May 15, 2019

Mission Produce, Taylor Farms discuss Tour de Fresh support

Tour de Fresh for sixth year will unite fresh produce companies to ride more than 300 miles over four days to benefit the Salad Bars to Schools initiative.

The 2019 fundraiser, presented by the California Giant Foundation, will run Oct. 12-16.

Charles Nelson, senior director of research and development at Mission Produce, has been cycling for 10 years. However, it wasn’t until 2016 when he participated in Tour de Fresh that Nelson realized he was involved in something bigger than just another philanthropy event. In the two years that Charles has participated in the ride, he raised more than $18,000 to provide the school district of his choice with salad bars.

“I love the produce industry,” said Nelson. “I admire and respect the people that work so hard to bring the best products to the marketplace. I want to help support making these great products accessible to children across the nation through the Salad Bars to Schools program.”

Drew McDonald, vice president of quality and food safety at Taylor Farms, will ride in his fifth Tour de Fresh this year. Being a fresh produce professional and a father of three school-aged girls, McDonald has a special motivation during the ride. While he ensures that his daughters’ lunches are packed with fresh produce, McDonald also recognizes that is not the case for everyone else.

“Tour de Fresh directly puts the equipment in place to make fresh, healthy produce available to all,” said McDonald. “On top of this, riding along other produce professionals who all support this amazing cause is special, indeed. The camaraderie and bonding that occurs during the ride is awesome and its own reward. It is long and hard, but worth the effort.”

Sponsors and participants lined participating in the 2019 event include:

Arctic Apples, Americold, And Now U Know, Basil Seasonal Dining, California Giant Berry Farms, CHEP, Church Brothers, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Coosemans, Crunch Pak, DMA Solutions, Earthbound Farms, EBX Logistics, Emerson, Famous Software, Fight Like A Girl Foundation, FreshPlaza, Gold Coast, Good Foods, Gusto Handcrafted Pasta & Pizza, iTrade Network, JAZZ Apples, Lipman Produce, Misionero, Mission Produce, Ocean Mist Farms, Paramount Export, PRO*Act, Procurant, Produce Marketing Association, Regal Marketing, Renaissance Food Group, Robinson Fresh, Sakata, Specialty Produce, SunFed Produce, Taylor Farms, Total Quality Logistics (TQL), and Western Precooling.