A man and a strawberry plan

How one farmer is changing the way we grow strawberries

By Culinate staff

June 2, 2011

To judge by its cover, Saveur magazine’s June/July 2011 issue (Issue #139, if you’re keeping track — and you might have to, since very little of the issue is available online) is all about barbecue.

But buried inside is a profile of California farmer Jim Cochran, whose Swanton Berry Farm has, in the words of author Tracie McMillan, “unlocked the secrets of growing strawberries without pesticides and paying workers a fair wage to do it.”

Sure, Cochran’s is only one farm. But as McMillan notes, Cochran’s methods — which include asking customers to pay a premium for a berry that, in addition to being clean and fair, also tastes fabulous — are being imitated across the country by major berry producers, including behemoth Driscoll's.