Zillah, WA Pacific Northwest Pear Grower When and where did you get started in the pear business? After serving in the Marine Corp, I came back to Washington’s Yakima Valley and worked for growers in the area until 1996 when I leased my first orchard. I started with 26 acres of pear trees and 4… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Shawn Phelps
Child Nutrition Culinary Expert What is your background? I’m a chef, a dietitian, and a menu planning and recipe development consultant for K-12 schools. I also consult with food brands and commodity boards on their K-12 marketing programs. I’ve been working on child nutrition programs for over 10 years. Is there a fit for canned… Continue Reading Meet a Chef: Brenda Wattles
Meet Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND President of Farmer’s Daughter Consulting and co-author of Cooking a la Heart, Fourth Edition When did your interest in food, from farm to table, start, and how has that influenced your career? I grew up on a farm in northeast North Dakota. As the youngest of five kids—including… Continue Reading Meet a Dietitian: Amy Myrdal Miller
Hood River, OR Pacific Northwest Pear Grower How did your family get started in the pear business? In the 1920s my great-grandpa and his brother moved from the Midwest to Oregon to work on a 40-acre ranch in the Hood River Valley, located on the eastern side of the Hood River Valley, with the Columbia… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Jake Moore
Garrett Berdan Chef and Registered Dietitian, Institute of Child Nutrition What does the Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition do? Our goal is to help Child Nutrition professionals implement best practices to improve all culinary aspects of their operation. We provide tips and strategies for preparing healthy culinary-inspired school meals. One of our new initiatives is… Continue Reading Meet a Dietitian: Garrett Berdan
Yakima, WA Pacific Northwest Pear Grower How did you get started in the pear business? My dad bought a 36-acre ranch in the Yakima Valley a month after I was born. After military service, my wife and I took over the ranch in 1976. We replanted trees and also started a honey bee pollination business.… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Eric Olson
Yakima, WA Pacific Northwest Pear Grower What’s the history of your farm? My great grandfather purchased the land in 1917 and he raised cattle. It wasn’t until 1955 that he and my grandfather planted their first pear orchard. I started working in the orchard during the summer when I was 10 or 12 years old,… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Chris Morton
Sundquist Fruit Pacific Northwest Pear Grower How did Sundquist Fruit get started in the business of growing pears? My great grandfather founded our business in the mid 1920’s when he began managing five-acre orchard tracts in the Gleed area in Yakima Country, Washington, for east coast investors. Our first pear orchard was planted in 1925,… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Andrew Sundquist
Adam McCarthy Pacific Northwest Pear Grower Tell us about McCarthy Family Farm’s pear growing heritage. I’m a second-generation pear grower taking on the challenge and rewards of managing our family farm in Mt Hood, Oregon, a premier region for pear cultivation. The family’s legacy on the mountain started in 1910 when my great grandfather homesteaded… Continue Reading Grower Interviews: Adam McCarthy