road Training Partnerships initiative.
At Windset Farms and two other pilot farming operations, 50 Green Team members were trained and more than 2,500 indirect trainees were reached through the program, empowering them to identify waste reduction opportunities, conduct physical waste audits and implement custom plans.
Explore Windset Farms' 10-year EFI journey, including worker stories, project photos and sustainability highlights here.
For more information:
LeAnne R. Ruzzamenti
Equitable Food Initiative
Tel.: +1 (202) 524-0540
[email protected]
https://equitablefood.org/
