Los Mochis, Sinaloa – By the end of September our director Mr. Georgius Gotsis spoke on the radio program of the Asociación de Agricultores del Río Fuerte Sur (AARFS) to talk about “Vegetable Exporters from Sinaloa”. This radio program is hosted by Engineer Heriberto Lizardi Salcido and is broadcasted through antenna Lince by Radio UadeO, on 89.3 FM in the city of Los Mochis and through digital platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, and Spotify.

Georgius shares his experience as Director of Veggies from Mexico, mentioning that it is an agricultural organization that seeks to ensure that Sinaloa farmers who participate in the community meet all the standards of food safety and social responsibility demanded by international markets, North America as the primary destination for the export production of the members. He mentions that one of the characteristics that distinguish the organization is based on the internal audit, which is responsible for weekly review of the packing facilities, field, and shelter; ensuring that compliance is maintained throughout the operating season of the company, creating a culture of compliance and continuous improvement in agriculture.

In this session, Georgius also explained to the listeners of the program the process of becoming a member of our agricultural community Veggies from Mexico, in particular how AARFS members could join our organization.

He also shared about the social programs that exist in the agricultural sector in Sinaloa; services provided by the farmers of our Veggies From Mexico community including: health care, day care, nursery programs, health programs, and other services: medical attention, day care centers, study programs, we even found with companies where the elementary and high schools are located within the same facilities of the companies, some of these companies provides tutoring services to support with homework and school projects for the children of their workers, in some day care centers you can also find lactation centers for mothers to promote breastfeeding; which are provided with a comfortable space and the necessary tools such as breast pumps, bags for proper storage, etc. and providing the time spaces according to the law for breastfeeding, they also have balanced and healthy feeding programs for children, and collaboration with various private assistance institutions for the development of early childhood such as Un Kilo de Ayuda, Estrella Guia, Afomac IAP, Profamlia de Jornaleros IAP among others. The young children of farm workers also have sports tournaments and last year they even had a tournament where the final was held in the professional soccer stadium of Los Dorados de Culiacan, all these services are financed directly by the farmers who have a high sense of social responsibility.

He also mentioned the importance of regular training to promote a better safety culture and best practices within the industry, which is why Veggies from Mexico implements an annual training program during the August and September months, focusing on the major training needs of the industry.